6 ms·

If UI designers were making a car, the pedals would switch spots for no apparent reason every year, and the steering wheel would turn into a trendy motion contr

If UI designers were making a car, the pedals would switch spots for no apparent reason every year, and the steering wheel would turn into a trendy motion control interface.

colpabar 5y ago
Sounds like the spotify app. Why can't there just be a static button to get me to my recommended weekly/daily playlists?
- salzig 5y ago
  There is? You can follow those playlist and place them at the top of your playlists. Who needs the crap „startpage“ as a startpage anyways.
  - colpabar 5y ago
    > Who needs the crap „startpage“ as a startpage anyways. I understand this 100%. Youtube is the same exact thing - the home page is total garbage unless you enjoy watching the same 8 videos you just watched. But we're in a thread about bad UI/UX, so I'm going to complain that the "default" being bad is a bad thing.
    - _Algernon_ 5y ago
      Perhaps a bit off-topic, but the browser extension Unhook^[1] can be used to clean up the Youtube interface pretty well. I use it to remove everything except the subscription feed. [1]: FF: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recommended-videos/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recom... Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-youtube-rec/khncfooichmfjbepaaaebmommgaepoid?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-yout...
- bobsmooth 5y ago
  You don't have a "Made for you" button under the "Browse" tab?
kloch 5y ago
This was a real problem until US Gov mandated "PRND" shift order, among other things. Now, if they could just make the windshield wiper controls all work the same direction...
- __david__ 5y ago
  Why not just remove the physical windshield wiper controls, try to make them automatic, and then bury the overrides in a touchscreen menu 2 layers deep? And what if you got rid of the PRND stock and putting your car in reverse involved making a gesture on the same touchscreen? Genius!
  - Arrath 5y ago
    No see to put your car in reverse you need to throw your arm over the passenger seat and look over your shoulder, activating the pressure sensor in the back of the passenger headrest, and the face recognition sensor in the rear window.
    - mushyhammer 5y ago
      To be fair, that's not a bad idea. It'd probably stop a bunch of drivers driving backwards without looking. Let's do it.
      - niek_pas 5y ago
        I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not, but this is a terrible idea. A family is driving on the highway. Kids are fighting in the back seat. The mother, who is driving, turns her head and tells them to stop. The car is rear-ended by a dump truck, and all three are dead.
        Arrath 5y ago
        I have to assume modern auto transmissions have computer lockouts to prevent you from money-shifting it into R while at speed, don't they? I'm thinking like modern dial-a-shift where you aren't directly manipulating the transmission with the shifter. I've never tried to test it cause I don't like horribly expensive mechanical noises, but yeah.
pixl97 5y ago
Now let's not give Tesla any ideas...
zestyping 5y ago
This is not all that far from what's happening with touchscreens in cars. Pros of touchscreens: - You can make the UI look like anything you want. Cons of touchscreens: - You can make the UI look like anything you want.
- Zak 5y ago
  The more important con of touchscreens for cars is that you have to look at them. Well-designed controls for cars can be reliably operated by feel once learned.
  - XorNot 5y ago
    I'm less convinced by this: controls within easy reach while driving need to be physical because you can reach them without looking, but the center control dash is always a little bit too far away from a comfortable driving position to start with - and thus a reasonable candidate to be touchscreen-ifyed provided you don't put serious controls on it. i.e. I don't mind touchscreen A/C controls or something, provided the driver's wheel also has those controls (which in my old Toyota Prius it does). IMO the big innovation is making sure that everything I would want to do while driving is literally at my fingertips, which should be on the steering wheel.
    - Phrodo_00 5y ago
      While you generally have to do a quick glance to find the center console controls, after you get a hold on them you can put your eyes back on the road because of the physical feedback. You would need incredibly good haptics on a touch screen to accomplish the same (I haven't experienced incredibly good haptics on any car I've rented (my car uses mostly physical buttons))
    - _0w8t 5y ago
      I do not understand how Tesla was allowed to put de-fog button for the windshield in a submenu on the touchscreen. This is a critical safety feature. The only explanation is that it is not needed often in California.
tempestn 5y ago
You jest, but we're almost there with Tesla, where the wheel is no longer a wheel, the turn signals are two buttons (on the same side of the wheel) rather than a stalk, the gear shifter is removed and the car literally tries to guess whether you want to go forward or backward, and every other control is on a touchscreen, and does indeed move around or disappear into a menu at least every year.
- b112 5y ago
  Based upon this alone, I cannot see myself buying Tesla -- especially with so many other options opening up.
  - tempestn 5y ago
    The irony is I actually own a Tesla, but it's a Model Y, so fortunately doesn't yet have most of the worst of these.
- netr0ute 5y ago
  You just described (almost) every real race car in the past few decades, where everything is bespoke engineered and done solely for "UI/UX."
  - gifnamething 5y ago
    Race cars are optimised for racing, not manoeuvring. Try applying their wheel geometry to you road car. You won't get far, though you will get there very fast and very sideways. Aftermarket steering wheels are widely available for road cars. Most of them are wheel shaped.
mhh__ 5y ago
Saab made a car with a centre console stick instead of a wheel once
duxup 5y ago
> UI designers were making a car https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/news/6272879924001/why-we-think-teslas-new-steering-yoke-shows-little-benefit/ https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/news/6272879...
LegitShady 5y ago
we've noticed you use the gas pedal significantly more than the brake pedal - in the next update we will be removing the brake pedal.
charcircuit 5y ago
>and the steering wheel would turn into a trendy motion control interface. The steering wheel is already motion controlled.
d0gsg0w00f 5y ago
This made me laugh and it also made me wonder if UI people have jokes about how annoying engineers are.
CSMastermind 5y ago
Lol you should look into car design pre-1970. It was basically this.

If UI designers were making a car, the pedals would switch spots for no apparent reason every year, and the steering wheel would turn into a trendy motion control interface.

colpabar 5y ago

Sounds like the spotify app. Why can't there just be a static button to get me to my recommended weekly/daily playlists?

salzig 5y ago
There is? You can follow those playlist and place them at the top of your playlists. Who needs the crap „startpage“ as a startpage anyways.
- colpabar 5y ago
  > Who needs the crap „startpage“ as a startpage anyways. I understand this 100%. Youtube is the same exact thing - the home page is total garbage unless you enjoy watching the same 8 videos you just watched. But we're in a thread about bad UI/UX, so I'm going to complain that the "default" being bad is a bad thing.
  - _Algernon_ 5y ago
    Perhaps a bit off-topic, but the browser extension Unhook^[1] can be used to clean up the Youtube interface pretty well. I use it to remove everything except the subscription feed. [1]: FF: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recommended-videos/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recom... Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-youtube-rec/khncfooichmfjbepaaaebmommgaepoid?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unhook-remove-yout...
bobsmooth 5y ago
You don't have a "Made for you" button under the "Browse" tab?

kloch 5y ago

This was a real problem until US Gov mandated "PRND" shift order, among other things. Now, if they could just make the windshield wiper controls all work the same direction...

__david__ 5y ago
Why not just remove the physical windshield wiper controls, try to make them automatic, and then bury the overrides in a touchscreen menu 2 layers deep? And what if you got rid of the PRND stock and putting your car in reverse involved making a gesture on the same touchscreen? Genius!
- Arrath 5y ago
  No see to put your car in reverse you need to throw your arm over the passenger seat and look over your shoulder, activating the pressure sensor in the back of the passenger headrest, and the face recognition sensor in the rear window.
  - mushyhammer 5y ago
    To be fair, that's not a bad idea. It'd probably stop a bunch of drivers driving backwards without looking. Let's do it.
    - niek_pas 5y ago
      I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not, but this is a terrible idea. A family is driving on the highway. Kids are fighting in the back seat. The mother, who is driving, turns her head and tells them to stop. The car is rear-ended by a dump truck, and all three are dead.
      - Arrath 5y ago
        I have to assume modern auto transmissions have computer lockouts to prevent you from money-shifting it into R while at speed, don't they? I'm thinking like modern dial-a-shift where you aren't directly manipulating the transmission with the shifter. I've never tried to test it cause I don't like horribly expensive mechanical noises, but yeah.

pixl97 5y ago

Now let's not give Tesla any ideas...

zestyping 5y ago

This is not all that far from what's happening with touchscreens in cars. Pros of touchscreens: - You can make the UI look like anything you want. Cons of touchscreens: - You can make the UI look like anything you want.

Zak 5y ago
The more important con of touchscreens for cars is that you have to look at them. Well-designed controls for cars can be reliably operated by feel once learned.
- XorNot 5y ago
  I'm less convinced by this: controls within easy reach while driving need to be physical because you can reach them without looking, but the center control dash is always a little bit too far away from a comfortable driving position to start with - and thus a reasonable candidate to be touchscreen-ifyed provided you don't put serious controls on it. i.e. I don't mind touchscreen A/C controls or something, provided the driver's wheel also has those controls (which in my old Toyota Prius it does). IMO the big innovation is making sure that everything I would want to do while driving is literally at my fingertips, which should be on the steering wheel.
  - Phrodo_00 5y ago
    While you generally have to do a quick glance to find the center console controls, after you get a hold on them you can put your eyes back on the road because of the physical feedback. You would need incredibly good haptics on a touch screen to accomplish the same (I haven't experienced incredibly good haptics on any car I've rented (my car uses mostly physical buttons))
  - _0w8t 5y ago
    I do not understand how Tesla was allowed to put de-fog button for the windshield in a submenu on the touchscreen. This is a critical safety feature. The only explanation is that it is not needed often in California.

tempestn 5y ago

You jest, but we're almost there with Tesla, where the wheel is no longer a wheel, the turn signals are two buttons (on the same side of the wheel) rather than a stalk, the gear shifter is removed and the car literally tries to guess whether you want to go forward or backward, and every other control is on a touchscreen, and does indeed move around or disappear into a menu at least every year.

b112 5y ago
Based upon this alone, I cannot see myself buying Tesla -- especially with so many other options opening up.
- tempestn 5y ago
  The irony is I actually own a Tesla, but it's a Model Y, so fortunately doesn't yet have most of the worst of these.
netr0ute 5y ago
You just described (almost) every real race car in the past few decades, where everything is bespoke engineered and done solely for "UI/UX."
- gifnamething 5y ago
  Race cars are optimised for racing, not manoeuvring. Try applying their wheel geometry to you road car. You won't get far, though you will get there very fast and very sideways. Aftermarket steering wheels are widely available for road cars. Most of them are wheel shaped.

mhh__ 5y ago

Saab made a car with a centre console stick instead of a wheel once

duxup 5y ago

> UI designers were making a car https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/news/6272879924001/why-we-think-teslas-new-steering-yoke-shows-little-benefit/ https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/news/6272879...

LegitShady 5y ago

we've noticed you use the gas pedal significantly more than the brake pedal - in the next update we will be removing the brake pedal.

charcircuit 5y ago

>and the steering wheel would turn into a trendy motion control interface. The steering wheel is already motion controlled.

d0gsg0w00f 5y ago

This made me laugh and it also made me wonder if UI people have jokes about how annoying engineers are.

CSMastermind 5y ago

Lol you should look into car design pre-1970. It was basically this.