17 ms·

This is one example of how cars have the most horrible UI/UX ever.

• cpu 10y ago
  Am I the only one who saw the arrow and understood it without reading some shitty website first? Do explain, though. It's a topic I rarely hear discussed.
  • dazc 10y ago
    I managed 20 years of driving without seeing the arrow, probably because I was never looking for it? I heard it mentioned on a radio show once but they said the side the tank filler was on corresponded to the nozzle on the pump icon - no mention of an arrow. I still didn't notice an arrow until the time the nozzle on the icon actually didn't correspond to the filler tank.
    • masklinn 10y ago
      > I managed 20 years of driving without seeing the arrow, probably because I was never looking for it? Or because most cars historically haven't had it. I've only seen it in relatively recent cars (last 5 years maybe?) and even then not on all of them. > I heard it mentioned on a radio show once but they said the side the tank filler was on corresponded to the nozzle on the pump icon - no mention of an arrow. That one's not actually true, at least not consistently. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not so it's useless. The arrow, when present, is always correct.
      • ajdlinux 10y ago
        It may not have been used as consistently, but I've definitely seen the indicator arrow on cars that are over 25 years old.
      • theandrewbailey 10y ago
        I have a 2006 Chevy Impala, and the arrow is there. I had it for about two years before reading about the arrow and never noticed ("saw") it, but now it's the first thing I notice when looking at another car's instrument panel.
  • brokenmachine 10y ago
    You're not the only one. I was surprised when my girlfriend didn't know it, but I can see how it wouldn't be noticed. As other people have said, not all cars have the arrow. My first car had it, so maybe that's why I was aware of it?
• quanticle 10y ago
  I have to disagree. I think cars have pretty great UX. Do you remember learning to drive? At any point, was there any doubt as to what turning the steering wheel right or left would do? At any point, was there any doubt as to what the pedals did? Or the gear shifter? Or turn signals? The easiest, most intuitive software wishes it could be as immediately understandable as the control system for an automobile.
  • douche 10y ago
    No, but I was learning on an 1985 Ford F150 with a 5-speed manual transmission. There were so few controls available that my lawn mower was more complex. My 2010 F150 now has a baffling array of buttons and switches and extra levers hanging off the steering column. It's a crapshoot getting in a strange car and figuring out how the headlights and windshield wipers work in particular.
    • VLM 10y ago
      Cruise control and audio and sometimes hazard lights too. There's a classic Star Trek movie scene where helmsman Sulu is trying to fly a helicopter, I believe in the movie with the whales, and the helicopter stick controls do the car thing of randomly turning on windshield wipers and things.
  • wiredfool 10y ago
    Ah yes. Shifters. Have you ever driven a three on the tree? Or where is reverse on my Renault Grand Scenic, with a 6sp manual and no markings on the shifter?
    • acomjean 10y ago
      Shifters with the various "reverse lockout features". I remember being flagged down in a mall parking lot, and being asked why they couldn't shift into reverse (this shifter required being physically pushed down to move). I had a GTI with the shifter lockout was broken (reverse all the way left and up, where 1st is..) Whats three on the tree?
• joosters 10y ago
  The classic design text 'The Design Of Everyday Things' praises the design of cars, and rightly so IMO. e.g. doorhandles are all intuitive and obvious how they are to be used, the knobs and controls are functional and well-shaped, etc. Cars are getting worse as more things transition to touchscreens. As a driver, groping at a flat, featureless touchscreen to select something is far more difficult than trying to press a button.
  • ptaipale 10y ago
    And when driving, they are downright dangerous. Many are tempted to say "then don't operate the touchscreen when driving". But if e.g. air conditioning is controlled via touchscreen, you have little choice in case the windscreen becomes fogged while in traffic.
    • izacus 10y ago
      Yp, some cars like Mazdas actually disable touchscreen when the car is moving. Of course they still have good tactile buttons to control HVAC.
      • ptaipale 10y ago
        Indeed. Does Tesla actually do that control via touchscreen? I haven't driven one; I once got one for a taxi but didn't take note.
        • mikeash 10y ago
          Temperature can be controlled using steering wheel controls. You do need to use the touchscreen to activate the defroster, though. I don't personally find it to be a problem, as the controls are right at the bottom (removing a dimension) and I never used the defroster often enough in other cars to be able to activate it without looking either.
          • tropo 10y ago
• raverbashing 10y ago
  What's horrible UX is having a gear shifter that pretends to be in Park when it isn't (And ffs pull the parking brake when you are parked. PERIOD)
  • jschwartzi 10y ago
    In my truck you push the parking brake to engage it. It's a pedal.