The Volvo software design team isn't responsible for fixing electronics bugs, and maybe not even responsible for the presence or lack of physical buttons. They didn't even make the font - it was contracted to a design studio. I seriously doubt this effort distracted too much from fixing the other things people care about. Big companies do multiple things at once.

This is important work and is being outsourced (so no heavy load on Volvo employees besides reviewing the work), and I believe this is as important as reducing any distractions during driving.

Ford used to have (and may still have) a cockpit/dashboard simulator where they install prototype dashboards and test their mental load by creating "unexpected hazards" in the simulation while tweaking something on the dash.

I can operate my car's controls without even looking at them and just by feeling them, while looking at the road. The dials are extremely readable, so I'm not aware that I'm checking them even. We should be targeting this over design, any day.

This is important work.

Nitpicky, the 0 and O are difficult to distinguish. But for the application, this is not a problem. Other than entering (e.g. wifi) passwords, there are no places where one would be mistaken for the other in a passenger vehicle UI.

1.) Go back to actual buttons/dials (with the old font, please)

2.) Fix the comically bad horrifying electronics issues the new models have.

> forces use of touchscreen / touch controls for climate control

https://www.mycarusermanual.com/volvo/xc60/suv/2020/climate-...

Hmmmmm. Someone lies and I think it's volvo.

I'm pressing X For "doubt".

- https://safety21.cmu.edu/2025/03/11/physical-buttons-could-m... - https://www.evo.co.uk/car-technology/207666/buttons-could-re... - https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/study-finds-that... - https://www.evo.co.uk/car-technology/206867/just-how-bad-are...

If Volvo wants to restore their image they should bring back a modern reinterpretation of the iconic 240, with the same level of usability, quality, and design language and absolutely no screens anywhere.

Chinese. Volvo is a fully Chinese company that has some people working for them in Sweden. That does not make Volvo a Swedish carmaker. Zeekr also isn't a Swedish carmaker, despite having an R&D center in Gothenburg.

A friend recently got a steering pump for his classic Volvo 940 and instead of a European part the official Volvo dealership gave him a Chinese part. Broke in a couple of months.

The times that a Volvo would do 500,000 kilometers with basis maintenance is in the past.

For a giant tablet with no buttons that never belonged on a dashboard. It is common knowledge that buttons are better for drivers. For a company supposedly focused on safety, they make their cars more dangerous for drivers by installing touchscreens and removing buttons.

https://www.volvocars.com/intl/media/press-releases/5ABB4F35...

Give me buttons, not a font.

Issues I encountered: - The schedule for AC charging moves by 1 hour when DST changes. So someone thought let's ignore daylight saving times for that. - The app randomly says "could not start heating/cooling", but still started it. - The last few times, AC schedule and power limit were ignored by the car (so charged 16 A but the car said only 14 A allowed) - Randomly, the AC schedule is in a random timezone (like 7-9h lff), but just for one day. - Sound sometimes does not work, like at all. Reboot the center display helps, but takes a couple of minutes.

Most days, it feels like they don't drive their own cars.

Regardless, I think the font is somewhat nice.

Is it more cost-effective? Is it to have better control?

Is it for branding? (Although it does not appear unique/novel)

It’s not like it needs to solve something that isn’t addressed by other typefaces —at least I don’t see it. It’s not a radical departure from existing typefaces.