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The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

uxdesign.cc

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Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#101

Post by eddieroger »

analog31 wrote: post #97

A few days ago in these very pages, I dissed the UI of an oscilloscope. But using one yesterday, I realized an advantage: I could operate it with one hand while holding the probe with the other. Even software interfaces for instrumentation, that use the keyboard and mouse, are physically awkward and your computer has to be positioned just right. A couple more advantages: * A small interface makes small things small.…

I have a 2017 Honda Civic. That particular model year, they chose to remove the volume knob for a capacitive little slider thing (in addition to the buttons on the wheel). The very next year, they put it back. Turns out it's pretty useful to be able to control the volume of your stereo without taking your eyes off the road when operating a car. They did a similar thing for the air controls, except they left some of them as actual knobs and buttons.

Sometimes the old ways are better and have lasted so long for a reason.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#102

Post by thfuran »

omega3 wrote: post #32

One only needs to look at how professionals operate to find already iterated to a close perfection user interfaces. Take a professional kitchen at a restaurant and compare it with a gadget filled home kitchen.

I work on software for professional use and while I'd never say our UX is near perfection, we do get a bunch of tickets if things change and some process starts taking an extra click or two. We're at least pressured to avoid UX regressions and needless changes.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#103

Post by usa-name »

arky527 wrote: post #5

Modern cars seem to be moving towards all controls on a touch screen somewhere. I suppose this allows for more frequent updates, but in my experience it just leads to more bugs and more painful factory updates. Not to mention using a touchscreen to adjust the temperature while driving is incredibly dangerous compared to a dial you can feel for without taking your eyes off the road.

I think car manufacturers will ultimately move towards voice assistants for these sort of tasks.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#104

Post by samatman »

blackhaz wrote: post #26
flashingleds wrote: post #15

It can go both ways of course. The first edition of Norman’s classic ‘design of everyday things’ was 1988, and it’s interesting to read that book today and see how a lot of the hard problems he was discussing were completely solved by the advent of touchscreen interfaces (specifically, the ability to reconfigure the interface according to what tasks are relevant at that moment). Done right, touchscreens are a huge bo…

What are the examples of touchscreens done right besides the iPhone which is also on a UX downhill since, probably iPhone 4 or 5 era? Cars? Motherfucking abysmal. ATMs? How many times we tried to press a button realizing you're missing it completely because there's a 3-inch think screen? Laptops? Only those who like fingerprints. Cameras? I think if you are seriously using it, you prefer tactile. Signature pads? This…

Watches, phones, tablets.

What these have in common is that they are touchscreens. I can't think of a case of something else which just happens to have a touchscreen where I wouldn't prefer some other interface.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#105

Post by bqmjjx0kac »

Macha wrote: post #66
s4i wrote: post #7

Reminds me of modern stoves. All of them have touch controls which means every time a friend of mine is presenting me their new kitchen, I have no idea how to use the stove. They always say "No, no, it's really easy to get used to" but it's still frustrating because the touch controls never bring any new features to the table. They are just knobs abstracted into separated buttons and sliders, of which the latter you…

Also home appliances love to use icons without any seeming standardisation. On one oven, the fan icon means fan assisted cooking and is basically the one you want 90% of the time, and then on another it means turn the fan on without applying heat. Also various half open rectangles with squiggly lines which may or may not have anything to do with grill modes depending on your specoific oven.

As I've gotten older I've become very anti-icon. Just use text!

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#106

Post by cinntaile »

dsr_ wrote: post #61
NikolaNovak wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of my friends say their stove touch buttons are great. They are not just unintuitive, most implementations are painfully slow. (my own pet peeve though are microwaves - they are a positive monstrosity of horrible interface bearing no connection to actual typical usage. I'd like one with a massive "add 30s and start button", and anything else is a nice optional extra for me :-D

Commercial heavy-duty microwaves and the cheapest plastic microwaves share the same interface: two dials. One is time, the other is power cycle. Sometimes it's just one dial for time.

This is why I buy the cheapest ones. They don't break and their buttons are intuitive, I don't need a Bachelor's in microwave UI to use one.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#107

Post by AlexandrB »

undefinedzero wrote: post #17
arky527 wrote: post #5

Modern cars seem to be moving towards all controls on a touch screen somewhere. I suppose this allows for more frequent updates, but in my experience it just leads to more bugs and more painful factory updates. Not to mention using a touchscreen to adjust the temperature while driving is incredibly dangerous compared to a dial you can feel for without taking your eyes off the road.

More bugs definitely, but car manufacturers put so much effort into QA for the essential features that they really just short on never are released broken. Changing the temperature while driving on a good touch interface is trivial and incredibly far from incredibly dangerous. Besides with CC systems nowadays people look at the set temperature just as often. More advanced features like toggling internal air circulati…

> The great benefit of a touch screen is unlimited update capabilities

You say this like it's a good thing. It's bad enough when apps get non-optional "updates" that make the experience worse. I don't want my car interface to go to shit because a designed wanted to add more padding to everything.

More realistically though, this means cars will stop getting updates after a few years but the remote access system will still be there providing a juicy attack surface for hackers.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#108

Post by ntoskrnl »

etiam wrote: post #99

Does anybody have sources they want to share for getting components for classic interfaces like these today? I'd imagine production has plummeted since the glory days, but there ought to be stock of some things around still and people salvaging nice parts? I don't do any hardware work worth mentioning, but I hope to get around to amending that soon, and I'd find it attractive to use interfaces appropriate to the task…

Digikey and Mouser

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#109

Post by bschwindHN »

dsr_ wrote: post #61
NikolaNovak wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of my friends say their stove touch buttons are great. They are not just unintuitive, most implementations are painfully slow. (my own pet peeve though are microwaves - they are a positive monstrosity of horrible interface bearing no connection to actual typical usage. I'd like one with a massive "add 30s and start button", and anything else is a nice optional extra for me :-D

Commercial heavy-duty microwaves and the cheapest plastic microwaves share the same interface: two dials. One is time, the other is power cycle. Sometimes it's just one dial for time.

> two dials. One is time, the other is power cycle

This is the ideal design and no one can convince me otherwise. Same thing goes for ovens. All I care about is "how hot do I cook/bake this?" and "For how long?"

Two dials is perfect.

Re: The benefits of “low tech” user interfaces

#110

Post by zwirbl »

spaniard89277 wrote: post #57
nkrisc wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touch screens are the only thing keeping me on dino juice cars. I want to go electric, but they all have these awful touchscreens! I don’t want to navigate a menu to change the temperature or turn on a seat warmer. I’m just not buying an EV until there’s one that doesn’t rely on a giant touch screen for everything or I can’t buy an ICE vehicle anymore.

Some korean brand was moving to physical buttons again, but I can't find which.

I guess it was Mazda, so Japanese instead of Korean https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121372_why-mazda-is-pur...

Though I don't know if they followed through

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