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Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

futurism.com

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Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#31

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

goda90 wrote: post #5

Will regulators act on this? I really want them to, but I feel like they won't and we'll continue to see a trend of car makers taking the cheap route and doing touch screens. At least it feels that way wherever I look into an evening l exciting EV. What do the choices look like in the new car market these days?

> Will regulators act on this?

If they do, it will happen in the EU. I doubt anyone in the USA would have the courage to touch this subject. It's very clear for everyone involved: touchscreens look more shiny to the user and at the same time let the manufacturer make significant cost savings - hardware switches don't seem like a big cost until you realize how many of them you need and how reliable they need to be over a number of years, and that the part you switch is just a small element of the whole system.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#32

Post by cs702 »

zackkitzmiller wrote: post #29
cs702 wrote: post #18

The actual "study" (really, an unscientific test) is here: https://www.vibilagare.se/english/physical-buttons-outperfor... At home we have both traditional vehicles with lots of knobs, and vehicles (Tesla) with mainly touchscreen buttons and voice commands. My personal experience: * It takes at least a few weeks to become familiar enough with the touchscreen buttons and voice commands that they become second-nature.…

ICE vs Electric has nothing to do with buttons vs touchscreens.

You're right. I edited my comment.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#33

Post by bitexploder »

zackkitzmiller wrote: post #29
cs702 wrote: post #18

The actual "study" (really, an unscientific test) is here: https://www.vibilagare.se/english/physical-buttons-outperfor... At home we have both traditional vehicles with lots of knobs, and vehicles (Tesla) with mainly touchscreen buttons and voice commands. My personal experience: * It takes at least a few weeks to become familiar enough with the touchscreen buttons and voice commands that they become second-nature.…

ICE vs Electric has nothing to do with buttons vs touchscreens.

We ditched our Tesla in favor of an e-tron because the Tesla controls were just not good. you should never need a touch screen for safety critical features like wipers. Also the whole touch screen can and did crash intermittently. The car will still works (e: when the touchscreen is down) but it is unsafe IMO. e-tron has traditional controls everywhere.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#34

Post by lozenge »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #24
everdrive wrote: post #9

As folks noted in the other thread on this topic: This is self-evident to most of the HN audience, but the more studies and more awareness is brought to this topic the likelier things are to improve.

Awareness in my view is useless because touchscreens in auto infotainment are far more visually impressive so they will always be preferred from a buyer's perspective. What we need is to build a body of scientific evidence to support regulating Auto infotainment within some form of safety-critical guard rails. It is obvious that touch without mechanical/haptic feedback is dangerous both in terms of decreasing eyes-on…

This might be true for the first time people buy a touch screen car, but after that they'll swear off them. Unless they never used any alternative...

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#36

Post by afandian »

PreInternet01 wrote: post #17

I would love to see some EU legislation about car dashboards. As an occasional driver of many different brands and types of vehicles, I continue to be amazed at the usability crimes being committed in the name of 'looking cool' (stated reason) as well as 'cost savings' (most likely the real reason). Any function that needs to be invoked or setting that needs to be changed by a reasonable person while driving should h…

In the Tesla FSD video[0] the driver spent a lot of time swiping back and forth on the map. If that touchscreen were an iPad, that behaviour would be illegal in the UK. I don't know what the road law is in the US, and if they sell the same Tesla model in the UK.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34268454

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#38

Post by FranzFerdiNaN »

PreInternet01 wrote: post #17

I would love to see some EU legislation about car dashboards. As an occasional driver of many different brands and types of vehicles, I continue to be amazed at the usability crimes being committed in the name of 'looking cool' (stated reason) as well as 'cost savings' (most likely the real reason). Any function that needs to be invoked or setting that needs to be changed by a reasonable person while driving should h…

Touch screens also make it easier to lock functionality behind subscriptions.

Re: Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

#40

Post by cs702 »

smt88 wrote: post #23
cs702 wrote: post #18

The actual "study" (really, an unscientific test) is here: https://www.vibilagare.se/english/physical-buttons-outperfor... At home we have both traditional vehicles with lots of knobs, and vehicles (Tesla) with mainly touchscreen buttons and voice commands. My personal experience: * It takes at least a few weeks to become familiar enough with the touchscreen buttons and voice commands that they become second-nature.…

I could do almost anything with the buttons in my car without looking away from the road. That's never going to be possible with a touchscreen.

How do you, say, check tire pressure? Setup a new garage-door opener? View your calendar for today? Do you have physical buttons for those things?

A car that does everything (or "almost anything") via physical buttons would be insanely hard to use. It would look like, and be about as easy to use as, a jet cockpit.

The best approach is clearly not all-physical-buttons, nor all-touchscreen-buttons, nor all-voice-commands, but a sensible mix of all three, depending on context (e.g., whether you're driving or the car is parked).

My perception is that all car manufacturers, including Tesla, are trying to figure out the best possible combination of the three -- at least until self-driving renders human attention unnecessary.

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