4 ms·

Most of the colors on that display have a rationale. For example, on the speed tape on the left, the white, green, and yellow colors all map to colors of a stan

Most of the colors on that display have a rationale. For example, on the speed tape on the left, the white, green, and yellow colors all map to colors of a standard airspeed indicator. That the course (CRS) is green instantly tells me I'm navigating by a ground-based VOR, not GPS (which would be magenta). Same with the green diamond on the right by the altitude indicator. The waypoints at the top are all GPS-calculated, therefore also magenta. At the top, the green radio frequency is the one you'll transmit on. The blue airport icons in the Nearest page (bottom left) indicate towered airports (matching those found on standard aeronautical charts). (In case it's not obvious, I've got a few hundred hours behind the G1000. AMA.)

FabHK 9y ago
Do you have any opinion on the G1000 (and subsequent Garmin flight decks) vs competitors, such as Avidyne Entegra? My feeling has always been that the Garmin UI was somewhat clunky and suboptimal, possibly because they tried to keep it similar to the UI of previous smaller devices (such as the GNS 430); a bit like if the iPhone hadn't come along and we'd still scroll by putting our finger on a little arrow in a scroll bar on mobile devices. My impression was that other manufacturers had a better UI, but somehow didn't make it in the marketplace.
- btgeekboy 9y ago
  I'm not familiar with the Entegra. I've played with stuff by Dynon and Advanced Flight Systems though. If you think the G1000 is clunky, try the Advanced system. I'm really not a fan. Perhaps it's for that exact reason (that Garmin products all work somewhat similarly), but I've been up in a friend's RV-10 with the Advanced system in it, and I find it to be much more clunky. The GTN650 keeps a bit of the GNS430 feel... and those are, in my opinion, the best parts. I hate scrolling through the alphabet by dragging my finger across the screen. I have a similar disdain for trying to select stuff in-flight on my iPad in ForeFlight.
- abaillargeon 9y ago
  I think there's some truth to your GNS 530 theory... Pilots are not typically that interested in stylish/modern UIs, and they're not thrilled when a familiar UI changes. There are so many features now that it's a challenge to find room on the PFD. I'm curious, which other UIs do you prefer? What do you think of the G1000 NXi?
  - FabHK 9y ago
    > which other UIs do you prefer Well, I haven't flown other glass cockpits. I just find the G1000 clunky and a bit unintuitive, that's why I was wondering whether there are still viable and possibly better competitors out there.
lisper 9y ago
I'm impressed. But how did you figure all that out in the first place?
- owlmirror 9y ago
  RTM and training.
  - btgeekboy 9y ago
    Yep. I did both my primary flight training and instrument rating in a G1000-equipped aircraft so it’s like learning a powerful IDE - just start with the basics and keep adding on.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rangibaby 9y ago
yes, thanks for your reply. It's why I asked my question that way (Chesteron's fence etc). Would it be possible to display that same information using a traffic light system? (Red=Immediate action required, Yellow=keep an eye on this, Green decaying to grey=something that changed (eg AP OFF green then turns gray after 10 seconds or so). It would need to be applied with discipline to avoid every single piece of information being red and hence useless. (cf phone notifications or people who click OK to every dialog box). Information overload / fatigue is a real thing and something designers need to concentrate on more, the ugly brother of "minimalism" which looks pretty but is frustratingly useless.
- btgeekboy 9y ago
  A little late getting back to this (was away from HN this weekend), but some things do use color changes and background changes to alert the user. There's also audio tones for various things, like the autopilot being disabled (regardless of whether the computer or user disabled it). The actual sounds depend on the features installed; a GFC700 autopilot has different sounds and alerts than a KAP140. If you're interested in human factors in aviation, there's a lot of work being done out there in the field. A friend of mine is actually working on an MS in Human Factors at ERAU.

FabHK 9y ago

Do you have any opinion on the G1000 (and subsequent Garmin flight decks) vs competitors, such as Avidyne Entegra? My feeling has always been that the Garmin UI was somewhat clunky and suboptimal, possibly because they tried to keep it similar to the UI of previous smaller devices (such as the GNS 430); a bit like if the iPhone hadn't come along and we'd still scroll by putting our finger on a little arrow in a scroll bar on mobile devices. My impression was that other manufacturers had a better UI, but somehow didn't make it in the marketplace.

btgeekboy 9y ago
I'm not familiar with the Entegra. I've played with stuff by Dynon and Advanced Flight Systems though. If you think the G1000 is clunky, try the Advanced system. I'm really not a fan. Perhaps it's for that exact reason (that Garmin products all work somewhat similarly), but I've been up in a friend's RV-10 with the Advanced system in it, and I find it to be much more clunky. The GTN650 keeps a bit of the GNS430 feel... and those are, in my opinion, the best parts. I hate scrolling through the alphabet by dragging my finger across the screen. I have a similar disdain for trying to select stuff in-flight on my iPad in ForeFlight.
abaillargeon 9y ago
I think there's some truth to your GNS 530 theory... Pilots are not typically that interested in stylish/modern UIs, and they're not thrilled when a familiar UI changes. There are so many features now that it's a challenge to find room on the PFD. I'm curious, which other UIs do you prefer? What do you think of the G1000 NXi?
- FabHK 9y ago
  > which other UIs do you prefer Well, I haven't flown other glass cockpits. I just find the G1000 clunky and a bit unintuitive, that's why I was wondering whether there are still viable and possibly better competitors out there.

lisper 9y ago

I'm impressed. But how did you figure all that out in the first place?

owlmirror 9y ago
RTM and training.
- btgeekboy 9y ago
  Yep. I did both my primary flight training and instrument rating in a G1000-equipped aircraft so it’s like learning a powerful IDE - just start with the basics and keep adding on.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

rangibaby 9y ago

yes, thanks for your reply. It's why I asked my question that way (Chesteron's fence etc). Would it be possible to display that same information using a traffic light system? (Red=Immediate action required, Yellow=keep an eye on this, Green decaying to grey=something that changed (eg AP OFF green then turns gray after 10 seconds or so). It would need to be applied with discipline to avoid every single piece of information being red and hence useless. (cf phone notifications or people who click OK to every dialog box). Information overload / fatigue is a real thing and something designers need to concentrate on more, the ugly brother of "minimalism" which looks pretty but is frustratingly useless.

btgeekboy 9y ago
A little late getting back to this (was away from HN this weekend), but some things do use color changes and background changes to alert the user. There's also audio tones for various things, like the autopilot being disabled (regardless of whether the computer or user disabled it). The actual sounds depend on the features installed; a GFC700 autopilot has different sounds and alerts than a KAP140. If you're interested in human factors in aviation, there's a lot of work being done out there in the field. A friend of mine is actually working on an MS in Human Factors at ERAU.