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The laws of shitty dashboards

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Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#61

Post by mattgrice »

aunty_helen wrote: post #19

>They also employ UX techniques that dates from a time where the only UI component you can use was a light bulb. If that red thing is critical, can’t you tell me right away what it means? This annoyed me a little bit. A check engine light is the perfect component for what it does. If it's on it means that something may be seriously wrong and that you're probably too stupid or ill-equipped to fix it. If it was somethi…

That is not the purpose of the check engine light (official name "Malfunction Indicator Light"). At least in the US the light only comes on when there is a problem that affects emissions, and it is usually nothing that would cause a breakdown. It usually does not mean anything serious is wrong and the most common cause is a loose gas cap, which is easily fixed.

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#63

Post by paulcothenet »

chavesn wrote: post #31

Am I the only one that doesn't get the joke about what's wrong with "Last 14 days" and "Last 12 months"?

Had meant to point at "Last 6 months". (Last 12 months is often useful)

IHMO, it clutters the options with options that are not useful (do you often look at your 14 days spending?) and already included in other options that are close.

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#65

Post by AYBABTME »

paulcothenet wrote: post #63
chavesn wrote: post #31

Am I the only one that doesn't get the joke about what's wrong with "Last 14 days" and "Last 12 months"?

Had meant to point at "Last 6 months". (Last 12 months is often useful) IHMO, it clutters the options with options that are not useful (do you often look at your 14 days spending?) and already included in other options that are close.

Looking at 14 days history can tell you if something is recurring weekly or not. Looking at a month too, but then you lose resolution.

Same thing about 3/6/12 months. Looking for seasonal trends is not stupid.

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#66

Post by vitovito »

skybrian wrote: post #5

I was hoping for an article that would explain how to design a good dashboard. This isn't it.

Stephen Few's book, Information Dashboard Design, is about the design industry bible on the subject. (His other books are supposedly good, too.)

As many of the other comments in here have noted, the design of a good dashboard is often "don't design one, you need something else."

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#67

Post by vkjv »

dredmorbius wrote: post #42

Not all dashboards are shitty or useless. New Relic comes to mind, and it's a tool I've found hugely useful. While it doesn't instrument full system monitoring (though it's getting there), it provides numerous system and site metrics, monitoring, and a useful degree of logging, that's hugely useful. One of the biggest gains for us came when it implemented JVM heap monitoring. This is possible through jconsole, but jc…

Interesting, because we use New Relic extensively, and I was just thinking of it as the prime example of, "what the hell is the purpose of all these dashboards and what do they mean?"

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#68

Post by aunty_helen »

cvburgess wrote: post #26
aunty_helen wrote: post #19

>They also employ UX techniques that dates from a time where the only UI component you can use was a light bulb. If that red thing is critical, can’t you tell me right away what it means? This annoyed me a little bit. A check engine light is the perfect component for what it does. If it's on it means that something may be seriously wrong and that you're probably too stupid or ill-equipped to fix it. If it was somethi…

This is not true. The check engine light can come on in some cars if the gas cap is not screwed on tight enough - easily fixed yet treated as serious as a major engine malfunction.

Ok perhaps the example was a little off due to design abuse from some manufacturers. For example (I think) Alfa Romeo put the gas light on if the fuel cap is loose/missing. This is more of an appropriate design. (Unless it's a diesel then it really is a problem)

The point that I was trying to address is that if there is a critical warning that you can't do anything about, there's no more info needed than 'stop and seek help' which is perfectly served by a simple light. Or do you want a 1 page problem statement to flash up on the dash and explain why you really need to pull over. The only reason you would do such a thing is if you wanted the user to make the evaluation of whether or not it is important or something that can be ignored.

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#69

Post by tsomctl »

mattgrice wrote: post #61
aunty_helen wrote: post #19

>They also employ UX techniques that dates from a time where the only UI component you can use was a light bulb. If that red thing is critical, can’t you tell me right away what it means? This annoyed me a little bit. A check engine light is the perfect component for what it does. If it's on it means that something may be seriously wrong and that you're probably too stupid or ill-equipped to fix it. If it was somethi…

That is not the purpose of the check engine light (official name "Malfunction Indicator Light"). At least in the US the light only comes on when there is a problem that affects emissions, and it is usually nothing that would cause a breakdown. It usually does not mean anything serious is wrong and the most common cause is a loose gas cap, which is easily fixed.

A check engine light most definitely can tell you that you are about to have a breakdown. It's original and most common purpose is emissions control, but it has been extended. An overheating engine will cause the check engine light to come on (happened to me last week in an 88 4Runner) and this has nothing directly to do with emissions. Blow a head gasket, and there could be a long list of repairs besides a new gasket. And even if it is a problem that primarily affects emissions, it might still have a bigger problem. A bad O2 sensor can cause your engine to enter open loop and run rich, meaning that you're blowing gasoline out your tail pipe, costing you money. A misfire can cause the light to come on (bad spark plugs, compression leak, bad fuel injector, bad timing, bad lots of things) and can cause reduced power (which might not be noticeable in city driving), burnt valves, and again blowing gasoline out your tail pipe. Blowing gasoline out your tailpipe will ruin your catalytic converter, which you might not care about right now, but will matter if you try to smog your vehicle to sell it. I've had the check engine come on in a number of vehicles I've worked on, and it has always been a more serious problem than a loose gas cap.

The previous owner of the above mentioned 4Runner ignored her check engine light. By the time I got to it, the engine, 02 sensor, and catalytic converter were destroyed. If your check engine light is on, scan the codes and make sure that it isn't anything serious.

Re: The laws of shitty dashboards

#70

Post by joshmlewis »

mattgrice wrote: post #61
aunty_helen wrote: post #19

>They also employ UX techniques that dates from a time where the only UI component you can use was a light bulb. If that red thing is critical, can’t you tell me right away what it means? This annoyed me a little bit. A check engine light is the perfect component for what it does. If it's on it means that something may be seriously wrong and that you're probably too stupid or ill-equipped to fix it. If it was somethi…

That is not the purpose of the check engine light (official name "Malfunction Indicator Light"). At least in the US the light only comes on when there is a problem that affects emissions, and it is usually nothing that would cause a breakdown. It usually does not mean anything serious is wrong and the most common cause is a loose gas cap, which is easily fixed.

Yeah to second what the other poster said, it can indeed mean a lot of different things. Sometimes it is as simple as an emissions error but sometimes, especially if you ever see it flashing, that means there's something bad wrong going on with the engine itself. It could be anything from a knock or misfire in the engine to sensor failure. It's always wise to get it checked (a lot of auto parts stores do it for free) or just buy a cheap but good obd-2 tool and that will tell you the code and you can go Google and research from there.
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