University research into Miata's and their owners
 

Hi everyone!
I'm currently studying Experience Design, and since we've been given the freedom to manage our own project this semester, I really wanted to incorporate my passion for Miata's.
So, I've decided I want to research how all of you use your cars so that maybe I can design a fictional modernized interior for the NA and NB Miata. My goal is to mainly have fun and explore whatever comes to mind, but try to base it on real input from you, the enthusiast!

Anyway, if you want to help me understand even more about Miata's and their drives, you can fill in this form https://elwindewitte414499.typeform.com/to/aQ8JcD

Any help will be much appreciated!

Sounds like fun; submitted

Submitted.

Surely you can do better than that Greg Peters video at the end.

Sub'd with a caveat..

A university research should be meticulous in every aspect, and that includes its language.
That includes refraining from apostrophe usage in plural nouns, and also, a tacometer can only be found in a roach coach.

He's from The Netherlands so I give him a little more leeway than the native speakers.

Maybe, but it's what I liked best as a newcomer to the Miata family :)

University levels are a bit different here in the Netherlands. Officially it'd be called 'university of applied sciences', I don't know if that's actually a thing in the USA, but the difference here is that 'my' level is much more practically oriented instead of scientific. Hopefully that sheds some light on it. But thanks a lot for your correction, I've changed it just now!

Anyway, thanks a lot for your information and opinions! It has already changed the way I'll be orienting this project, which is very helpful!
Maybe to clarify a bit, the way we work at our university, we first try to learn from our target audience what the general direction should be and key objectives, then develop some more concepts which can be tested further. This cycle then repeats itself until there's something substantial. You could compare it to developing a 'mobility device', first starting with a skateboard maybe, then upgrading to a bike and finally arriving at a car after continuously fine-tuning the needs of your users, but in essence they all accomplish the same goal, of getting you from A to B (however in different ways of course). This form is basically to find out what that goal should be.

Submitted, good luck with your project

Sorry for not posting updates guys, somehow I don't feel sharing something that isn't finished worthwhile, but the project is done now! Just as a quick reminder, this project was mainly for myself to learn more about visual design, car interfaces and 3d modeling, so it isn't something special or truly impactful, that wasn't the assignment either. The end goal is to learn more about the design process and that I did! :)

Your submissions have all helped me shape a better understanding of how people use their Miata's, and I hope the final design aligns with what you'd expect. For some context, the design itself is made as if the original Mazda designers had the same technologies as we have today. Throughout the 80s we have seen a whole bunch of new digital clusters, and I hope this strikes a good balance between traditional and digital. The layered display is something I hope will kick on in the future as it's finally possible thanks to transparent (although not 100% see-through) LCD and OLED displays.

Here's a little presentation video, I hope you guys like it! If you have any questions regarding the project, I'd be happy to answer them!

The tachometer increases in height and moves from left to right. That's two different axis for one measurement. It makes it difficult to read the RPMs at low revs. I would rather it be full height and have more labels for the increments. As someone who tunes the ECU myself it is good to know if it is at 900 RPM or 1300 RPM at a glance.

Steve beat me to it.
Yes, the rpm gauge needs better resolution.

Also, if units could switch between metric / US standard, that would be very cool.

That's very fair feedback! I hadn't actually thought about that yet! I'll be sure to include both your comments in my recommendations for improvement, thank you!
Changing from metric to imperial would certainly be an option I'd imagine. Although I haven't designed the functionality itself yet, I'd assume that the user could both change the metrics as well as all the max. and min. values of the gauges.

It's difficult for us with more than one Miata to complete.
But it doesn't matter now.