2 ms·
Re physical buttons: I always wonder why there are no "modal buttons" in cars. E.g. 4 buttons on the left, 4 on the right. The ones on the left open "submenus"
by fho 11d ago
Re physical buttons: I always wonder why there are no "modal buttons" in cars. E.g. 4 buttons on the left, 4 on the right.
The ones on the left open "submenus" the ones on the right trigger an action from the submenu.
Can be visual, but should not depend in the GUI to keep up.
Examples: Left 1 puts you in the audio menu, Right 1 increases volume. Left 2 puts you in the cruise control menu, Right 1 activates.
Humans are actually pretty good at learning simple patterns like that.
4x4 gives you 16 functions on the wheel. Going one level deeper (left, right, left) would give you 64 possible results. That should be enough to cover all bases.
- _nalply 11d agoI got a car whose cruise control state was never displayed (the mechanic used the wrong dashboard), but since it worked anyway, I accepted it. So that's a data point (me) that modal buttons do work. But "should not depend in the GUI to keep up" is wrong, I think. It needs at least one LED per mode. Because sometimes it's a bit annoying. Rarely cruise control doesn't engage or turns off by itself or something caused the cruise control mode diverge from what I have in mind, and a quick glance would help to resync.
- fho 11d agoI am not ruling out the GUI. I just should not be required to look at it. The GUI is a necessity for learning, but once you know a key sequence there must not be a delay before the second click can be made. The menus should be shown on the dashboard (not on the central screen). I would argue that that would be even safer than trying to look at the symbols in the wheel/stalks while driving.