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This makes you appreciate the attention to detail, and the countless painfully learnt lessons, that goes into user interface design for airplanes. Compare a Ce
by phlo 8y ago
This makes you appreciate the attention to detail, and the countless painfully learnt lessons, that goes into user interface design for airplanes.
Compare a Cessna 400's cockpit [1] to a switch cluster in a recent Mini [2]. The car still has physical switches, which is better than a touchscreen. It's also styled to resemble an airplane cockpit. But all the switches look the same, and some of them have two positions while others have three; some of them disable things while others turn them on.
In the Cessna, each control has a different color, and a different surface texture. The flap lever is styled to resemble an actual flap. The same goes for gear levers on planes with retractable landing gears: they are styled as little wheels. As the pilot, if you touch the wrong lever, you'll immediately feel the difference, avoiding dangerous mistakes.
In the Mini, all switches have the same color and they feel the same. Their status is indicated with a little LED on the switch itself. You neither feel the current status from touching the switch, nor is there any tactile feedback of whether you are touching the right switch. With a touchscreen, that remains true, but additionally the location of the switches changes too.
[1] https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f37712d0cd771d5aee97ac8dacd745b9-c https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f37712d0cd771d5aee97ac...
[2] https://www.gunaxin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-MINI-Countryman-Interior-5.jpg https://www.gunaxin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2017-MINI...
- MrGilbert 8y agoThere is a subtile difference in terms of consequences between blindly picking the wrong button on a car vs plane, though...
- thiagocsf 8y agoObviously but OP’s point still stands. Quality UX takes time and careful thinking (which is why it’s worth doing it for a plane but not for a car).
- namdnay 8y agoI think both these examples are quality UX. In fact I'd go so far as to bet that BMW has spent far more on UX than Cessna has. The difference is in the definition of "quality". In Cessna's case the objective is to make the plane safer and easier to pilot, so people decide to buy it. In BMW's case the objective is to make people want to buy the car. Two different objectives = Two different user experiences
- sharpercoder 8y agoyou confuse sales with UX.
- namdnay 8y agoI was being slightly simplistic, but let's not forget that UX means "user experience". It doesn't mean "user efficiency" or "user safety". Clearly BMW has decided that the experience they want to focus on is more emotional than rational.
- dredmorbius 8y agoThere are far more people in cars. There are far more people around cars. The people in, and around, cars, have far less training to specific instrumentation and controls than those in, and around, aircraft.
- namdnay 8y agoI don't think that's a lack of attention to detail from Mini. Just a decision made with the knowledge that people don't buy premium cars based on rational decisions. If they did, I'm not sure Mini (or BMW for that matter) would exist... I don't think this is the case for airplanes.
- namibj 8y agoAre there any somewhat affordable cars that skimp on the "bling" to archive this sort of efficiency?
- joncrane 8y agoWhat I've found is that each make of car has it's "way" of doing things. I've found that Toyotas have a consistent placement of controls, as do Hondas, but they are not the same to each other. I haven't driven enough other makes of cars to know definitively, and they can change between generations. It may be a way to foster brand loyalty. I find Honda's way more intuitive, but Toyota's is fine, too.
- joezydeco 8y agoI'm happy with my 3rd generation Mazda3. http://images.nadaguides.com/ChromeImageGallery/Expanded/White/640/2018MAC170010_640/2018MAC170010_640_11.jpg http://images.nadaguides.com/ChromeImageGallery/Expanded/Whi... The IVI display is out of the way but accessible (there's a jogdial on the center console to control it while driving). HVAC controls are manual and very easy to use without looking.
- albedoa 8y agoI drive a 2011 MINI Cooper S and have owned a 2007 and a 2003. Every generation has its share of wtf when it comes to dashboard switches. Take my biggest peeve, the blower switch on the 2011: If you press "increase" while at max blower, it stays at max blower. If you press "decrease" while at min blower, it turns off. If you press "decrease" while at off, it goes to min blower. So you can jam the blower to max without looking, but if you overshoot on the way back down, it goes off and on again!
- pavel_lishin 8y ago> So you can jam the blower to max without looking, but if you overshoot on the way back down, it goes off and on again! Seems like the "turn to lowest if decrease is pressed while off" was explicitly designed to overcome this issue.
- albedoa 8y agoYes! I should have included that I am sure it is purposeful, but I am not sure that they considered the practical implications.