3 ms·

This is not evidence per se, but with physical buttons you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

by skj 11y ago

mikeash 11y ago
I wonder how many drivers actually learn their controls that well. Anecdotally (which I realize is worthless, I just don't have anything better to go on) I see a lot of drivers taking their eyes off the road to look at physical buttons, and I was even in a crash where the driver just drove off the road while fiddling with the radio.
- tzs 11y ago
  It probably depends on the design of the physical buttons. I've had cars where the physical buttons were sliders and I usually had to glance at them, especially when there were multiple slides parallel to each other (say for fan speed and hot/cold mix). That's because the part that I had to interact with would be in different places, depending on the current setting. It would require enough feeling around to make sure I had the right control that it would probably be more distracting than a quick glance. My current car (2006 Honda CR-V) uses round buttons for many things. I do not need to glance at them. The fan speed control is always in the same place. The hot/cold mix control is always in the same place. The air routing control is always in the same place. So, if I want to change fan speed, for instance, I reach to the same fixed location every time, and then rotate the knob clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on whether I want to increase or decrease the fan speed. Unlike with sliders, the current setting does not affect what I have to do to find the control or interact with it.
- marcoperaza 11y ago
  It's not just remembering where the buttons are, it's the ease of using them. I don't have to remember the exact position of every button. I can feel for the button if I miss it, I can feel whether I'm fat-fingering other buttons and adjust, and I know when I've successfully pressed the button. This all adds up to me not looking at the dashboard.
bobwaycott 11y ago
I was going to say the same thing. I know where the buttons are, so I can just feel for them without looking away from the road. Can't feel your way around a touchscreen.
- jkestner 11y ago
  My Ford uses Fitt's Law to good effect. The big functions (phone, audio, navigation, climate) each have a button in one of the four corners of the screen. You can slide til you feel the bezel and press. That still doesn't help with subfunctions like picking a radio station, etc. but voice control and steering wheel buttons pick up the slack. I still miss well-placed physical controls.
  - marcoperaza 11y ago
    That's a neat trick on Ford's part. Maybe car touchscreens need a different interaction language. Instead of touch being the primary action trigger, touch would only change the selection (and produce some tactile/haptic feedback as the selection changes) and a harder press (with its own distinct feedback) would actually activate the function. By dragging your finger around the screen, you could feel out the layout of the controls.

This is not evidence per se, but with physical buttons you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

by skj 11y ago

This is not evidence per se, but with physical buttons you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

I wonder how many drivers actually learn their controls that well. Anecdotally (which I realize is worthless, I just don't have anything better to go on) I see a lot of drivers taking their eyes off the road to look at physical buttons, and I was even in a crash where the driver just drove off the road while fiddling with the radio.

tzs 11y ago
It probably depends on the design of the physical buttons. I've had cars where the physical buttons were sliders and I usually had to glance at them, especially when there were multiple slides parallel to each other (say for fan speed and hot/cold mix). That's because the part that I had to interact with would be in different places, depending on the current setting. It would require enough feeling around to make sure I had the right control that it would probably be more distracting than a quick glance. My current car (2006 Honda CR-V) uses round buttons for many things. I do not need to glance at them. The fan speed control is always in the same place. The hot/cold mix control is always in the same place. The air routing control is always in the same place. So, if I want to change fan speed, for instance, I reach to the same fixed location every time, and then rotate the knob clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on whether I want to increase or decrease the fan speed. Unlike with sliders, the current setting does not affect what I have to do to find the control or interact with it.
marcoperaza 11y ago
It's not just remembering where the buttons are, it's the ease of using them. I don't have to remember the exact position of every button. I can feel for the button if I miss it, I can feel whether I'm fat-fingering other buttons and adjust, and I know when I've successfully pressed the button. This all adds up to me not looking at the dashboard.

bobwaycott 11y ago

I was going to say the same thing. I know where the buttons are, so I can just feel for them without looking away from the road. Can't feel your way around a touchscreen.

jkestner 11y ago
My Ford uses Fitt's Law to good effect. The big functions (phone, audio, navigation, climate) each have a button in one of the four corners of the screen. You can slide til you feel the bezel and press. That still doesn't help with subfunctions like picking a radio station, etc. but voice control and steering wheel buttons pick up the slack. I still miss well-placed physical controls.
- marcoperaza 11y ago
  That's a neat trick on Ford's part. Maybe car touchscreens need a different interaction language. Instead of touch being the primary action trigger, touch would only change the selection (and produce some tactile/haptic feedback as the selection changes) and a harder press (with its own distinct feedback) would actually activate the function. By dragging your finger around the screen, you could feel out the layout of the controls.