Head of MINI Design on Touchscreens vs Physical Buttons

[DimON]

There is a quiet course correction happening inside the modern dashboard.

For the last decade, the industry convinced itself that screens were the inevitable future. Bigger meant better. Fewer buttons meant progress. Glass replaced switchgear in the name of minimalism. And yet, somewhere between buried climate menus and fingerprint-covered control panels, drivers began asking a simple question: can we have our buttons back?

Recently, our friends at Motor1 sat down with MINI’s newest head of design, Holger Hampf, who assumed the role in 2024. What emerged from that conversation was not a rejection of digital interfaces, but a more nuanced philosophy, one that could define the next chapter of MINI interior design.

“I think it’s a general trend that some customers are asking to bring physical buttons back,” Hampf told Motor1. “For MINI, I believe it’s a very good thing, because we are looking for that mix of digital interface and physical affordances.”

That word, affordances, matters. It is design language for something that invites use. A toggle that wants to be flipped. A rotary knob that encourages interaction without demanding your eyes. MINI, more than most brands, has historically thrived on those tactile invitations.

Left; official MINI R50 after sales navigation accessory. Middle; standard R53 interior. Right; optional R50/R53 factory navigation

From the original 1959 Mini’s charmingly exposed switchgear to the aviation-inspired toggle row introduced under BMW ownership, MINI interiors have always been about theater as much as function. Even when ergonomics occasionally missed the mark, the cabin never felt anonymous.

The challenge today is avoiding anonymity in the OLED era.

As we have documented in our coverage of MINI’s latest generation interiors on MotoringFile, the brand has leaned heavily into a central circular display, reinterpreting Alec Issigonis’ original center speedometer for the digital age. It is a bold move, one that positions MINI firmly in the modern EV conversation while retaining a visual link to its past.

The 2010 R56 and the 2025 F66

But Hampf is clear that digital dominance alone is not the goal.

“It’s of the utmost importance to find a good balance between digitality and an analogue experience,” he said. “If you go too digital, you lose the connection or the character that the brand is known for… we always need to retain that analog quality that a MINI is known for.”

That statement lands differently in 2026 than it would have in 2016. The industry has seen what happens when touchscreens go unchecked. Even Ferrari is recalibrating.

In our latest piece, Ferrari’s Bold UI Move Is the Lesson BMW and MINI Can’t Ignore, we explored how Ferrari is rethinking its radical interior interface strategy after discovering that too much digitization can dilute emotional engagement.

The parallels are instructive. Ferrari is wrestling with preserving drama in a supercar cockpit. MINI is defending charm in a rapidly electrifying, increasingly homogenized segment. Different price points, similar design tension.

For MINI interior design, the stakes are cultural as much as functional. The brand’s identity has always lived in the small details, the toggle switches, the circular motifs, the sense that you are operating something mechanical rather than navigating a tablet on wheels.

The newest generation MINIs already hint at this balancing act. The circular OLED takes center stage, but a physical toggle bar remains. The start switch still carries ceremony. Textiles and knitted surfaces introduce warmth against digital precision. It is a layered approach, not a surrender to giant screens.

From an industry perspective, this is likely where the future of car interiors is headed. Not back to analog purity, but toward intentional hybridity. Screens for complexity. Buttons for instinct.

The economic reality still favors consolidation into software. Screens are easier to update than hardware. Cost pressures will not disappear. Yet if MINI can continue to defend those tactile moments, the ones that make you smile when you flip a switch or twist a dial without looking, it will preserve something competitors have quietly lost.

Holger Hampf may not yet be a household name. But the philosophy he articulated to Motor1 taps into a broader shift in automotive design thinking.

In a world obsessed with frictionless interfaces, MINI seems to be arguing for just enough friction to feel alive.

And if it gets that balance right, MINI interior design could once again become a benchmark, not just for technology, but for character.

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