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I've been thinking for years that automobile manufacturers entered an industry (software) that they had little knowledge of, and it showed, with janky, slow int

I've been thinking for years that automobile manufacturers entered an industry (software) that they had little knowledge of, and it showed, with janky, slow interfaces and last-generation mapping software. However, they've invested in this in the past decade, and if there's going to be a UX resurgence, it's going to be in the automobile sector, as their teams are maturing more and more.

mattmanser 6y ago
I've used a fair amount of different cars as I'm part of a city car club. I can't say I see this at all. Even their tactile controls are generally a mess. Controls as basic as window wipers or headlights seem to be different for ever car for no discernible advantage. A different 'start' mechanism for every car is actually quite a nightmare. I once spent 20 minutes in a car park trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to start, even their own instructions didn't say how!
- toast0 6y ago
  > A different 'start' mechanism for every car is actually quite a nightmare. I've driven a bunch of cars, over the years. I haven't seen too many different mechanisms. What have you seen on modern cars that's different than make sure it's in park or neutral (or clutch pedal depressed) and turn the key, or for keyless make sure it's in park or neutral (or clutch in), press the brake and push the button? And if the key battery is low, press the button with the key. I've driven some older vehicles where you turned the key to enable ignition, but had a separate starter button, and some vehicles with ignition locks that didn't work, so you could turn the ignition without a key. And some cars with keys go off -> accessories -> ignition -> starter vs accessories <- off -> ignition -> starter. If the key retention in the switch/lock is broken, sometimes it's tricky to make sure you pull the key out in off instead of accessories.
  - robocat 6y ago
    You’ve missed the variety of handbrake mechanisms. For example, I was in a Mercedes the other day: 1. It had a fob that worked as a key, but it didn’t look like a key and the key slot didn’t look like where the fob should go. 2. You set the handbrake using the left foot, but release it with a pull handle with your right hand! Both were unintuitive, and would catch out some people (I am generally well above average in working out how to use execrable user interfaces). The worst UI is often to release the door to fill fuel. More than once I’ve needed to ask for help on unfamiliar cars, and multiple people also not knowing how.

mattmanser 6y ago

I've used a fair amount of different cars as I'm part of a city car club. I can't say I see this at all. Even their tactile controls are generally a mess. Controls as basic as window wipers or headlights seem to be different for ever car for no discernible advantage. A different 'start' mechanism for every car is actually quite a nightmare. I once spent 20 minutes in a car park trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to start, even their own instructions didn't say how!

toast0 6y ago
> A different 'start' mechanism for every car is actually quite a nightmare. I've driven a bunch of cars, over the years. I haven't seen too many different mechanisms. What have you seen on modern cars that's different than make sure it's in park or neutral (or clutch pedal depressed) and turn the key, or for keyless make sure it's in park or neutral (or clutch in), press the brake and push the button? And if the key battery is low, press the button with the key. I've driven some older vehicles where you turned the key to enable ignition, but had a separate starter button, and some vehicles with ignition locks that didn't work, so you could turn the ignition without a key. And some cars with keys go off -> accessories -> ignition -> starter vs accessories <- off -> ignition -> starter. If the key retention in the switch/lock is broken, sometimes it's tricky to make sure you pull the key out in off instead of accessories.
- robocat 6y ago
  You’ve missed the variety of handbrake mechanisms. For example, I was in a Mercedes the other day: 1. It had a fob that worked as a key, but it didn’t look like a key and the key slot didn’t look like where the fob should go. 2. You set the handbrake using the left foot, but release it with a pull handle with your right hand! Both were unintuitive, and would catch out some people (I am generally well above average in working out how to use execrable user interfaces). The worst UI is often to release the door to fill fuel. More than once I’ve needed to ask for help on unfamiliar cars, and multiple people also not knowing how.