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I'm actually afraid to buy a new car for this very reason. All of my favorite cars now have a giant iPad in the console and almost no physical buttons. When I

I'm actually afraid to buy a new car for this very reason. All of my favorite cars now have a giant iPad in the console and almost no physical buttons. When I'm barreling down the interstate and want to change the music, I don't want to fiddle around with a touch screen that requires any sort of attention.

AWildC182 8y ago
This x1000. I really wish touchscreen displays were illegal for vehicles. Everything should be done through dedicated buttons and multi-function keys. They've started doing this in aircraft as well and it's infuriating. Try typing in an airport, squawk code, or frequency on a tiny touchscreen display with moderate turbulence in IMC. Not fun...
- fredley 8y ago
  This is surprising, I thought air regulations were strict enough to allow this not to happen.
ErikVandeWater 8y ago
I think there are ways this could be overcome, and the screen could be way, wayyyy better. 1. Default presets. When you enter the car, you press a menu option to immediately set the car to all your settings (radio to the right station, GPS app opens,seat moves, etc.) (could be done with a button too honestly 2. Increased primary element size - Use 90% of the screen to display the setting you are changing so you don't have to look directly at it. Reduce the size of options you are not currently interested in changing. 3. Gestures - Use gestures to change settings using your muscle memory, not eyes. 4. Use the iPad to display video that helps you drive (blind spot, backup camera) 5. Use of color - When you crank the heat the screen is cast to in a red shade. Make it more intuitive at the subconscious level. 6. Full use of screen to make a change - When you want to adjust with a button or knob, you have to get your hand exactly on that button or knob. But on a screen, you could swipe left anywhere and get the same effect. This would use significantly less attention. 7. Contextual UI - The car notices the windows are fogging up and prompts if you want to turn on screen defrosters. 8.Multiple UIs and UI customizability. Don't like this UI? Try this one! Or just change the one little setting that annoys you. It's your damn car. 9. Stopped? Here's something interesting put on the screen so you stay engaged. 10. Safety tips (stats on your driving, or suggestions on ways to drive safer) 11. Haptic feedback - When you make a change, the screen could vibrate to indicate the change was received 12. Shortcuts - Have your favorite driving settings most conveniently available 13. There's probably more, but if I wrote a 13th one, it would be unlucky! :P
- frosted-flakes 8y ago
  Mode-based UIs on touch screens don't work well when you need to keep your eyes on the road. The reason traditional dashboards are so easy to use while driving is because each control is always in the same place and can be located and used without seeing it. Most cars have a fixed set of dash controls: climate, audio, and possibly navigation. Climate controls can easily be just three dials and a couple of buttons (temperature, fan speed, vent direction, and AC/recirculate buttons). Audio can be 4-6 preset buttons and a volume knob, and maybe some little treble/bass/fade/balance knobs. Yet many vehicles completely screw this up.
- bloak 8y ago
  Haptic feedback is a nice idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if the software people screw it up. I've lost count of the number of devices and software UIs that give incorrect feedback: they sometimes beep/flash when the change has not been received, or they sometimes register the change without the usual beep/flash. Have I encountered a device/UI that errs in both ways? Yes, I think I have: a microwave that beeps and increments the time when you press a button labelled "10 s", but if afterwards you squint carefully at the almost illegible LCD display you find that the number of beeps may differ from the (time / 10 s) by a positive or a negative small integer. There must be two separate button-press-detectors: one for incrementing the time, and one for the "feedback". Do we have a term for this phenomenon? It's common enough to deserve a name.
  - superhuzza 8y ago
    I think this is just considered poor/inconsistent feedback: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-application-design-mistakes/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-application-design-m...
- pwg 8y ago
  > 9. Stopped? Here's something interesting put on the screen so you stay engaged. This one has a very high risk of quickly degrading into my car dashboard showing me advertising when I am stopped. And the last thing I want is the car I own to be usurped to become yet one more way for the advertising industry to shove ads. at me.
ex3ndr 8y ago
Which cars? BMW? No. Mercedes? No. Ford? No. etc... only Tesla is going this way.

AWildC182 8y ago

This x1000. I really wish touchscreen displays were illegal for vehicles. Everything should be done through dedicated buttons and multi-function keys. They've started doing this in aircraft as well and it's infuriating. Try typing in an airport, squawk code, or frequency on a tiny touchscreen display with moderate turbulence in IMC. Not fun...

fredley 8y ago
This is surprising, I thought air regulations were strict enough to allow this not to happen.

ErikVandeWater 8y ago

I think there are ways this could be overcome, and the screen could be way, wayyyy better. 1. Default presets. When you enter the car, you press a menu option to immediately set the car to all your settings (radio to the right station, GPS app opens,seat moves, etc.) (could be done with a button too honestly 2. Increased primary element size - Use 90% of the screen to display the setting you are changing so you don't have to look directly at it. Reduce the size of options you are not currently interested in changing. 3. Gestures - Use gestures to change settings using your muscle memory, not eyes. 4. Use the iPad to display video that helps you drive (blind spot, backup camera) 5. Use of color - When you crank the heat the screen is cast to in a red shade. Make it more intuitive at the subconscious level. 6. Full use of screen to make a change - When you want to adjust with a button or knob, you have to get your hand exactly on that button or knob. But on a screen, you could swipe left anywhere and get the same effect. This would use significantly less attention. 7. Contextual UI - The car notices the windows are fogging up and prompts if you want to turn on screen defrosters. 8.Multiple UIs and UI customizability. Don't like this UI? Try this one! Or just change the one little setting that annoys you. It's your damn car. 9. Stopped? Here's something interesting put on the screen so you stay engaged. 10. Safety tips (stats on your driving, or suggestions on ways to drive safer) 11. Haptic feedback - When you make a change, the screen could vibrate to indicate the change was received 12. Shortcuts - Have your favorite driving settings most conveniently available 13. There's probably more, but if I wrote a 13th one, it would be unlucky! :P

frosted-flakes 8y ago
Mode-based UIs on touch screens don't work well when you need to keep your eyes on the road. The reason traditional dashboards are so easy to use while driving is because each control is always in the same place and can be located and used without seeing it. Most cars have a fixed set of dash controls: climate, audio, and possibly navigation. Climate controls can easily be just three dials and a couple of buttons (temperature, fan speed, vent direction, and AC/recirculate buttons). Audio can be 4-6 preset buttons and a volume knob, and maybe some little treble/bass/fade/balance knobs. Yet many vehicles completely screw this up.
bloak 8y ago
Haptic feedback is a nice idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if the software people screw it up. I've lost count of the number of devices and software UIs that give incorrect feedback: they sometimes beep/flash when the change has not been received, or they sometimes register the change without the usual beep/flash. Have I encountered a device/UI that errs in both ways? Yes, I think I have: a microwave that beeps and increments the time when you press a button labelled "10 s", but if afterwards you squint carefully at the almost illegible LCD display you find that the number of beeps may differ from the (time / 10 s) by a positive or a negative small integer. There must be two separate button-press-detectors: one for incrementing the time, and one for the "feedback". Do we have a term for this phenomenon? It's common enough to deserve a name.
- superhuzza 8y ago
  I think this is just considered poor/inconsistent feedback: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-application-design-mistakes/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-application-design-m...
pwg 8y ago
> 9. Stopped? Here's something interesting put on the screen so you stay engaged. This one has a very high risk of quickly degrading into my car dashboard showing me advertising when I am stopped. And the last thing I want is the car I own to be usurped to become yet one more way for the advertising industry to shove ads. at me.

ex3ndr 8y ago

Which cars? BMW? No. Mercedes? No. Ford? No. etc... only Tesla is going this way.