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I can imagine that customers are annoyed by laggy UIs but don't weigh that very highly when deciding to buy a new car. Especially if the competition is roughly

I can imagine that customers are annoyed by laggy UIs but don't weigh that very highly when deciding to buy a new car. Especially if the competition is roughly equally slow, the costs to engineer a responsive solution might be to high for its impact on sales. Consumers, being used to feature rich phones, may indeed value feature count over quality (for the entertainment System). Despite what OEMs claim a car is first and foremost a means of transportation and a "software Plattform" only after that.

donalhunt 3y ago
I think it's a growing factor and the linked article would indicates that manufacturers are receiving feedback about it. It's not clear whether that feedback is from sales channels (i.e. potential customers are shunning particular products) or from service channels (customers are reporting issues that require additional development spend resulting in profits being eroded). Personally, I've been looking for a new car for 3+ years and the quality of controls (which are nearly all touchscreen based these days) is a major factor. This is also a reflection that trust in car manufacturers to address software related issues is low - they are used to designing and building cars that are churned out in 3+ year cycles. Moving to a scenario where the product is changing monthly is a huge change. My 13 year old current car is extremely solid and the controls don't change month to month - something that does happen without any customer choice in more recent times. :/
wruza 3y ago
customers are annoyed by laggy UIs but don't weigh that very highly when deciding to buy a new car UI is not something you can evaluate on a 30 min test drive under sales pressure. Sometimes there’s no way to test it (no rain, no snow, no free straight road, no immediate glitches). And there’s no reviews that cover it. It’s not a weighted decision, it’s a decision out of only parameters that are most obvious. The same way you play a lottery with e.g. a washing machine, whether it beeps after unlocking the door or you have to go and sit near it like an idiot for a whole minute.

donalhunt 3y ago

I think it's a growing factor and the linked article would indicates that manufacturers are receiving feedback about it. It's not clear whether that feedback is from sales channels (i.e. potential customers are shunning particular products) or from service channels (customers are reporting issues that require additional development spend resulting in profits being eroded). Personally, I've been looking for a new car for 3+ years and the quality of controls (which are nearly all touchscreen based these days) is a major factor. This is also a reflection that trust in car manufacturers to address software related issues is low - they are used to designing and building cars that are churned out in 3+ year cycles. Moving to a scenario where the product is changing monthly is a huge change. My 13 year old current car is extremely solid and the controls don't change month to month - something that does happen without any customer choice in more recent times. :/

wruza 3y ago

customers are annoyed by laggy UIs but don't weigh that very highly when deciding to buy a new car UI is not something you can evaluate on a 30 min test drive under sales pressure. Sometimes there’s no way to test it (no rain, no snow, no free straight road, no immediate glitches). And there’s no reviews that cover it. It’s not a weighted decision, it’s a decision out of only parameters that are most obvious. The same way you play a lottery with e.g. a washing machine, whether it beeps after unlocking the door or you have to go and sit near it like an idiot for a whole minute.