Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

Post by Schlaefer » Sun, Sep 26, 2021, 7:14 PM UTC

misnome wrote: post #233

mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

This is what I _hate_ about the Audi striping indicators. Yes, they are actually useful when you see them when they are indicating. However, when they have the hazard lights on, they still stripe. So if it's still and you can't see the left indicator, it feels like a very strong statement that they are trying to move out.

Post by breakingcups » Sun, Sep 26, 2021, 7:19 PM UTC

dafoex wrote: post #173

dorkwood wrote: post #157

To me, this sends another signal. One that says "don't work at Mini". If something like this is able to make it all the way through design, production and testing -- with no one raising a red flag along the way -- what other less visible but equally bone-headed ideas are making it into their cars?

I think the problem lies, as usual, with america. These lamp clusters were designed in a European environment where we have brake lights and turn indicators. By the time the design was nearing production it was probably too late to cancel when they realised that some parts of this planet have the boneheaded idea that flashing the red stop light was a good idea. Mini therefore had three options: 1) Sell the global spe…

Post by kwhitefoot » Sun, Sep 26, 2021, 7:23 PM UTC

Post by paperoli » Sun, Sep 26, 2021, 7:24 PM UTC

Post by robocat » Sun, Sep 26, 2021, 7:30 PM UTC

yongjik wrote: post #215

argomo wrote: post #54

> there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car, which direction is being indicated. This response from Mini presumes drivers have the luxury of using "system 2" logical/analytical reasoning in a hectic realtime environment where they must most rely on "system 1" intuitive reasoning. There needs to be a name for this type design fallacy, because it's not the first…

Don't know the name of the fallacy, but there's a book aptly titled "Don't make me think", which talks about exactly this problem (for web design). Thing like turn signals shouldn't make you think - it must be automatically, instantly recognizable in every possible way.