4 ms·

I think he took this way too far but I can get behind the core of it. I'm especially dismayed by touchscreen interfaces in cars. Give me DIALS and KNOBS. The

I think he took this way too far but I can get behind the core of it. I'm especially dismayed by touchscreen interfaces in cars. Give me DIALS and KNOBS. They are SO MUCH BETTER than a touchscreen because I can easily use them accurately without taking my eyes off the road. No amount of touchscreen haptic feedback will ever make up for this. If you must embrace high-tech in the car cockpit, voice control is fine (if it works well), but touchscreens are horrible in this environment.

astral303 14y ago
+1. Give me KNOBS or give me death! Take the infamous iDrive example. For all the good design that BMW puts into their cars, it all suddenly went out of the window when it came to software. It's like when the software engineers showed up, everyone else threw up their hands and said "take it away--we don't care how poorly usable it is, for it is 'cool' and that's what people want." For example, if you wish to change a radio station to another preset, and you have the misfortune of being elsewhere in the touchscreen UI, you must first navigate to the Radio screen, then switch to Presets (working off slightly hazy memory here, so pardon inexactness if there is one). How is that better than just whacking the button for the preset # on the radio? A must read-book for any techie, in my opinion, is "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum" by Alan Cooper. It gave me a new perspective on computing. If you do any kind of software design that is used by a human, you must read it. So that book starts out with "Riddles for the Information Age" and asks you what happens when you cross a computer with: an airplane, a camera, an alarm clock, a car, etc. As you might guess, the answer is that things did not go well.
- josephlord 14y ago
  There have been a number of iterations of the iDrive and some may not be much good but mine works quite well because 1) There are 8 programmable buttons for radio stations/destinations and maybe some other things. They are numbered. 2) Steering wheel buttons for audio input selection and track/station up down and volume. 3) iDrive gestures of pushing and holding East for navigation and South for entertainment (I don't have a phone kit as I don't want to call while driving, that would be the North direction). So I only need spin the iDrive for setting destinations or scrolling though the contents of the connected iPod. I find the iDrive with the mentioned shortcuts a much better concept for a car than a touchscreen (at until you can feel the screen content without looking). I find a recent Mini much worse for missing the programmable buttons and possibly the hold to different compass bearings.
  - astral303 14y ago
    It must've been improved recently then. I am going off circa 2007 3-series version here. Thanks for the update.
    - josephlord 14y ago
      Actually it is an early 2008 1-series so similar timing but I think the key is to try the particular version as there is some variety (and I'm not sure it is all progress over time).
- nkurz 14y ago
  Not sure if you noticed, but the linked article is on http://cooper.com http://cooper.com, which was founded by Alan Cooper. Ironically and incredibly, with current Chrome on Mac, I am unable to scroll to the bottom of the page on their site describing the book: http://www.cooper.com/#about:books http://www.cooper.com/#about:books Kindly, the old working version of their site is still available: http://www.cooper.com/about/books.html http://www.cooper.com/about/books.html
  - hrktb 14y ago
    >http://www.cooper.com/#about:books http://www.cooper.com/#about:books It's horrible on safari as well and a little better on firefox (mac also), but the "Experiencing technical issues?" link to the plain vanilla version at the bottom left hints at the experimental state of the interface.
erichocean 14y ago
The key to thing to this kind of thinking is to tie (hidden) actions to other, required actions. It's amazing how far this can be taken.
dredmorbius 14y ago
Even in the knobs world, there are levels of suitability. In automobiles, there's an increasing tendency to soft/electronic controls for cabin heating/cooling. Which is ... annoying. My preference is for the three-control (plus A/C switch) control first introduced by Japanese automakers. One for fan speed (and off), one for vent settings, one for heat mix. The switch enables/disables AC. Compare with the standard American design at the time which had a fan speed switch, heat control, and a multi-function slider combining both vent settings and AC. The end result being more complexity and fewer available settings (want to direct cold only at your feet, or blow the windshield without AC -- no can do). Agreed regarding touchscreen. I doubt even voice will work as reliably as physical controls though.
nuclear_eclipse 14y ago
My new Golf GTI has a touchscreen radio/nav system, but it also has physical dials that can be used in place of touch for everything. It's actually quite fantastic. I can use knobs (or steering wheel controls) when driving, and the touch controls are even faster and friendlier when I have the ability to look at the screen. Both interfaces feel natural, and have complementing benefits.
Zenst 14y ago
I don't drive, though I completely understand the need for physical interface controls for common used tasks and in a car that’s a fair few. Another way of looking at it is if touch screens in cars were that good then Kitt out of Knight Rider would of had one. I believe head-up displays have potential in cars in many interface area's, imagine a fighter jet with touch screen interfaces says a lot. I still moan the loss of the jog-wheel on the blackberry devices, dammed useful for scrolling down long lists in a controlled way without obscuring the screen or having to play with a trackball designed for mice! Another argument of interface were dials win over touch interfaces would perhaps be DJ mixers. Touch interfaces will only get better, but will never replace the tactile and visual static presence of a actual knob/button for most. I want my phone which has a button you press to answer calls, not a virtual one.
nathan_long 14y ago
>> Give me DIALS and KNOBS. This. I much preferred the click wheel and button of my old iPod Nano to the touchscreen of my new one. I could pause, skip, rewind, and adjust the volume on the old one without looking at it.

astral303 14y ago

+1. Give me KNOBS or give me death! Take the infamous iDrive example. For all the good design that BMW puts into their cars, it all suddenly went out of the window when it came to software. It's like when the software engineers showed up, everyone else threw up their hands and said "take it away--we don't care how poorly usable it is, for it is 'cool' and that's what people want." For example, if you wish to change a radio station to another preset, and you have the misfortune of being elsewhere in the touchscreen UI, you must first navigate to the Radio screen, then switch to Presets (working off slightly hazy memory here, so pardon inexactness if there is one). How is that better than just whacking the button for the preset # on the radio? A must read-book for any techie, in my opinion, is "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum" by Alan Cooper. It gave me a new perspective on computing. If you do any kind of software design that is used by a human, you must read it. So that book starts out with "Riddles for the Information Age" and asks you what happens when you cross a computer with: an airplane, a camera, an alarm clock, a car, etc. As you might guess, the answer is that things did not go well.

josephlord 14y ago
There have been a number of iterations of the iDrive and some may not be much good but mine works quite well because 1) There are 8 programmable buttons for radio stations/destinations and maybe some other things. They are numbered. 2) Steering wheel buttons for audio input selection and track/station up down and volume. 3) iDrive gestures of pushing and holding East for navigation and South for entertainment (I don't have a phone kit as I don't want to call while driving, that would be the North direction). So I only need spin the iDrive for setting destinations or scrolling though the contents of the connected iPod. I find the iDrive with the mentioned shortcuts a much better concept for a car than a touchscreen (at until you can feel the screen content without looking). I find a recent Mini much worse for missing the programmable buttons and possibly the hold to different compass bearings.
- astral303 14y ago
  It must've been improved recently then. I am going off circa 2007 3-series version here. Thanks for the update.
  - josephlord 14y ago
    Actually it is an early 2008 1-series so similar timing but I think the key is to try the particular version as there is some variety (and I'm not sure it is all progress over time).
nkurz 14y ago
Not sure if you noticed, but the linked article is on http://cooper.com http://cooper.com, which was founded by Alan Cooper. Ironically and incredibly, with current Chrome on Mac, I am unable to scroll to the bottom of the page on their site describing the book: http://www.cooper.com/#about:books http://www.cooper.com/#about:books Kindly, the old working version of their site is still available: http://www.cooper.com/about/books.html http://www.cooper.com/about/books.html
- hrktb 14y ago
  >http://www.cooper.com/#about:books http://www.cooper.com/#about:books It's horrible on safari as well and a little better on firefox (mac also), but the "Experiencing technical issues?" link to the plain vanilla version at the bottom left hints at the experimental state of the interface.

erichocean 14y ago

The key to thing to this kind of thinking is to tie (hidden) actions to other, required actions. It's amazing how far this can be taken.

dredmorbius 14y ago

Even in the knobs world, there are levels of suitability. In automobiles, there's an increasing tendency to soft/electronic controls for cabin heating/cooling. Which is ... annoying. My preference is for the three-control (plus A/C switch) control first introduced by Japanese automakers. One for fan speed (and off), one for vent settings, one for heat mix. The switch enables/disables AC. Compare with the standard American design at the time which had a fan speed switch, heat control, and a multi-function slider combining both vent settings and AC. The end result being more complexity and fewer available settings (want to direct cold only at your feet, or blow the windshield without AC -- no can do). Agreed regarding touchscreen. I doubt even voice will work as reliably as physical controls though.

nuclear_eclipse 14y ago

My new Golf GTI has a touchscreen radio/nav system, but it also has physical dials that can be used in place of touch for everything. It's actually quite fantastic. I can use knobs (or steering wheel controls) when driving, and the touch controls are even faster and friendlier when I have the ability to look at the screen. Both interfaces feel natural, and have complementing benefits.

Zenst 14y ago

I don't drive, though I completely understand the need for physical interface controls for common used tasks and in a car that’s a fair few. Another way of looking at it is if touch screens in cars were that good then Kitt out of Knight Rider would of had one. I believe head-up displays have potential in cars in many interface area's, imagine a fighter jet with touch screen interfaces says a lot. I still moan the loss of the jog-wheel on the blackberry devices, dammed useful for scrolling down long lists in a controlled way without obscuring the screen or having to play with a trackball designed for mice! Another argument of interface were dials win over touch interfaces would perhaps be DJ mixers. Touch interfaces will only get better, but will never replace the tactile and visual static presence of a actual knob/button for most. I want my phone which has a button you press to answer calls, not a virtual one.

nathan_long 14y ago

>> Give me DIALS and KNOBS. This. I much preferred the click wheel and button of my old iPod Nano to the touchscreen of my new one. I could pause, skip, rewind, and adjust the volume on the old one without looking at it.