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Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

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Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#81

Post by alanbernstein »

zamnos wrote: post #27
linkjuice4all wrote: post #4

There was a company (Tactus Technology - now defunct) that had a "morphing" touch screen wherein the surface of the screen could be raised up to provide tactile feedback about "where" your fingers are on the screen (e.g. 'raised' keys for a keyboard [0]). I recall this being "the next big thing" in touch screens about 10 years ago but the tech didn't seem to go anywhere. For small screens such as your phone it was pr…

Why is it overkill for phones? I spend way more time looking at my phone than I ever look at my car's AC controls. Ofc, my car's AC controls are physical buttons and I've had the car a while, so I don't need to look at them, but I think my point remains.

Wouldn't it be more sensible to use on the device that you look at less, as a percentage of usage time?

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#82

Post by justapassenger »

testfoobar wrote: post #44
exabrial wrote: post #17

Pro Tip: So do ER Doctors and Insurance Companies. What would be best is something along the lines of a hybrid aircraft controls. See F/A-18 Hornet cockpit. Basically tactile buttons around the perimeter (maybe just side or bottom for consumer), but the options can change. Also for consumers, touchscreen should be a value-add to tactile controls, with hardware buttons as primary. So you could touch-scroll with a fing…

Touch screens are also pretty terrible for older people. Vision and fine motor skills both degenerate. Without tactile feedback, it is hard for older people to determine if they've successfully clicked on something. Gestures can be tough to teach and successfully implement without error.

I’m not THAT old (although grew up without touchscreens) and touch screens are horrible when I’m in motion in the car. No chance in hell I’m able to hit what I what when there’s even a slightest minor bump. And with the state of USA highways it means - all the time.

Especially, as designers think it’s cool to have tiny buttons on the touch screen.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#83

Post by jmyeet »

Using a touchscreen while driving has the obvious problem that you have to look at the screen vs physical buttons where tactile feedback and muscle memory can be sufficient.

But the problem is way beyond that and goes way beyond cars. Touch UIs are inherently lazy and they encourage you to create bad UI/UX. Why? Because your UI becomes software and you can always update it later. The net result is you don't.

Having tactile buttons forces you to do upront UI/UX work to make sure you have sufficient buttons, they make sense, etc. It's a cost-saving issue to just not do this kind of work.

In any touchscreen on a car you'll find abasic options buried menus deep to the point where you have to Google where to find it. That's a big reason why touchscreens suck.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#84

Post by leemailll »

emptybits wrote: post #71

The Ineos Grenadier (available now in Australia and Europe and apparently within the year in North America) has a buttonful dash and also cockpit-style switches above. With additional knockouts above to add your own. Fully gloved operation of anything critical. Great trend for getting into a truck with cold, wet, gloved hands and wanting to do anything. Like adjust heat and seat heat and defrosters.

Interesting, I watch pro-cycling for years, and this is the first time I know Ineos Grenadier is a car not some fancy chemicals Ratcliffe madeup

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#85

Post by manchmalscott »

wolverine876 wrote: post #59
exabrial wrote: post #17

Pro Tip: So do ER Doctors and Insurance Companies. What would be best is something along the lines of a hybrid aircraft controls. See F/A-18 Hornet cockpit. Basically tactile buttons around the perimeter (maybe just side or bottom for consumer), but the options can change. Also for consumers, touchscreen should be a value-add to tactile controls, with hardware buttons as primary. So you could touch-scroll with a fing…

Too many buttons is a problem, but how about a few physical buttons whose labels are screens (high-res LCD, e-ink, whatever) and change according to the mode.

The issue is needing to look away from the road. If I don’t know what the button will do right now because it arbitrarily changes, that’s just as much of a problem.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#86

Post by omoikane »

cameldrv wrote: post #31
exabrial wrote: post #17

Pro Tip: So do ER Doctors and Insurance Companies. What would be best is something along the lines of a hybrid aircraft controls. See F/A-18 Hornet cockpit. Basically tactile buttons around the perimeter (maybe just side or bottom for consumer), but the options can change. Also for consumers, touchscreen should be a value-add to tactile controls, with hardware buttons as primary. So you could touch-scroll with a fing…

A lot of small aircraft controls have moved to touchscreens, and they're terrible, especially in turbulence.

Airbus A380 has a keyboard, I am not sure if that's common on other planes:

https://www.google.com/search?q=airbus+a380+keyboard&tbm=isc...

Maybe that's the endgame -- dedicated buttons for commonly used functions, keyboards for everything else.

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#87

Post by nashashmi »

remember the time when GM said it’s not going to include CarPlay in its vehicles? And how most of hn was in revolt?

here comes News that says we should get rid of touchscreens, why is hn supporting this? (For the record, I hated touch screens in cars before that was a thing and I am OK with gm removing carplay.)

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#88

Post by [deleted] »

flyinghamster wrote: post #39

I think one of the most frustrating aspects of this whole kerfluffle is the automakers' longstanding willingness to ignore customers and double down at any pushback. It's downright stupid that it has taken this level of screaming from customers to roll back a design choice that should never have been made.

[deleted]

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#89

Post by bedobi »

Audi have some very recent cars that are completely screen free - they have a screen which completely retracts into the dashboard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_F2dpj5Kas&t=42s

and if you have analog gauges too, there are no screens. (except the tiny one between the gauges which doesn't count imo)

They're also completely piano black free. Best car interior maybe ever. Thread here https://old.reddit.com/r/Audi/comments/w9dkcm/what_models_ha...

Re: Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens

#90

Post by Izikiel43 »

wlesieutre wrote: post #38

Saw the Impreza’s 2024 redesign, apparently Subaru missed the memo. https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2024-Su... I recently test drove a Mazda, and while I’ve seen people online complain about their “commander knob” and lack of touch screen, I liked it pretty well. Screen up further on the dashboard is nice for glancing at maps.

All hail Mazda. I love the spinny wheel in my cx5.

The screen far away from arm reach is something they deliberately did because they argue you shouldn’t touch a screen while driving, you should only use the knob as that minimizes time you don’t look at the road.

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