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Personally, I can't imagine the speedometer bothering me. What really bothers me is the lack of tactile controls. When I'm driving in tough conditions (or any c

Personally, I can't imagine the speedometer bothering me. What really bothers me is the lack of tactile controls. When I'm driving in tough conditions (or any conditions for that matter) I need to be able to change basic controls without looking. For instance, if I sense something's amiss and decide the volume is too loud, I can't be playing fat fingers with the touchscreen.

hkmurakami 9y ago
Or the defogger. Being able to find that button is a matter of serious safety for me.
remarkEon 9y ago
This is what so confuses me. It’s the same reason that your phone makes a horrible TV remote. You have to look back and forth between the controller and what it’s controlling. I’m genuinely confused why automakers (it’s not just Tesla but they seem to be the worst offenders) do this. Even if we get full self-driving cars tactile controls are still far superior for basic functionality to a touchscreen. For more specific operations sure, but I shouldn’t have to aim a finger mash to change the volume.
- crgt 9y ago
  Huh. I personally LOVE using my iPhone as a remote for our Apple TV. Also the way it’s implemented there’s no need to look at your phone at all - the phone is just a giant touchpad that gives you full control of the TV interface..
- djsumdog 9y ago
  I had a friend whose Jeep Cherokee had climate control and heated seats on the touch screen interface. I thought it was a terrible design choice. Actually most of that car was a terrible design choice.
013a 9y ago
Well Tesla is headquartered in sunny California, so they aren't all that familiar with these "tough conditions" that nearly the entire rest of the world experiences. As for changing your volume, don't worry; autopilot is doing all the driving for you, right?
prostoalex 9y ago
The steering wheel has tactile controls for volume, next/previous track and voice command interface, it's page 34 in owner's manual https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v9F2sky8jvfjij5ddPwcUjSyXCnSotcL/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v9F2sky8jvfjij5ddPwcUjSyXCn... On Model S the right scroll wheel is used for climate adjustment, so perhaps in the future Tesla will make it configurable in user preferences.
kbenson 9y ago
All essential controls should be visible (or at a known standard position, such as the gas pedal) at all times and with a quick glance. All often used controls are contenders for the same constraints as well, since the more effort you have to put into locating and operating them the more time your attention is not on the road. Sounds system volume can be essential in some circumstances, but is also used fairly often, so should be easily visible at all times (that is, you should not be able to hide it behind other panels unless it is very easy to return to the default display. Climate controls are not essential, but also used very often, sometimes more often than sound system volume controls. They also should be visible in the default display. A speedometer and fuel display are essential, and should always be visible. I'm not sure how the Tesla display works, but if it allows you to cover these controls with anything and doesn't have a very simple and direct way to got back to a default display with these controls on it, I think that's not only bad design, but dangerous. Hopefully that's not the case.

hkmurakami 9y ago

Or the defogger. Being able to find that button is a matter of serious safety for me.

remarkEon 9y ago

This is what so confuses me. It’s the same reason that your phone makes a horrible TV remote. You have to look back and forth between the controller and what it’s controlling. I’m genuinely confused why automakers (it’s not just Tesla but they seem to be the worst offenders) do this. Even if we get full self-driving cars tactile controls are still far superior for basic functionality to a touchscreen. For more specific operations sure, but I shouldn’t have to aim a finger mash to change the volume.

crgt 9y ago
Huh. I personally LOVE using my iPhone as a remote for our Apple TV. Also the way it’s implemented there’s no need to look at your phone at all - the phone is just a giant touchpad that gives you full control of the TV interface..
djsumdog 9y ago
I had a friend whose Jeep Cherokee had climate control and heated seats on the touch screen interface. I thought it was a terrible design choice. Actually most of that car was a terrible design choice.

013a 9y ago

Well Tesla is headquartered in sunny California, so they aren't all that familiar with these "tough conditions" that nearly the entire rest of the world experiences. As for changing your volume, don't worry; autopilot is doing all the driving for you, right?

prostoalex 9y ago

The steering wheel has tactile controls for volume, next/previous track and voice command interface, it's page 34 in owner's manual https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v9F2sky8jvfjij5ddPwcUjSyXCnSotcL/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v9F2sky8jvfjij5ddPwcUjSyXCn... On Model S the right scroll wheel is used for climate adjustment, so perhaps in the future Tesla will make it configurable in user preferences.

kbenson 9y ago

All essential controls should be visible (or at a known standard position, such as the gas pedal) at all times and with a quick glance. All often used controls are contenders for the same constraints as well, since the more effort you have to put into locating and operating them the more time your attention is not on the road. Sounds system volume can be essential in some circumstances, but is also used fairly often, so should be easily visible at all times (that is, you should not be able to hide it behind other panels unless it is very easy to return to the default display. Climate controls are not essential, but also used very often, sometimes more often than sound system volume controls. They also should be visible in the default display. A speedometer and fuel display are essential, and should always be visible. I'm not sure how the Tesla display works, but if it allows you to cover these controls with anything and doesn't have a very simple and direct way to got back to a default display with these controls on it, I think that's not only bad design, but dangerous. Hopefully that's not the case.