Live data from Hacker News

Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

slate.com

691–700 of 1001 posts

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#691
post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh this again. Yeah a certification is going to solve all the problems.

It will, when it comes with a liability just like any other Engineering position.

I think it's the liability that matters, not the certification -- which usually translates to "X years in a government facility, pretending to learn something which may or may not be misguided and out of date."

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#692
post #624

I wouldn't mind touchscreens as long as these imbecile developers would strictly limit UI response time to under 16ms. In no world where you're barrelling 3,000+ lbs of mass at tens of miles an hour should you be distracted by some moronic app or subsystem failing to respond in time because it was written by under-experienced software "engineers." Any software running as a part of a motor vehicle should be federally…

The thing is that with physical buttons you’re suddenly back with electrotechnical engineers, whom, on the whole need to be a whole lot more competent than software engineers to do their jobs.

Yep. And they’ve pretty much got the track record to prove that they can.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#693

I wouldn't mind touchscreens as long as these imbecile developers would strictly limit UI response time to under 16ms. In no world where you're barrelling 3,000+ lbs of mass at tens of miles an hour should you be distracted by some moronic app or subsystem failing to respond in time because it was written by under-experienced software "engineers." Any software running as a part of a motor vehicle should be federally…

In my state in the US, it's illegal to operate a cellphone while driving.

I would appreciate if the law were extended to cover cheap tablets mounted to the spot in cars where our physical buttons belong.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#694
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what? You've got physical buttons? Big whoop. That physical button that takes 500ms to respond is still as dangerous. No, that's wrong. Problem with touchscreens is that (1) you need to look at them and (2) there is no tactile feedback of whether you pressed it or not and (3) you need to hover your arm in a moving car at just the right spot. Physical buttons cleanly resolve all of these major problems. If the ac…

Our Subaru has a physical volume knob. Its position is only a "gentle suggestion" to the software to move volume up or down. At times, especially when starting the vehicle, there is major latency in the software processing the knob movement.. Also, if the knob is moved too fast, the sw gets the wrong reading. This results in volume being way too high for serveral seconds as well as many other frustrating, dangerous s…

Same with my Hyundai. Volume knob is unpredictable above a slow pace.

It's a great car otherwise, but that makes the flaw stick out even more.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#695
to all antiquarian fans. Car didn't stuck in time when you got your first car. Look at the latest modern cars, it knows when the rain starts, it has climate control so you don't need to rotate hit/cooling controls. To drive to front or back car knows itself, and you don't have to switch gears every minute or two. There is no parking break, it is automatic.

Modern car is much, much SIMPLER, it will be more simpler, so it's a natural direction to boost multimedia, not been a soviet era airplane.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#696
post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what? You've got physical buttons? Big whoop. That physical button that takes 500ms to respond is still as dangerous. No, that's wrong. Problem with touchscreens is that (1) you need to look at them and (2) there is no tactile feedback of whether you pressed it or not and (3) you need to hover your arm in a moving car at just the right spot. Physical buttons cleanly resolve all of these major problems. If the ac…

Our Subaru has a physical volume knob. Its position is only a "gentle suggestion" to the software to move volume up or down. At times, especially when starting the vehicle, there is major latency in the software processing the knob movement.. Also, if the knob is moved too fast, the sw gets the wrong reading. This results in volume being way too high for serveral seconds as well as many other frustrating, dangerous s…

Clearly that is a problem with Subaru (and Honda from someone else?) and not physical buttons themselves. Just because some vehicles have a piss poor implementation doesn't mean the idea of physical is wrong.

I have a 2015/16 Ford and Chevy with the infotainment screens - both have physical buttons and both respond instantly to my changes. They also both have an additional volume control on the steering wheel itself which also responds instantly.

I'm not advocating everyone go buy Ford/Chevy by any means, but physical buttons - when implemented correctly - are superior to touchscreen controls.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#698

It's not just the touch screens, it's the contextual menus & moving buttons from version to version (ahem, Tesla). It completely breaks your muscle memory. I had to take my car to the dealer for service and they gave me a loaner. Both my car & the loaner had physical buttons, knobs and dials in addition to touch screen (BMW iDrive). However they were different model years / models / iDrive versions so all the buttons…

Great point, along with the top 3 comments making the case that latency and design are huge issues in a moving vehicle, because without good will, it's a weapon.

Why do we cover the brake lever with the index and middle finger of the right hand on a motorcycle hurtling at barely legal speeds?

Because the coming impact is the space between your fingers and the brake lever, plus reaction time. Reaction time is a function of focus, but the fact that you'll hit the stationary object in about a second at 60 MPH depending on its distance, governs everything else, save for traction.

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/fitts-....

Sadly, in UI/UX design this is well understood. For whatever reason, in the last several decades of the ascendance of design, we've not seemed to apply Fitts' Law to car driving design, presumably because cup holders.

I had hope when Peter Schreyer left Audi and became one of the presidents at Kia years later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schreyer

However, given the current state of affairs, it's clear that cars have won the battle for our hearts and minds. The kids had a point when they stopped getting driver's licenses.

Much like autonomy as a general design idea in the culture. I can only hope that we have an inflection point where the realization is that, as cars get smarter, the resultant behavior of the car is a collaboration between car and driver.

That may not have been true when a car was just a mechanical object governed by physics, but it clearly is true now.

We could quote any one of McLuhan, Postman, or one of their contemporaries, but while their insights portended the dark future we occupy, none of their contemporaries intended that future.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#699

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our Subaru has a physical volume knob. Its position is only a "gentle suggestion" to the software to move volume up or down. At times, especially when starting the vehicle, there is major latency in the software processing the knob movement.. Also, if the knob is moved too fast, the sw gets the wrong reading. This results in volume being way too high for serveral seconds as well as many other frustrating, dangerous s…

i'm dropping my subaru for this among other reasons. 1. throttle response, move your foot to 20% and experience between no throttle and wide open as the 'turbos' kick in in my outback 2. every time we get near an intersection with bollards, it thinks it's a kid and slams on the brakes 3. you're not allowed to persist auto start disabling 4. you will be nagged for looking anywhere other than dead straight, especially…

Wow on 2-5, but I thought 1 was 'normal' for cars with a turbo charger?

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#700

I wouldn't mind touchscreens as long as these imbecile developers would strictly limit UI response time to under 16ms. In no world where you're barrelling 3,000+ lbs of mass at tens of miles an hour should you be distracted by some moronic app or subsystem failing to respond in time because it was written by under-experienced software "engineers." Any software running as a part of a motor vehicle should be federally…

The complexity of functionality, that you can never really get familiar with, is a problem too.

Two US Navy crashes (17 sailors dead, unfortunately) are attributed to touchscreen complexity and unfamiliarity with the controls. [0]

The Navy is ditching touchscreens too, and going with mechanical switches and wheels. Maybe cars and ships make a larger trend away from touchscreens?

[0] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49319450

Post reply on HN