From FontStruct to Hydrogen Skins

Klarowski’s typographic under‑belt is both niche and relevant. On FontStruct he designed typefaces such as “Tetromino” and others (via his alias ecaGraphics) in the late 2000s. That practice — crafting letterforms, considering spacing, modularity and legibility — translates directly into how he thinks about on‑dashboard UI: clarity of icons, consistency of labeling, readability under motion and distraction. As he stated in a profile interview: “I love sketching, wire‑framing, and even creating typefaces… design is storytelling.” The discipline of typography reinforces his mobility‑UX focus: every visual element on a screen or HUD must communicate quickly and unmistakably.

3D Models, Spatial Thinking & Interface Structure

Beyond typography, Piotr Klarowski has shared work in 3D modelling — for example a 3D scan model on Sketchfab titled “piotr klarowski – 3D model by deathlessvr”. While not explicitly interface‑work, that exploration supports spatial thinking: understanding volume, perspective, vehicle instrument‑clusters, ergonomics, and how UI elements live in 3D spaces. When working on automotive HMI, where dashboard screens may wrap, cluster with physical controls or adjust for driver view, spatial cognition matters. His creative modelling gives him additional fluency in how form, plane, depth and framing influence interface legibility, tactile feedback and user trust.

Sketching: Rapid Ideation Meets Human‑Centered Design

Klarowski repeatedly emphasizes sketching and wire‑framing in his published writing. In his essay “Sketch to Dashboard” he outlines how early stage ideation — on paper — helps explore interaction ideas, simplify flows and align multidisciplinary teams. Sketching is a low‑fidelity, high‑agility method that supports user‑centred thinking; it allows designers to quickly stress test hand‑over states (human‑to‑automation), mode changes and system failure flows before visual polish is applied. The creative mindset from his side projects reinforces this: he values physical sketching, craft, typographic finesse and modelling over purely digital wireframes or video prototypes.

How This Creativity Enhances Mobility UX

1. Legibility & Visual Hierarchy: His typographic work means he approaches dashboard text, icons and alerts with strong concern for readability under motion, across lighting conditions, and at glance.

2. Spatial Integration: 3D modelling experience means he designs interfaces that coherently integrate with vehicle architecture (instrument clusters, AR windshields, wrap screens) and consider ergonomics, driver gaze and human factors.

3. Rapid Concept Exploration: Sketching side projects support fluid iteration — particularly critical in EV, ADAS and connected mobility where systems are complex and evolving; early sketches help clarify interaction before high‑fidelity UI is built.

4. Creative Confidence: Engaging with typographic and 3D side projects keeps his visual and interaction craft sharp — a key aspect when interfaces must feel premium, intuitive and trustworthy in the automotive context.

A Unified Creative Praxis

For Piotr Klarowski, the boundary between “creative side project” and “professional mobility UX work” is porous. His typographic experiments, his modelling efforts, his hand‑sketching all feed into a mindset of craft, clarity and system‑level thinking. In an era where vehicles are increasingly defined by software, screens and service ecosystems, keeping that design discipline — grounded in craft and human‑centred thinking — gives mobility interfaces a competitive and humane edge.

In short, Piotr Klarowski’s creative explorations in typography, 3D modelling and sketching aren’t tangential—they are integral to how he designs in‑vehicle experiences. They remind UX teams that even in complex automotive systems, clarity, craft and human‑first design still matter.

Klarowski’s background is deeply rooted in automotive UX, human–machine interfaces (HMI), advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous platforms. On his professional site, he details over a decade of experience across roles at Toyota (Woven by Toyota), Arrival, and Samsung. Leveraging that rich experience, Klarowski now brings his design philosophy into teaching moments, encouraging young designers to think system-level, human-centric, and safety-first.

One notable example of his educational engagement is his participation in the “Mobility evolution: Beyond 5G” talk hosted by the DLX Design Academy (University of Tokyo). In this forum, Klarowski discussed how connectivity, vehicle systems, and user interfaces converge in the next-gen mobility landscape. His ability to translate complex automotive UX ideas into accessible dialogue underscores his strength as a mentor and educator.

Through his academy collaborations, Klarowski emphasizes several core themes for emerging UX talent:

1. System-level thinking: Rather than viewing a dashboard or screen in isolation, Klarowski teaches that every interface resides into a broader ecosystem—vehicles, sensors, networks, services. His publicly published essay “Sketch to Dashboard” outlines this pipeline from ideation to production.

2. Safety and usability first: Students are encouraged to integrate human-factors research, iterative prototyping and real-world validation at early stages. Klarowski’s career in safety-critical automotive contexts gives him hands-on credibility in this domain.

3. Mentoring craft and curiosity: Beyond process, Klarowski champions the creative underpinnings of UX—sketching, wireframing, typography and 3D modelling—ensuring that mobility UX remains expressive, not purely functional.

4. Ethical mobility mindset (“Tech for Good”): Klarowski inspires design-academy students to view mobility not as a dystopian inevitability but as an opportunity for sustainable, inclusive, and human-centred systems.

By working with design academies, Piotr Klarowski helps bridge the gap between industry expectations and academic training. Students gain exposure to real-world mobility UX challenges—such as designing for EVs, ADAS handover interactions, connectivity constraints, and cross-modal journeys. Meanwhile, academic programmes receive insights rooted in practical OEM and startup experience.

The impacts are tangible: emerging UX talent mentored by Klarowski are better prepared for the complexity of modern automotive design—balancing regulation, safety, system integration, and user delight. They leave the studio having wrestled not only with button placements and screen flows, but with vehicle-to-cloud interactions, shared mobility ecosystems and future charging behaviours.

Moreover, Klarowski’s active public writing (via his Medium profile) expands his mentorship beyond formal academies. His essays provide students and junior designers a free resource to engage with foundational mobility-UX thinking.

In summary, Piotr Klarowski’s collaboration with design academies exemplifies the power of industry-academic partnership in mobility UX. By mentoring the next generation of designers, he ensures that the future of automotive and mobility interfaces is not only innovative, but safe, usable and grounded in human values. As the mobility industry pivots toward EVs, connected vehicles and autonomous systems, Klarowski’s educational engagements help ensure that the talent pipeline—and the resulting user experiences—keep pace with technological ambition.

Safety as a Foundational Principle

Central to Piotr Klarowski’s ADAS UX design approach is safety—not just as a checkbox, but embedded throughout the design pipeline. He emphasises that in ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and automated parking systems, users must always be aware of what the system is doing, what it expects, and what its limits are. In “The Role of UX in ADAS and Automated Parking Systems: Insights from Piotr Klarowski”, he writes that poor interface design can lead to confusion or over-reliance, which can undermine safety.

At Toyota’s Advanced UX, his work participates in multidisciplinary groups that must balance the rigor of safety regulation (both technical and human factors) with the need for intuitive, reliable interaction. In his Medium piece “Sketch to Dashboard”, Klarowski underlines that design ideas must move from ideation into research & validation phases—this includes simulation, usability testing, and alignment with safety and regulatory constraints.

Usability: Clarity, Feedback & Trust

For Klarowski, usability is more than making things easy—it’s about predictable, consistent, and supportive interaction that builds trust. Some of his key usability principles stated in his writing include:

• Clear feedback: Visual, auditory, or haptic cues to indicate what an ADAS feature is perceiving, when it is active, and when the driver needs to take control. For example, determining when a lane-keeping system or adaptive cruise control is engaged, and giving cues at handover moments.

• Consistency across features: Ensuring that transitions between features (e.g. from adaptive cruise control to automated parking) follow similar interaction patterns, so the user isn’t relearning behaviour.

• Transparency: Making invisible processes visible enough so users know what is happening (e.g., scans, sensors) without overwhelming them. In the context of automated parking, this might be through progress indicators, animations, confirmation prompts.

These elements are reflected in the validation and prototyping stages in his “Sketch to Dashboard” pipeline, where ideas go through testing for clarity, safety, and user comprehension before being refined.

Innovation: Pipeline, Ecosystem & Future Facing

While safety and usability are non-negotiables, Klarowski also pushes innovation—both in process and content.

• In “Sketch to Dashboard”, he lays out a rigorously structured pipeline: Sketch/Ideation ➝ Research & Validation ➝ Prototyping & System Integration ➝ Dashboard / Ecosystem Implementation. This ensures that innovation is not raw or speculative alone, but grounded in validated user needs and safety criteria.

• His work at Toyota Advanced UX involves designing next-generation HMI concepts for driver assistance and automated parking, implying that innovation there isn’t just about adding features but rethinking how interfaces behave: how they communicate, how transitions are handled, how system feedback is conveyed.

• He also takes into account the broader mobility ecosystem: connectivity (beyond 5G), car-to-infrastructure interactions, software updatability, and user expectation evolution. These are part of what makes his ADAS UX forward-looking—even as the safety layer sets constraints.

Why This Matters

The automotive industry is moving fast: ADAS features are more numerous, regulations is tight, user expectations are rising, and connectivity is changing what “inside the car” means. In this context, designers who fail to balance safety, usability, and innovation risk producing features that are either unusable, mistrusted, or non-compliant.

Piotr Klarowski’s work shows a model for how to avoid that. His pipeline makes sure early sketches are not just visually interesting but safety aware; that prototypes are tested in realistic conditions; that dashboards and HMIs are conceived as parts of a larger mobility ecosystem. These are lessons that can be adopted by design teams, product managers, and OEMs alike.

Conclusion

Piotr Klarowski bridges safety, usability, and innovation in ADAS UX by insisting that one without the other is insufficient. For him, safety sets the boundaries, usability ensures trust and ease, and innovation is how we move forward. His work at Toyota Advanced UX (Woven by Toyota) provides a blueprint for industry peer-organizations: you can be bold, human-centered, and future-facing—while staying dependable and safe.

At the core of Klarowski’s view is systems thinking. Multi-modal UX doesn’t simply stitch together separate apps for car, bike, transit and micromobility; it requires a deliberate interface ecology that understands journeys end-to-end. That means designing shared mental models and predictable interaction patterns so a user shifting from a commuter train to an electric scooter—or from manual driving to an assisted lane change—experiences continuity instead of cognitive friction. For Klarowski, this continuity must be supported by service design: booking, payment, accessibility settings, and safety controls should travel with the user, not be reconfigured at each mode swap.

Safety and trust are recurring themes in Klarowski’s work on vehicle HMI and ADAS. Multi-modal experiences must foreground functional clarity and graceful handovers. Whether handing control between a human driver and an automated system or prompting a user to transfer to a scooter at the last mile, interfaces should communicate confidence, limitations, and next steps in human terms. One practical implication is layered feedback: a mix of glanceable visual cues, auditory confirmations, and subtle haptics calibrated for different environments—road, rail, and pedestrian zones—so users always know what level of attention and interaction is expected.

Connectivity and distributed computing are the technical enablers Klarowski highlights next. As he explored in talks about mobility beyond 5G, richer networks will allow vehicles and urban infrastructure to exchange context in real time—traffic intent, infrastructure state, occupancy levels—enabling predictive UX that suggests better mode shifts before pain points arise. Yet he stresses that raw bandwidth alone is insufficient: local edge processing, privacy-preserving data models, and robust fallback behaviours are essential to keep critical safety and convenience features reliable even when networks degrade.

Personalization that respects privacy is another pillar. Klarowski envisions profiles that carry accessibility needs, preferred transfer speeds, and acceptable exposure to autonomous features—so the system can proactively shape route plans, HMI verbosity, and even vehicle behaviours to fit the individual. He couples this with a “tech for good” ethic: designing options that nudge toward lower-emission modes and equitable access, avoiding dark patterns that lock users into costly or environmentally harmful choices.

Finally, Piotr Klarowski argues for new evaluation metrics for multi-modal UX. Beyond time and cost, success should be measured using continuity of experience, perceived safety during transitions, and system resilience during edge cases. Research methods will need to mix in-vehicle labs with multimodal field studies and city-scale simulations to surface the full range of real journeys.

In Klarowski’s framing, the future of multi-modal mobility UX is ambitious but human. It demands cross-disciplinary collaboration—designers, transit agencies, OEMs, and network engineers—working toward interfaces that honor user agency, anticipate context, and make sustainable mobility the path of least friction.

Connectivity as a Driver of UX Innovation

For much of the automobile’s history, interactions were limited to mechanical switches, dials, and displays. Today, thanks to constant connectivity, vehicles are no longer standalone units. They are nodes within a larger network, able to exchange real-time data with infrastructure, other vehicles, and cloud services.

This connectivity opens up new possibilities for UX design. Navigation systems can update traffic conditions instantly, infotainment platforms can synchronize seamlessly with personal devices, and over-the-air (OTA) updates can deliver new features without a visit to the dealership. Piotr Klarowski notes that these advances demand intuitive, adaptive HMIs that can translate complex data streams into experiences that are effortless for users.

5G and the Real-Time Vehicle

While 4G networks enabled connected cars, 5G takes the interaction to another level. With dramatically lower latency and higher bandwidth, 5G allows vehicles to process and communicate information in near real time. This capability is essential for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), cooperative driving, and automated parking.

From a design perspective, Klarowski emphasizes that this shift requires new thinking in HMI development. Interfaces must be capable of handling dynamic, context-rich information flows — such as instant hazard alerts, live video feeds from sensors, or cooperative maneuvers coordinated between vehicles. The challenge lies in delivering these experiences without overwhelming the driver, keeping safety and clarity as top priorities.

Human-Centered Design for Connected Mobility

As cars gain intelligence, Klarowski argues that human-centered UX principles are more important than ever. A hyper-connected car risks becoming cluttered with notifications, warnings, and updates. Designers must therefore craft HMIs that are selective, adaptive, and context-aware.

For example, a message about available charging stations should surface only when battery levels are low, and hazard warnings should override all other content without delay. By filtering information through human needs and situational awareness, HMIs can ensure that connectivity enhances, rather than distracts from, the driving experience.

Building Trust Through Transparency

Trust is another key element of connected mobility. Drivers must understand not only what the system is doing, but why. Klarowski highlights that well-designed interfaces should visualize invisible processes, such as how the vehicle is communicating with nearby cars or infrastructure. Simple, clear cues — whether through motion design, haptics, or visual indicators — can build confidence and reduce uncertainty.

Looking Ahead

As 5G coverage expands, vehicles will increasingly function as intelligent companions that blend mobility, communication, and digital lifestyle services. For Piotr Klarowski, this represents a defining challenge for designers: to create HMIs that make the car’s growing intelligence accessible, trustworthy, and delightful.

In this vision, connectivity is not just a technological upgrade — it is a transformation of how people relate to mobility itself. With careful UX and HMI design, the connected car becomes more than a mode of transport; it becomes a partner in motion.

Learning from Startups: Agility and Innovation

Piotr’s time at Arrival, a bold electric vehicle startup, provided him with the opportunity to work on mobility solutions from the ground up. Startups demand speed, creativity, and a willingness to challenge conventions. In that environment, Piotr Klarowski honed his ability to prototype quickly, think holistically, and integrate UX into larger mobility systems. Projects at Arrival also encouraged system-level thinking—understanding how interfaces interact not only with drivers, but also with infrastructure, fleets, and service ecosystems.

This exposure shaped his view that UX is never just about what happens on a screen—it is about how humans experience technology in a broader mobility context.

Building at Scale: Structure and Safety in OEMs

Transitioning to Toyota’s Advanced UX organization (Woven by Toyota), Piotr embraced an entirely different challenge: designing interfaces for global rollouts, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and automated mobility platforms. At this scale, every detail matters—interfaces must meet strict safety regulations, perform across cultures, and function flawlessly in millions of vehicles.

Here, Piotr strengthened his ability to design for trust and reliability, ensuring that cutting-edge features remain intuitive and accessible. Working within Toyota’s ecosystem gave him a unique perspective on balancing innovation with responsibility, a skill that defines the best mobility UX designers today.

Sharing Knowledge: Speaking and Writing

Beyond hands-on design work, Piotr has also contributed to the global mobility conversation. He spoke at the University of Tokyo’s DLX Design Academy “Inspire Talks: Mobility evolution: Beyond 5G”, where he discussed how next-generation connectivity will transform in-car experiences. His ability to translate complex, technical topics into engaging narratives reflects a designer who not only builds but also inspires.

On Medium, Piotr shares insights such as “Car UX. Quick Overview. The evolution. Then and now,” offering readers a clear perspective on how vehicle interfaces have matured and where they’re heading next. These contributions highlight his role as both a practitioner and a thought leader.

Creativity Beyond Mobility

Piotr’s work extends into creative explorations like his “Tetromino” font on FontStruct and 3D projects on Sketchfab. These side projects show his curiosity and versatility—reminders that strong UX design is rooted in both technical mastery and artistic expression.

Looking Forward

For Piotr Klarowski, the future of mobility is not about dystopian visions of automation, but about human-centered, sustainable, and inspiring design. His career—from startups to OEMs—demonstrates the value of blending agility with structure, creativity with rigor, and vision with empathy.

In a world where vehicles are increasingly defined by their interfaces, Piotr’s lessons in mobility UX remind us that the ultimate goal is simple: to make technology feel seamless, safe, and meaningful for the people who use it.