Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

jumper.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 48 posts

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#21

Post by maxerickson »

w1ntermute wrote: post #20
ChiperSoft wrote: post #8

If you're in the US you probably don't have to go to Europe to experience this. Just go to another state. Despite federal standards there's a lot if variation in traffic signage, road markings, lane widths, and allowances. Many regions of Michigan, for example, do not have left turn lanes. You're expected to make a right and then a U-turn. I work in San Diego, but my employer is in Buffalo, NY. After spending a few w…

> Many regions of Michigan, for example, do not have left turn lanes. You're expected to make a right and then a U-turn. More about the Michigan Left: http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html

Better to say many roads though, even areas where they are prevalent will also have stop lights with left turn lanes.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#22

Post by kokey »

tjansen wrote: post #2

My pet peeve in Europe is the positioning of traffic lights. It drives me crazy that they not on the opposite side of the intersection, like in the US, but at the stop line. If you are in the first car at the stop line, then they are right above you and you have to crawl under the windshield to see them. Worst usability ever.

For sure. I'm used to having them both before and after the intersection, so then you can clearly see which part it is for, and you can see it wherever you are, and you can see it well from a long distance. Some countries in Europe have some additional lights at car window level close to the intersection, this helps a lot, but still not ideal.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#23

Post by kokey »

relaia wrote: post #10

> The street signs are in weird spots, or are non existent. (Disclaimer: I haven't been to Ireland, but I do live closeby in the UK). I find this interesting, because I found exactly the same thing true when I first went to San Francisco! It took me months to understand where to look for street signs (and I'm still fairly sure many junctions are missing them). I'm not sure if there's some pattern, but they often seem…

I've driven in over 11 different countries, and I find the signage in the UK to still be the strangest but at least I'm used to it. In the denser urban areas the biggest main streets seem to have the least signs naming the street. The alley ways off it will all have signs, but the big street you are just supposed to 'know'. Also what gets me is that when there is an intersection going through a roundabout, there is a sign well before the turn, but not always actually at the turn. Most other places have a sign before and at the turn. It's something to get used to in the UK, otherwise you see some turns and wonder what the sign before the turn said because you didn't read every single big board with multiple turns on it to check if one of them is what you are after.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#24

Post by tkahn6 »

arnarbi wrote: post #17
tjansen wrote: post #2

My pet peeve in Europe is the positioning of traffic lights. It drives me crazy that they not on the opposite side of the intersection, like in the US, but at the stop line. If you are in the first car at the stop line, then they are right above you and you have to crawl under the windshield to see them. Worst usability ever.

Many countries in Europe have them on both sides. Not having the one on the near side is my biggest problem when driving in the US, it has happened that I have to slam down on the brakes because I'm already 10 meters away from the intersection when I see the red light. In any case, placing them only on the near side is often intentional, as it forces drivers to stop far away from the intersection itself. This leaves…

Uh you shouldn't be surprised by a red light unless you're cresting a hill (and even then there will usually be a flashing sign indicating a red light up ahead). The yellow light indicates you should start slowing down.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#26

Post by arnarbi »

tkahn6 wrote: post #24
arnarbi wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many countries in Europe have them on both sides. Not having the one on the near side is my biggest problem when driving in the US, it has happened that I have to slam down on the brakes because I'm already 10 meters away from the intersection when I see the red light. In any case, placing them only on the near side is often intentional, as it forces drivers to stop far away from the intersection itself. This leaves…

Uh you shouldn't be surprised by a red light unless you're cresting a hill (and even then there will usually be a flashing sign indicating a red light up ahead). The yellow light indicates you should start slowing down.

Oh, I know I shouldn't. But when you are used to having the light at the near end, you don't look as far ahead for it.

Of course, I learned my lesson and don't expect the system to adapt to me.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#27

Post by zwieback »

tjansen wrote: post #2

My pet peeve in Europe is the positioning of traffic lights. It drives me crazy that they not on the opposite side of the intersection, like in the US, but at the stop line. If you are in the first car at the stop line, then they are right above you and you have to crawl under the windshield to see them. Worst usability ever.

The street lights were the most confusing thing moving from Germany to the US. The first year or so my heart often jumped when I felt like I was running a red light after turning right on a green.

Now when I go back after driving in the US for 20 years there are a lot of things that seem weird in Germany. Not having right-on-red (and even left on red into one-ways) is a huge plus here. I also think there's too much yielding to the car coming from much smaller streets on the right.

Re: To be a better UI/UX designer, go to a foreign country, rent a car, and drive.

#28

Post by timchilcottjr »

zwieback wrote: post #25

I think Ireland is a particularly hard switch from the US. They seem to take pride in the lack of signage. Still a great place to visit, though.

While we were there, one Irish guy asked me if I knew why the roads were so crooked. When I asked why he told me "Because the guys that built them were all drunk". It was good for a laugh.
Post reply on HN