3 ms·

This makes me think of another field where bad UI decisions took years to undo... synthesizers! The rise of digital synthesizers in the late 1980s led to an eli

by beat 8y ago

This makes me think of another field where bad UI decisions took years to undo... synthesizers! The rise of digital synthesizers in the late 1980s led to an elimination of knobs and sliders, in favor of buttons and menus. This made it very difficult to design your own sounds for them, as sound manipulation was no longer physically intuitive, and working with interacting parameters could mean a lot of menu-digging rather than just turning two knobs at once to find the sweet spot. But it was cheaper. And there's where touch screens really come to the fore. They're less expensive than the bespoke hardware interfaces that cars otherwise use. In cars, though, it's not enough to be hard to use. It's dangerous to use the unfamiliar touchscreens while driving.

wilsonnb2 8y ago
There has been a resurgence in analog and analog-style synths since the 80's but overall I think synth UX has gotten even worse with the rise of software synths. Turning a virtual knob with a mouse pointer is a terrible UX. Mapping parameters to a midi keyboard is also pretty bad, with the exception of hardware like the Native Instruments S MK2 midi keyboards or the Maschine that are specifically built for controlling certain software.
- beat 8y ago
  And even then, midi mapping is a pain. There are a few synth makers who have figured out good touch-based iPad synths, but for the most part, ugh. Emulators! Try playing a Minimoog correctly on a touch screen....
cptskippy 8y ago
The annoying thing for me is that the touchscreen in an automobile doesn't preclude it form having physical controls, often the physical controls are just very poorly thought out. My 2015 Nissan Leaf has on the face of the steering wheel two 2-way rocker switches, a 3-way rocker switch, what looks like a rocker but is actually two buttons, and five other buttons. This is in addition to the two control stalks that have a dizzying array of positions and knobs themselves. Three of those buttons are for dedicated features of the infotainment system I will never intentionally press. The answer/drop call button could also function to invoke the voice recognition feature and eliminating the dedicated button. The cruise control utilizes a 2-way rocker and two buttons, it really could be reduced down to a single 3-way rocker. Infuriatingly the model with the infotainment system, an upgrade, replaced the knobs for volume and temperature control with buttons?! You might think it's to reduce space for the infotainment system but when you look at the two consoles side by side they're proportional spacing is the same. The infotainment system has two to three physical buttons dedicated to features you shouldn't be using while driving and would better hidden behind the menu button. Of the physical buttons that are arguably usable, there are two that I will again never intentionally press. They'd have been better off making the buttons color/symbol coded and function programmable like the buttons that flank the sides of ATM screens.

by beat 8y ago

wilsonnb2 8y ago

There has been a resurgence in analog and analog-style synths since the 80's but overall I think synth UX has gotten even worse with the rise of software synths. Turning a virtual knob with a mouse pointer is a terrible UX. Mapping parameters to a midi keyboard is also pretty bad, with the exception of hardware like the Native Instruments S MK2 midi keyboards or the Maschine that are specifically built for controlling certain software.

beat 8y ago
And even then, midi mapping is a pain. There are a few synth makers who have figured out good touch-based iPad synths, but for the most part, ugh. Emulators! Try playing a Minimoog correctly on a touch screen....

cptskippy 8y ago

The annoying thing for me is that the touchscreen in an automobile doesn't preclude it form having physical controls, often the physical controls are just very poorly thought out. My 2015 Nissan Leaf has on the face of the steering wheel two 2-way rocker switches, a 3-way rocker switch, what looks like a rocker but is actually two buttons, and five other buttons. This is in addition to the two control stalks that have a dizzying array of positions and knobs themselves. Three of those buttons are for dedicated features of the infotainment system I will never intentionally press. The answer/drop call button could also function to invoke the voice recognition feature and eliminating the dedicated button. The cruise control utilizes a 2-way rocker and two buttons, it really could be reduced down to a single 3-way rocker. Infuriatingly the model with the infotainment system, an upgrade, replaced the knobs for volume and temperature control with buttons?! You might think it's to reduce space for the infotainment system but when you look at the two consoles side by side they're proportional spacing is the same. The infotainment system has two to three physical buttons dedicated to features you shouldn't be using while driving and would better hidden behind the menu button. Of the physical buttons that are arguably usable, there are two that I will again never intentionally press. They'd have been better off making the buttons color/symbol coded and function programmable like the buttons that flank the sides of ATM screens.