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There's nothing like good physical controls. I believe designers call these "affordances", don't they?

by riffic 5y ago

cf100clunk 5y ago
I have a shopping list of wishes for new cars: physical controls that are shaped/textured/otherwise laid out in ways that make them recognizable by feel or distance from the steering wheel. Don't make me have to try to figure out which rocker switch in an identical row of them performs the task I desire. Likewise, a set of steering wheel mini-paddles similar to those on new Subarus would be appreciated, but especially if they are reassignable by the driver. As for radios, go back to the old paradigm of a left volume knob and a right tuning knob, with concentric controls for reassignable features like balance, fade, bass, treble, etc. that can be easily achieved without scrolling through all of them first.
- rpmisms 5y ago
  I feel like we could do way better with tactile interfaces for infotainment control. There's got to be some better way than a massive array of single-purpose buttons.
- ddingus 5y ago
  Yes. I like older cars for these reasons. Basically, if one can drive at night, no cab illumination beyond a dim dash, the controls make sense. They make better sense when fewer of them are not modal.
  - cf100clunk 5y ago
    >They make better sense when fewer of them are not modal. I love vi but not on the dashboard while I'm driving! :D
    - ddingus 5y ago
      Totally! In state terms, a flat model is best. Store as little state in our heads as possible, so the driving, things we don't control have the grey matter resources and capacity necessary to travel safely. Frankly, I like it when my cars don't do much. Some things, like ABS, traction controls are good. They are just on, and with a test or two, I know what they will do, and when they won't do it, I am notified clearly so I can fall back to more manual mode, no automation driving mode gracefully.

There's nothing like good physical controls. I believe designers call these "affordances", don't they?

by riffic 5y ago

There's nothing like good physical controls. I believe designers call these "affordances", don't they?

I have a shopping list of wishes for new cars: physical controls that are shaped/textured/otherwise laid out in ways that make them recognizable by feel or distance from the steering wheel. Don't make me have to try to figure out which rocker switch in an identical row of them performs the task I desire. Likewise, a set of steering wheel mini-paddles similar to those on new Subarus would be appreciated, but especially if they are reassignable by the driver. As for radios, go back to the old paradigm of a left volume knob and a right tuning knob, with concentric controls for reassignable features like balance, fade, bass, treble, etc. that can be easily achieved without scrolling through all of them first.

rpmisms 5y ago
I feel like we could do way better with tactile interfaces for infotainment control. There's got to be some better way than a massive array of single-purpose buttons.
ddingus 5y ago
Yes. I like older cars for these reasons. Basically, if one can drive at night, no cab illumination beyond a dim dash, the controls make sense. They make better sense when fewer of them are not modal.
- cf100clunk 5y ago
  >They make better sense when fewer of them are not modal. I love vi but not on the dashboard while I'm driving! :D
  - ddingus 5y ago
    Totally! In state terms, a flat model is best. Store as little state in our heads as possible, so the driving, things we don't control have the grey matter resources and capacity necessary to travel safely. Frankly, I like it when my cars don't do much. Some things, like ABS, traction controls are good. They are just on, and with a test or two, I know what they will do, and when they won't do it, I am notified clearly so I can fall back to more manual mode, no automation driving mode gracefully.