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Thank you, Honda! Touch screen controls in automotive environment is such a bad idea (unless the vehicle is stationary, and even then...)

ardy42 7y ago
> Touch screen controls in automotive environment is such a bad idea Touch screen controls are a bad idea in general when the form factor has space for adequate physical controls. The only time they're an acceptable compromise is for small devices like phones. Even then careful use of a small number of buttons can be a great improvement.
- PascLeRasc 7y ago
  One of the best features of switching from Android to an iPhone is the physical mute switch. Whenever I'm going into a meeting, I can mute my phone without taking it out of my pocket. With Androids (At least, version 6 from when I left) you have to take it out and go through all the separate volume menus. It was so refreshing to have the confidence that my phone wouldn't vibrate or disturb others during a meeting.
- kube-system 7y ago
  The situation is more nuanced than "touchscreens are bad"; the number of controls has grown exponentially since touchscreens have made it easier to put literally hundreds of buzzers and whistles on modern vehicles. It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car. This is a feature that would never need to be operated while the vehicle is in motion, and likely wouldn't be configured more than once by any given owner. Features like this are more than adequately served by touchscreen controls. Really, you would have a worse UI if there was a hardware slider for this on the dash. But yes, all controls that a driver would want to use while the vehicle is in motion should be controllable with hardware controls that can be located and operated tactilely.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    > "It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car. This is a feature that would never need to be operated while the vehicle is in motion, and likely wouldn't be configured more than once by any given owner." Features like that could be implemented as dipswitches/etc hidden in a compartment under the hood, or not at all. The "configuration screen with a gazillion tweakable settings" thing has generally fallen out of favor in desktop and mobile software, and I expect the car industry will eventually catch up.
    - kube-system 7y ago
      > Features like that could be implemented as dipswitches/etc hidden in a compartment under the hood, or not at all. How is this an improvement over having it on a touch screen?
      - catalogia 7y ago
        I thought that was obvious; because then you can eliminate the touchscreen entirely. Cars are better without them.
  - ardy42 7y ago
    > The situation is more nuanced than "touchscreens are bad"; the number of controls has grown exponentially since touchscreens have made it easier to put literally hundreds of buzzers and whistles on modern vehicles. Touchscreens aren't necessary for any of that, though. There are alternative, better UI interfaces. For instance: f-key driven soft menus. Those have tactile feedback, have reliable key-press detection, and can be operated with regular gloves. The only situation in a car where I could see a touchscreen being the right option are cases where a soft keyboard is needed. > It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car.... Features like this are more than adequately served by touchscreen controls. My Honda has a button-operated menu for that, and that's better than a touchscreen. > you would have a worse UI if there was a hardware slider for this on the dash. I never said that cars should have a dedicated, physical control for each function. What I said was touchscreens are unnecessary and sub-optimal. Commonly used functions should have dedicated physical controls, especially those that are likely to be used while in motion (driving controls, climate control, basic audio stuff). The next most common set of functions should be implemented with a combination of shortcut keys and f-keys. Finally, seldom-used functions (such as configuration) should be accessed with f-key driven menus.

ardy42 7y ago

> Touch screen controls in automotive environment is such a bad idea Touch screen controls are a bad idea in general when the form factor has space for adequate physical controls. The only time they're an acceptable compromise is for small devices like phones. Even then careful use of a small number of buttons can be a great improvement.

PascLeRasc 7y ago
One of the best features of switching from Android to an iPhone is the physical mute switch. Whenever I'm going into a meeting, I can mute my phone without taking it out of my pocket. With Androids (At least, version 6 from when I left) you have to take it out and go through all the separate volume menus. It was so refreshing to have the confidence that my phone wouldn't vibrate or disturb others during a meeting.
kube-system 7y ago
The situation is more nuanced than "touchscreens are bad"; the number of controls has grown exponentially since touchscreens have made it easier to put literally hundreds of buzzers and whistles on modern vehicles. It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car. This is a feature that would never need to be operated while the vehicle is in motion, and likely wouldn't be configured more than once by any given owner. Features like this are more than adequately served by touchscreen controls. Really, you would have a worse UI if there was a hardware slider for this on the dash. But yes, all controls that a driver would want to use while the vehicle is in motion should be controllable with hardware controls that can be located and operated tactilely.
- catalogia 7y ago
  > "It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car. This is a feature that would never need to be operated while the vehicle is in motion, and likely wouldn't be configured more than once by any given owner." Features like that could be implemented as dipswitches/etc hidden in a compartment under the hood, or not at all. The "configuration screen with a gazillion tweakable settings" thing has generally fallen out of favor in desktop and mobile software, and I expect the car industry will eventually catch up.
  - kube-system 7y ago
    > Features like that could be implemented as dipswitches/etc hidden in a compartment under the hood, or not at all. How is this an improvement over having it on a touch screen?
    - catalogia 7y ago
      I thought that was obvious; because then you can eliminate the touchscreen entirely. Cars are better without them.
- ardy42 7y ago
  > The situation is more nuanced than "touchscreens are bad"; the number of controls has grown exponentially since touchscreens have made it easier to put literally hundreds of buzzers and whistles on modern vehicles. Touchscreens aren't necessary for any of that, though. There are alternative, better UI interfaces. For instance: f-key driven soft menus. Those have tactile feedback, have reliable key-press detection, and can be operated with regular gloves. The only situation in a car where I could see a touchscreen being the right option are cases where a soft keyboard is needed. > It's fairly common now for cars to have configuration settings like: the number of seconds that the courtesy lights stay on after locking the car.... Features like this are more than adequately served by touchscreen controls. My Honda has a button-operated menu for that, and that's better than a touchscreen. > you would have a worse UI if there was a hardware slider for this on the dash. I never said that cars should have a dedicated, physical control for each function. What I said was touchscreens are unnecessary and sub-optimal. Commonly used functions should have dedicated physical controls, especially those that are likely to be used while in motion (driving controls, climate control, basic audio stuff). The next most common set of functions should be implemented with a combination of shortcut keys and f-keys. Finally, seldom-used functions (such as configuration) should be accessed with f-key driven menus.