Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons • Hacker News Board

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#31

Post by _the_inflator » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:45 PM UTC

nokeya wrote: post #6

I’m quite suspicious that they do that not because they understood or learned something, but because China requires physical buttons starting next year. And they simply don’t want to lose one of their biggest markets.

Despite China, IT development is a complete disaster in Germany. All car so called German car manufacturers UX/UI is horrible to say the least.

Dieter Rams is the only UX/UI designer, who became famous - outside of Germany. Hartmut Esslinger kind of popularized DR, what an irony, that two Germans made history, but of course not in Germany and even in Germany DR wasn't well known. Braun was a brand and statement, but because the devices were and still are extremely convenient. Braun never put design or beauty in the spotlight - it wasn't recognized as such and therefore not of value to capitalize on.

VW? "No one needs Apple Car or Android. We are the world wide Nr. 1 in car business, what does a computer company know about cars? hahaha"

Hubris, resulted into a failed attempt to build in 2 years a complete Car OS. It was so bad, I was mocked back then, because I bet against it.

I am the only one who successfully build a No Code platform in financial services that became such a hit internally, that it became the standard. dbCORE is its name.

Very long story, but design by committee is the norm in Germany, and since outsourcing is the way to go, vendors sell changes all the time otherwise they lose the customer.

Value chains like Apple or Google are inconceivable and no one in Business has a background in CS.

Porsche 997-2 had the best UX/UI there was. Fantastic blend of nobs and touchscreen. It blew my mind, really. This was 2008. The iPhone came to light 2007!

Really, highly impressive, extremely functional and almost no friction at all. 90% was top.

And to the haters: Show me any company or product from Germany in IT that is Top 100 globally. Only SAP is or has been featured somewhere below the bottom. And I gurantee you, no one fell in love with its UX/UI...

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#32

Post by tris_timb » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:45 PM UTC

hackerlytest wrote: post #9

I really like what Jony Ive did with Ferrari. It’s the perfect blend of digital and analog instruments. High quality material and finishing. Many of these German car companies are following what sells well in Chinese markets, more and more screens. IMO, nothing beats the feeling and assurance of tactile buttons/toggles/knobs.

Just commented the same thing! I loved the clock turning to a compass and screens being set back

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#33

Post by satvikpendem » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #3

Unmentioned is touchscreens frequently don't work. I often have to make repeated presses on my iphone until it registers. The same with swipes. Since there is no audible or tactile feedback, this cannot work well while keeping your eyes on the road.

That's pretty weird and indicates your phone or its touchscreen might be defective, you should get it looked at, because other than with old resistive touchscreen phones I've never had capacitive touchscreen phones need multiple presses.

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#34

Post by oxag3n » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

More prevalent in luxury cars, although Japanese had their share of bad experiments as well. My 10yo Honda has all climate control buttons, but no volume knob, which is mitigated a bit by having volume button on the steering wheel.

IMO luxury manufacturers like MB and BMW tried to squeeze larger screens, more of them and there was not enough space to put those screens, buttins and vents. Some luxuty brands make vents supper slim.

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#35

Post by ahartmetz » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:47 PM UTC

shcheklein wrote: post #12

If they have custromer feedback and focus groups like they mention how did it happen in the first place? Some overoptimistic head-of-something? Really curious. I own previous -2021 mb and had to drive the upgrade (touch buttons) once as a replacement car. UX is terrible. Period. I even checked then in the dealership what they did to S-class and mybachs - and yes, same crappy wheel, etc. Anyways, I was mostly surprise…

I guess it is possible that customers - the ones that they asked anyway - were also caught up in the touchscreen hype. There was a lot of hype in the first few years of iPhone and iPad.

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#36

Post by ygra » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:47 PM UTC

nokeya wrote: post #6

I’m quite suspicious that they do that not because they understood or learned something, but because China requires physical buttons starting next year. And they simply don’t want to lose one of their biggest markets.

Euro NCAP will also only give the highest safety rating to cars with physical buttons for common functions.

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#37

Post by satvikpendem » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:48 PM UTC

cbg0 wrote: post #30

amelius wrote: post #2

Laudable. But I'd rather read about how they plan to fight Chinese EVs.

The same way they've fought cheaper ICE brands: delivering higher quality materials, a fancy badge and a great driving experience. Currently the Chinese EVs are cheap, but far from Merc levels of refinement.

Are you sure about that last sentence? Plenty of Chinese EVs are as refined as luxury brands, such as seen here: https://youtu.be/xiFmuoBIyjQ

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#38

Post by SpicyLemonZest » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:50 PM UTC

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #18

What I'm surprised by is that cars are chock-full of ornate, unique parts (cupholders are a good example). I would have imagined that car infotainment controls would be a small fraction of the BOM, so I've been wondering if it's not really a cost thing. Sort of like small phones or 3D TVs from the early 2000's.

Yeah, I have to agree. People always talk about it that way, but to me it seems clear that removing buttons is just people trying to chase Tesla’s ball. There’s genuine consumer demand for buttons to go away in phones, kitchen appliances, etc., I’m not sure how obvious it was without hindsight that cars wouldn’t go the same way.

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#39

Post by kotaKat » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:51 PM UTC

shcheklein wrote: post #12

If they have custromer feedback and focus groups like they mention how did it happen in the first place? Some overoptimistic head-of-something? Really curious. I own previous -2021 mb and had to drive the upgrade (touch buttons) once as a replacement car. UX is terrible. Period. I even checked then in the dealership what they did to S-class and mybachs - and yes, same crappy wheel, etc. Anyways, I was mostly surprise…

The Blackberry thumb trackpads in the steering wheels made me scream trying to navigate the dash menus.

... I cannot believe they actually put them in a base model Sprinter.

Do they hate tradespeople?

Re: Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons

#40

Post by microtonal » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:52 PM UTC

_the_inflator wrote: post #31

nokeya wrote: post #6

I’m quite suspicious that they do that not because they understood or learned something, but because China requires physical buttons starting next year. And they simply don’t want to lose one of their biggest markets.

Despite China, IT development is a complete disaster in Germany. All car so called German car manufacturers UX/UI is horrible to say the least. Dieter Rams is the only UX/UI designer, who became famous - outside of Germany. Hartmut Esslinger kind of popularized DR, what an irony, that two Germans made history, but of course not in Germany and even in Germany DR wasn't well known. Braun was a brand and statement, but…

VW? "No one needs Apple Car or Android. We are the world wide Nr. 1 in car business, what does a computer company know about cars? hahaha"

I have no idea what you are talking about. I think all recent VW cars (since 2018) support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. CarPlay works great with our VW ID.3.

Also, since a refresh a few years ago, the in-car system has had great UX/UI. We are perfectly happy with it and this is after almost two decades of iOS + having tried the systems of various different cars (including NIO).

We do not have anything to complain about, except more physical buttons would be nice, but the latest generation is bringing them back (e.g. the new ID.3 NEO). We are considering upgrading to the ID.3 NEO soon (or maybe Hyundai).