Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles • Hacker News Board

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#81

Post by torgian » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:48 AM UTC

qertoip wrote: post #11

Unintended side effect could be drivers using their connected smartphone which is far more dangerous. This is already the case with Mazda's touch-disabled-while-driving screens. Not sure at all about the net effect on safety.

At that point, it's more the fault of the user rather than the manufacturer.

The manufacturer is trying to make driving safer by removing touch screens (which is great, IMO). If the user is sooo inconvenienced by this move, enough to reach for their cellphone while driving, then that's their own fault. Hopefully they don't crash into someone.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#82

Post by jacquesm » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:48 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #69

jacquesm wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The proper way to do this is by voice input.

Voice input in cars is the worst idea I've ever seen. I've had a brand new Mercedes with the MBUX interface and extensively used Android Auto, and the voice commands just don't work. Half the time I'm sitting there repeating myself like an absolute idiot because the car completely misunderstood what I mean(yes car, "Navigate to Cramlington" totally means "Navigate to Boston, US"). I have so many horror stories of and…

It can be done properly. The BMW Mini has a pretty good voice input for the navigation, it relies on spelling out the names of cities and streets, there is a button based back-up but I find that the voice recognition works more than well enough for almost all destinations.

Voice output that spells is silly (as is Google's navigation, which overwhelms you with information you do not need).

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#83

Post by alexchamberlain » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:48 AM UTC

This is great. I grew up watching the Simpsons and always dreamt of sitting in front of a nuclear control panel like Homer's, but instead, I sit in front of soft control panels (and many more text editors, but that's besides the point). I think we should invest more in bespoke, more usable interfaces and break away from everything being a touch screen, keyboard and/or mouse.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#84

Post by grey-area » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:50 AM UTC

marapuru wrote: post #47

Praise to Mazda for making this decision. As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars. For years I have been working on product interfaces (not just apps). Many studies I conducted actually told me that people favored analog controls over digital touch screens controls. It gives you tactile feedback, making it accessible for anyone with sense of touch. >…

All these tactile controls are going to be deleted in the next decade as self driving cars go mainstream.

This is a foolish move.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#85

Post by beambot » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:50 AM UTC

marapuru wrote: post #47

Praise to Mazda for making this decision. As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars. For years I have been working on product interfaces (not just apps). Many studies I conducted actually told me that people favored analog controls over digital touch screens controls. It gives you tactile feedback, making it accessible for anyone with sense of touch. >…

Care to elaborate on your studies? Not many cars have gone full touchscreen. I grant you that it took a bit of getting used to on my Tesla, but now I'd never want to go back. Curious how you controller for familiarity in your studies.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#86

Post by msh » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:50 AM UTC

izacus wrote: post #40

qertoip wrote: post #11

Unintended side effect could be drivers using their connected smartphone which is far more dangerous. This is already the case with Mazda's touch-disabled-while-driving screens. Not sure at all about the net effect on safety.

Why would you use a connected smartphone for HVAC controls and switching songs? The controls on steering wheel and near gear shifter are way more convenient.

changing to a different album would be easier to a touchscreen.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#87

Post by littleboi1998 » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:50 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #69

jacquesm wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The proper way to do this is by voice input.

Voice input in cars is the worst idea I've ever seen. I've had a brand new Mercedes with the MBUX interface and extensively used Android Auto, and the voice commands just don't work. Half the time I'm sitting there repeating myself like an absolute idiot because the car completely misunderstood what I mean(yes car, "Navigate to Cramlington" totally means "Navigate to Boston, US"). I have so many horror stories of and…

Just because the technology sucks right now does not mean it's a bad idea. I can EASILY see voice commands in cars being commonplace and far superior to anything that exists right now.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#88

Post by quakenul » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:51 AM UTC

marapuru wrote: post #47

Praise to Mazda for making this decision. As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars. For years I have been working on product interfaces (not just apps). Many studies I conducted actually told me that people favored analog controls over digital touch screens controls. It gives you tactile feedback, making it accessible for anyone with sense of touch. >…

> As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars

The flexibility to benefit from rapid product iteration. If you think of cars as mostly software products that receive updates over the air, a flexible interface makes a lot more sense (even though I agree that it makes for a pretty bad user interface).

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#89

Post by moviuro » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:52 AM UTC

See this 2014 article about a good car UI with touchscreens [0]; though it may take some getting used to. Switching back to analog controls and buttons is a sane move in that respect.

[0] https://matthaeuskrenn.com/new-car-ui ; and HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7261003

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#90

Post by anbop » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 7:53 AM UTC

There are three reasons to use a touchscreen for a UI: 1) minimal cost for a device that already has a display, e.g. e-book reader 2) reconfigurable UI for device that performs different tasks, e.g. smartphone 3) paging UI for vastly complex products that can’t accommodate thousands of different knobs, e.g. control panel for a non-professional audio generator.

A car doesn’t fit any of these.