Reimagining the 1980s sports car gauge cluster and infotainment system for today's performance driver

Autoban is a personal UX/UI and motion design concept that reimagines the energy of a 1980s sports car cockpit for a modern digital driving experience. I wanted the interface to feel fast, nostalgic, and emotional, while still being clean, simple, and easy to read.

The project began with one question:
How can a digital dashboard and infotainment system feel exciting without becoming visually overwhelming?

I designed a full HMI system that includes a digital gauge cluster, infotainment screens, custom icons, race/track mode visuals, and a Figma simulation. The visual language combines dark surfaces, neon green accents, bold white line icons, rounded grey borders, and retro digital dashboard references.

A key design decision was making the icons and screens thick, bold, and high-contrast. This was intentional. In a sports car, the driver’s attention is limited and constantly shifting between the road, speed, navigation, and vehicle feedback. Thin, low-contrast UI elements may feel elegant in today’s cars, but they can become harder to read quickly. I wanted this system to feel more like an 80s digital performance display: loud, clear, immediate, and highly visible at a glance.

The icon system became an important part of the project. I created icons for Home, Navigation, Media, Phone, Climate, Battery, Driver Assist, Settings, and custom Lap / Track / Race Mode icons. These icons helped make the system feel cohesive across both the dashboard and the infotainment interface.

I interviewed 12 performance-driving enthusiasts at "Cars & Coffee" events to understand their display preferences and common driving scenarios. The pattern was consistent: daily driving needed minimalism, but track days demanded telemetry depth. Drivers wanted both modes — but switching between them had to be effortless.

I also researched 1980s sports car gauge clusters — collecting visual references, studying font choices (angular, military-inspired typefaces), and analyzing the color palettes (sharp neon accents, matte black bezels, red-zone warnings).

During the design process, I also considered automotive HMI safety and usability principles, especially around legibility, glance time, and driver distraction. I looked at standards such as ISO 15008, which addresses image quality and legibility for in-vehicle visual displays, and ISO 15005, which focuses on ergonomic dialogue principles between the driver and transport information/control systems. Because this is a sports-car interface, I treated visibility as a safety issue, not just a style choice.

The thick icons, high contrast, large typography, and simplified screen hierarchy were designed to support quick recognition with minimal visual effort. I also considered ISO 15007, which defines glance-related measures for analyzing driver visual behavior, and NHTSA visual-manual distraction guidance, which recommends limiting off-road glances for in-vehicle tasks. I did not treat the interface as a finished certified automotive product, but I used these standards as design references to keep the HMI more focused, readable, and driver-conscious. The goal was to bring the boldness of 1980s digital performance displays into a modern infotainment system without sacrificing clarity or attention safety.