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Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

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Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#31

Post by cameldrv »

exabrial wrote: post #17

Pro Tip: So do ER Doctors and Insurance Companies. What would be best is something along the lines of a hybrid aircraft controls. See F/A-18 Hornet cockpit. Basically tactile buttons around the perimeter (maybe just side or bottom for consumer), but the options can change. Also for consumers, touchscreen should be a value-add to tactile controls, with hardware buttons as primary. So you could touch-scroll with a fing…

A lot of small aircraft controls have moved to touchscreens, and they're terrible, especially in turbulence.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#32

Post by curiousObject »

CoolestBeans wrote: post #9
fnordpiglet wrote: post #2

I’m apparently unique in this, but I prefer touch screens. Not because I fail to realize the value of buttons, but I don’t find sitting in an airplane cockpit with a few hundred buttons that much better than a screen that is contextual. I like having a few buttons for common tasks like audio controls, and voice control for most else. The rest of the stuff can be on a touch screen for all I care. I get others prefer b…

Voice control is a bit of a nonstarter as the speech recognition (perhaps combined with the weird acoustics of a moving vehicle) has never worked for everyone; eg my father's accent never seems to work in his Honda. My car is from 2014 and definitely has more buttons than necessary. I don't mind infrequently used controls behind a touchscreen, like do the controls to set the time on the clock really need dedicated bu…

> Once you get out of the category of obviously frequently controlled things (gear selector, climate control, media controls), you really have to start making judgement calls and picking and choosing who you're going to make uncomfortable.

User-assignable buttons might mitigate that. With profiles for individual drivers.

But perhaps those features would confuse some users even more

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#33

Post by [deleted] »

stevage wrote: post #19
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #15

"Although they look fancy, Farah said that carmakers can purchase screens for less than $50, making them significantly less expensive than tactile controls."

That surprises me. I seem to recall having read something about the difficulty Tesla had in getting their fancy screens and how much they cost. $50 for a tiny one maybe.

[deleted]

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#34

Post by zamnos »

stevage wrote: post #19
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #15

"Although they look fancy, Farah said that carmakers can purchase screens for less than $50, making them significantly less expensive than tactile controls."

That surprises me. I seem to recall having read something about the difficulty Tesla had in getting their fancy screens and how much they cost. $50 for a tiny one maybe.

Teslas have 17" screens, and no one made an automotive-grade one at that size, so it's no wonder they had problems sourcing it. But at scale, I could see the 7" properly automotive-grade screens being available for $50 when there are some availabile for less than that on Amazon.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#35

Post by ptelomere »

IMHO, don't blame touch screens, blame bad UI design.

My touch screen annoyance: "oops, it detected a swipe instead of a press, because the car just went through a bump!". Or, "Oops! I accidentally pressed cancel instead of back button, now my map navigation is gone!!!".

Design the UI well, so that drivers can't screw things up easily.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#36

Post by bloodyplonker22 »

ptelomere wrote: post #35

IMHO, don't blame touch screens, blame bad UI design. My touch screen annoyance: "oops, it detected a swipe instead of a press, because the car just went through a bump!". Or, "Oops! I accidentally pressed cancel instead of back button, now my map navigation is gone!!!". Design the UI well, so that drivers can't screw things up easily.

It's not about the UI. It's about the tactile feel and being able to reach and touch a knob while keeping your eyes on the road.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#37

Post by dsfyu404ed »

exabrial wrote: post #17

Pro Tip: So do ER Doctors and Insurance Companies. What would be best is something along the lines of a hybrid aircraft controls. See F/A-18 Hornet cockpit. Basically tactile buttons around the perimeter (maybe just side or bottom for consumer), but the options can change. Also for consumers, touchscreen should be a value-add to tactile controls, with hardware buttons as primary. So you could touch-scroll with a fing…

Touch screens are great for stuff that needs to be cleaned though so ER doctors are probably stuck with them.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#38

Post by wlesieutre »

Saw the Impreza’s 2024 redesign, apparently Subaru missed the memo. https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2024-Su...

I recently test drove a Mazda, and while I’ve seen people online complain about their “commander knob” and lack of touch screen, I liked it pretty well. Screen up further on the dashboard is nice for glancing at maps.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#39

Post by flyinghamster »

I think one of the most frustrating aspects of this whole kerfluffle is the automakers' longstanding willingness to ignore customers and double down at any pushback. It's downright stupid that it has taken this level of screaming from customers to roll back a design choice that should never have been made.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#40

Post by [deleted] »

asdfman123 wrote: post #24
CoolestBeans wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voice control is a bit of a nonstarter as the speech recognition (perhaps combined with the weird acoustics of a moving vehicle) has never worked for everyone; eg my father's accent never seems to work in his Honda. My car is from 2014 and definitely has more buttons than necessary. I don't mind infrequently used controls behind a touchscreen, like do the controls to set the time on the clock really need dedicated bu…

I never liked voice recognition until I had to test it myself at my job, and seen firsthand just how much better it has gotten over the past few years. I think voice commands would be much more widely used if they hadn’t rolled it out so soon, ironically. But most of us learned early on that it sucks and never tried it again.

[deleted]
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