4 ms·

my car has lots of physical buttons and to push them, I briefly have to look at the console, find the button, and press it For things that you do regularly the

my car has lots of physical buttons and to push them, I briefly have to look at the console, find the button, and press it For things that you do regularly the button should be optimized to not be in the middle of a cluster. Ideally it'll be somewhere you can see easily (like on the steering wheel), and most importantly of all it isn't dependent on context. In my car I can easily turn on the aircon, or change the music volume, or answer the phone without looking away from the road because I know where the button is and one press always does that thing. On a touchscreen you always need to give it attention because the screen area changes what it does depending on what you've pressed before pressing that area. That is a huge disadvantage. Your point about pressing a button not doing what it's supposed to is right, but I have to admit I can't remember the last time that happened in any car I've owned. Buttons not working isn't a common issue as far as I know.

emodendroket 4y ago
My car does have a second knob opposite the volume knob that has different functions in different contexts and consequently I pretty much never use it
PetitPrince 4y ago
> For things that you do regularly the button should be optimized to not be in the middle of a cluster I found that I was using the wheel warmer button way more than I through I would. It's located right in middle of a cluster on the central console, in an awkward place to look at (right next to my hips in a blind spot). I devised a nice and cheap fix for this UI problem that wouldn't be applicable on a touch screen: I put a googly eye sticker on it. Better tactile feedback, no loss of function, and more whimsy in my otherwise boring car.
- DonHopkins 4y ago
  Brilliant: You've reinvented Braille with googly eyeballs for sighted drivers! It illustrates the point that accessibility isn't only for disabled people. It benefits everyone, and if you're lucky to live long enough, you'll need it more and more as you get older. Unless you're planning to die young, you're not just abled, but predisabled. https://twitter.com/BeingCharisBlog/status/1455890239520587783 https://twitter.com/BeingCharisBlog/status/14558902395205877...
  - acapybara 4y ago
    Everyone is just predisabled? I suppose we're all just pre-dead as well? What a depressing way to look at life. You may want to seek out help from a counselor.
    - DonHopkins 4y ago
      I'm glad that by using and defining the word "predisabled", I have raised your consciousness enough to consider your own mortality, and the fact that your vision, hearing, dexterity, mental acuity, and memory are all inevitably going to degrade as you get older. Not everyone is predisabled: many unfortunate people won't live long enough to suffer the consequences of old age. But I'd rather not die before I get old, myself. Do you know anyone currently alive who isn't pre-dead? I certainly hope I'm currently predisabled instead of just short lived, myself. It sounds like you're the one who needs a counselor if you're so depressed and having such a hard time facing the fact that you're getting older and less abled every second, until you die. If you're designing user interfaces, you might want to seek out help from an accessibility specialist.
      - justin66 4y ago
        > But I'd rather not die before I get old, myself. I suggest we call the people on the other side of this divide "Daltreys" and prohibit them from designing any UIs.
soco 4y ago
My car has plenty of buttons on the steering wheel, but unfortunately there's only so much real estate so you'll still need to fiddle in other places (ventilation and warming). And there are also menus, handled by the steering wheels buttons and displayed on the screen right in front of your nose but I still don't recommend that while driving as the menu structure was put together by throwing D12 dices on a drunk night out (luckily many menus are disabled while driving so there's less room for error)
vsl 4y ago
> Buttons not working isn't a common issue as far as I know. The touchscreen latency issue discussed in parent posts is just that...

emodendroket 4y ago

My car does have a second knob opposite the volume knob that has different functions in different contexts and consequently I pretty much never use it

PetitPrince 4y ago

> For things that you do regularly the button should be optimized to not be in the middle of a cluster I found that I was using the wheel warmer button way more than I through I would. It's located right in middle of a cluster on the central console, in an awkward place to look at (right next to my hips in a blind spot). I devised a nice and cheap fix for this UI problem that wouldn't be applicable on a touch screen: I put a googly eye sticker on it. Better tactile feedback, no loss of function, and more whimsy in my otherwise boring car.

DonHopkins 4y ago
Brilliant: You've reinvented Braille with googly eyeballs for sighted drivers! It illustrates the point that accessibility isn't only for disabled people. It benefits everyone, and if you're lucky to live long enough, you'll need it more and more as you get older. Unless you're planning to die young, you're not just abled, but predisabled. https://twitter.com/BeingCharisBlog/status/1455890239520587783 https://twitter.com/BeingCharisBlog/status/14558902395205877...
- acapybara 4y ago
  Everyone is just predisabled? I suppose we're all just pre-dead as well? What a depressing way to look at life. You may want to seek out help from a counselor.
  - DonHopkins 4y ago
    I'm glad that by using and defining the word "predisabled", I have raised your consciousness enough to consider your own mortality, and the fact that your vision, hearing, dexterity, mental acuity, and memory are all inevitably going to degrade as you get older. Not everyone is predisabled: many unfortunate people won't live long enough to suffer the consequences of old age. But I'd rather not die before I get old, myself. Do you know anyone currently alive who isn't pre-dead? I certainly hope I'm currently predisabled instead of just short lived, myself. It sounds like you're the one who needs a counselor if you're so depressed and having such a hard time facing the fact that you're getting older and less abled every second, until you die. If you're designing user interfaces, you might want to seek out help from an accessibility specialist.
    - justin66 4y ago
      > But I'd rather not die before I get old, myself. I suggest we call the people on the other side of this divide "Daltreys" and prohibit them from designing any UIs.

soco 4y ago

My car has plenty of buttons on the steering wheel, but unfortunately there's only so much real estate so you'll still need to fiddle in other places (ventilation and warming). And there are also menus, handled by the steering wheels buttons and displayed on the screen right in front of your nose but I still don't recommend that while driving as the menu structure was put together by throwing D12 dices on a drunk night out (luckily many menus are disabled while driving so there's less room for error)

vsl 4y ago

> Buttons not working isn't a common issue as far as I know. The touchscreen latency issue discussed in parent posts is just that...