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Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

motorauthority.com

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Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#331

Post by sumedh »

rco8786 wrote: post #305
marapuru wrote: post #47

Praise to Mazda for making this decision. As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars. For years I have been working on product interfaces (not just apps). Many studies I conducted actually told me that people favored analog controls over digital touch screens controls. It gives you tactile feedback, making it accessible for anyone with sense of touch. >…

As a counter point - we’re already seeing the role of the driver fading away from car travel. lane holding tech is readily available in your average car now. Tesla’s can drive themselves a large portion of the time. Etc. Concerns about tactile feedback and such don’t really matter if you don’t have to pay attention to the road anymore. As we’ve seen play out with phones, people vastly prefer touch screens and vastly…

> just another device you interact with in various ways and it also happens to be able to get you from point A to point B.

just another device which can kill you and others in a split second if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#332

Post by rrrx3 »

Shivetya wrote: post #182

Well after owning a Tesla Model 3 I am of the opinion, why in the hell do we need forty plus buttons in cars? Seriously! (Go count your buttons, some cars are higher than that) First off with regards to the touch screen in the Tesla. In the vast majority of drives I never ever touch it. Not once. Why not? Well I have my temperature preference set, I usually play the music that is coming off my phone, and well, what e…

Your opinion doesn't trump 70+ years of Human Factors, guy. Touch screens are dangerous to yourself and other drivers because they don't provide tactile feedback or physical presence.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#333

Post by zaroth »

vanderZwan wrote: post #316

Bret Victor's "A Brief Rant On The Future Of Interaction Design" is just as relevant now as it was back in 2011: > There's a reason that our fingertips have some of the densest areas of nerve endings on the body. This is how we experience the world close-up. This is how our tools talk to us. The sense of touch is essential to everything that humans have called "work" for millions of years. > Now, take out your favori…

And yet, every single phone today is nothing but a “picture under glass” and, far from a paradigm of permanent numbness, humans are intimately connected to these devices they carry with them everywhere.

Rant is the right way to describe this.

Do you remember the first time you used a map on a smooth multi-touch screen? The joy of panning and zooming around, tapping to learn more about any particular point! I remember that first experience was a total rush and extremely stimulating.

Feeling like the digital map was connected to my fingertip as you pan with that point stuck under your finger — absolute magic.

There are some interfaces which are absolutely superior when provided as picture under multi-touch glass.

Denying a touchscreen entirely is to make huge compromises in the overall experience when configuring something as fully featured as a modern vehicle.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#334

Post by ptaipale »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #170
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we extend this idea, why not do it for airplanes? It seems like a bad idea to be changing the layout of mission-critical systems. I'm sure it'd wreak havoc if the cockpit of a 787 was all touch screens, with UI changes pushed at the whim of developers. I drive a car with analog controls. The buttons for controlling the radio, hazard lights, the A/C, etc are all static. I wouldn't want it to change. It gets the job…

You drive car with pedals and steering wheel. Everything else that is ternary (music, climate, nav) is on touch screen. So yes, you can have cabin light and temperature controls on touchscreen on an airplane.

Climate is not ternary, it's definitely important for driving in cold climates. To the point that if you can't see ahead, you need to stop on the expressway in order to adjust the airflow to windscreen, so that you don't collide into the other guy who has stopped to adjust the airflow in his car.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#335

Post by aledthemathguy »

marapuru wrote: post #47

Praise to Mazda for making this decision. As a User Experience Professional, I was never able to grasp the true user's need for touch screens in cars. For years I have been working on product interfaces (not just apps). Many studies I conducted actually told me that people favored analog controls over digital touch screens controls. It gives you tactile feedback, making it accessible for anyone with sense of touch. >…

> As a User Experience Professional

May I politely ask - what exactly do you learn to be a UEP (pardon the abbreviation)?

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#336

Post by dingaling »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #267
Quequau wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this conflict in ideas is very well captured by the differences in flight control instrument panels in the Orion Spacecraft as compared to SpaceX's Dragon v2. Here is an image of what I'm referring to: https://rocketry.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/orion-capsule.j...

The Orion control panel looks like it would be much easier to use in a heavily vibrating, high-G rocket. It's a lot harder to fat-finger a tactile, physical button/switch than a touchscreen. Notice that the switches even have cages so that they can't get accidentally toggled.

Note also the use of colour on the Orion schematics that immediately directly the eyes to areas of alert or risk.

Whereas on the SpaceX consoles even the message 'All systems nominal' is rendered in a pale blue colour that merges in with the muted pastel palette. I challenge readers to find it quickly.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#337

Post by moftz »

oauea wrote: post #303
giancarlostoro wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my iPod Classic died it really stung especially since they discontinued them. I hate playing music on my phone. I cant skip songs or pause without looking properly if I am on an aux cable. Sure Bluetooth is a thing but you dont always drive your own car and every car has their own convoluted way to do Bluetooth. I wish Android or iPhones had multimedia related buttons somewhere on them (dont miss that lock butto…

You can skip tracks by long pressing the volume keys if you configure it: https://www.xda-developers.com/skip-music-tracks-android-vol...

This used to be a stock feature in a lot of phones. I haven't had a phone that did this since my HTC Droid Incredible back in 2011.

Re: Mazda is purging touchscreens from its vehicles

#339

Post by ehnto »

zaroth wrote: post #306
ehnto wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You shouldn't be doing anything like that while driving. Also if it's physical in any way you can build accurate muscle memory and know without looking that you have gone to the right spot. This is almost never the case with touch screens interfaces. There is no safe way to interface with a screen while driving. You are taking your eyes off the road, and your focus goes with it necessarily. The safest option is no sc…

I understand the thought, but in the real world this is counterproductive and dangerous. Some interfaces it’s pretty clear that they are best served by physical buttons, toggles, switched, etc. Blinkers, gear selector, volume, windows, for example. Some interfaces it’s equally clear that they are best served by touch. Text input through an on screen keyboard obviously beats a scroll wheel to select individual letters…

I think we have pretty similar views while talking about the tech and usability itself. It is just that I fundamentally disagree that you need to touch or look at anything while driving.

You say people need to interact with navigation while driving, which is simply not true. People want to interact with navigation while driving. They could cope without it. We didn't even have navigation all that long ago, to say we need it is a stretch let alone to touch it while driving. If it's causing accidents, and it is, it should be considered dangerous. Perhaps the Model 3 is better at it, but it is still a danger to look away from the road even for a second or two.

That means screens are out, and we need better ways to display and interact with information while driving. HUDs, sounds or feel is all I will agree is safe.

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