Week 2 Studio: Reading the needle

A hands-on comparison of gauge placement and priority across three real dashboards

1 March 2027

Before the studio#

Find, or photograph, the instrument cluster of at least three cars from different categories — for example a performance car, a family car, and a commercial or fleet vehicle. Bring images or just the make and model so the group can look them up together; a photographed owner’s-manual page works as well as a photo of the dashboard itself.

In the studio#

Working in pairs, lay the three clusters side by side and answer the same question of each one: which instrument is centred and largest, and what does that position claim about what its driver needs fastest? Pairs then swap findings across the room and argue two specific cases: does the layout match how the car is actually likely to be driven, and would a first-time driver of that exact car be able to read its “normal” zone without ever having driven it before — or only its printed danger zone?

Afterwards#

Write the comparison up as an argument, not a description: pick two of the three clusters and defend which layout serves its driver better, and why. This feeds directly into next week, where the same question gets asked of a dashboard that has no zones left to read at all — only a light.