KTM Super Duke RR
HMI Design
UX Designer
Michal Matuska
KTM Font
Type Development: Binnenland in collaboration with KISKA and KTM
Typeface: KTM-Cockpit and KTM-Speed, based on Blender
Extensive studies were carried out in cooperation with KTM and the KISKA agency, which was responsible for the design and menu interface. The collected findings related to the the safety requirements and their practicability were used to develop a new matrix based on the Blender font, which ensures sufficient sharpness in the font reproduction on the small displays, the vertical rhythm and precise line guidance. In addition, the overlighting of the characters was a central issue.
KTM Speed - for the speedometer
KTM Super Duke RR HMI Details
The cockpit
Speed, revs, modes, traction, wheelie, nav prompts, calls, all on one small rectangle, and carried off with real composure. KISKA's brief was an interface built "for motion. For weather. For gloves. For instinct, one that recedes until needed. The party trick is the CGI consequence-model, adjust traction or wheelie settings and an illustrated bike visibly reacts, so you're tuning a picture of the consequence rather than parsing a parameter list. The best car HMIs are only now reaching for this idea. KTM shipped it range-wide, on a screen the size of a sandwich.
Ergonomics
On a bike the ergonomics are the switchgear, and this is where KTM has visibly listened. The current switchgear asks a couple more menu steps than ideal for on-the-fly mode changes and the next generation answers precisely that, with a dedicated Ride Mode button, five-way joystick and back button, all backlit. KISKA's Super Adventure cockpit shows the depth of thinking, firm tactile switches chosen deliberately over touch because gloves, mode changes reduced to short learnable combos ("right, down, right," as KISKA puts it), and the whole lot validated by WIVW, an automotive human-factors institute, for lowest possible distraction. Glance-time rigour on a motorcycle is rare, and exactly the sort of seriousness this gallery exists to praise. The new panel's touch layer is inductive so it works gloved but anything you do in motion stays on physical switches.
The interface
A shallow, mode-led tree: Rain, Street and Sport standard, Performance and Track unlocks that re-map throttle, lean-sensitive traction and wheelie control. Track mode is the enthusiast's reward, the display rebuilds itself around a 10-level slip adjuster, launch control and lap timer. The new 8.8in unit is a genuine leap: five configurable split-screen layouts and a CCU3.0 running Android Automotive, a 32GB, eSIM, with offline maps, turning the bike from phone accessory into a connected device in its own right. Some features arrive as software unlocks, some via a demo-trial model.
Verdict
One of the strongest HMI stories on two wheels, because the thinking is legible in the product. A single small screen carries a machine's entire information load, and KISKA's answer, recede until needed, model the consequence rather than list the parameters, validate the glance time with a research institute, is more disciplined than plenty of what ships on far larger displays. The next generation shows a team iterating well with the most-requested fix delivered as a hardware button, the connectivity leap made without surrendering the physical controls.
HMI Gallery
Image source: press.bmwgroup.com
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HMI Gallery is a collection of case studies showcasing the features, functionality, fonts and iconography of digital interface design in high performance vehicles.
Curated by Ben Morris
Digital Creative