81–90 of 303 posts
I'm surprised we are still iterating on ideas like this, to be honest. Seems flight decks have been rather successful on complicated dashboards for a long time. Same with boats. Why can we take approximately no lessons from them?
The absolute worst example of this I have seen is the Tesla dashboard screen UI. It shows a car with labels on it, not buttons, that say "Open". That unambiguously means that the particular part is open. But that's not what it means. The labels are in fact buttons to open the parts, and you have no way of knowing.
Can someone make a car which has none of the complicated stuff? List of features I want: - automatic transmission (if ICE) - bluetooth and FM radio - no self steering - cruise control with "follow speed" - not-batshit-insane self-brake-system (use whatever Volvo uses, it works!) - good airbags and decent structural integrity - classic sedan height
Unfortunately that design pattern fails for touch interfaces, which increasingly are our primary method of interaction.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can’t find it but one of my favourite designs was a switch with a “light” beside it that lit up when the state was “on.” So when I revisit that page after a long time and see that the light is lit, does it mean that the state is currently ON or does it mean that the state will change to ON when I click it? How can I tell this by instantly looking at the lit light?
We should go back to checkboxes. The problem here is having the text change and be too clever. [x] Mute [ ] Mute "Oh the X means it's muted" Windows 95 and probably an older Mac had it all figured out.
Buttons have more affordance too.
I have some old NASA push button switches that have two bulbs in them. When the switch is off both lights are off, when you click the switch the yellow bulb comes on and lights up the switch, and when the device you turned on actually turns on a green light turns on ( and the yellow turns off ). The idea is you push the button and the yellow state is the confirmation that you toggled the switch, but the green is the…
RIP Checkbox, 1990-2009, you were perfect and unambiguous but for some reason smartphone designers hated you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can someone make a car which has none of the complicated stuff? List of features I want: - automatic transmission (if ICE) - bluetooth and FM radio - no self steering - cruise control with "follow speed" - not-batshit-insane self-brake-system (use whatever Volvo uses, it works!) - good airbags and decent structural integrity - classic sedan height
> cruise control with "follow speed" If I'm reading you right, you want your car to follow the speed of the car in front of you? Usually delivered by radar assisted cruise control? That's complicated stuff, and you'll probably get lane keeping assistance too, because it's a package. At least on my car with lane keeping, there's a big button in the center console to disable it.
I'm surprised we are still iterating on ideas like this, to be honest. Seems flight decks have been rather successful on complicated dashboards for a long time. Same with boats. Why can we take approximately no lessons from them?
The interfaces you are talking about require years of training, study and passing multiple tests to demonstrate proficiency. In software UX we are talking about discoverability and approachability for the untrained operator.
Similarly, sliders and levers help you see which ones are maxed out and which ones are set at a rough 50% or similar.
I have some old NASA push button switches that have two bulbs in them. When the switch is off both lights are off, when you click the switch the yellow bulb comes on and lights up the switch, and when the device you turned on actually turns on a green light turns on ( and the yellow turns off ). The idea is you push the button and the yellow state is the confirmation that you toggled the switch, but the green is the…
Labels outside the switch also work.[2]
[1]: https://my737ng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/cp_mcp_header...
[2]: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2c/37/0a/2c370a3f4018cfa9c3ef...
I'm surprised we are still iterating on ideas like this, to be honest. Seems flight decks have been rather successful on complicated dashboards for a long time. Same with boats. Why can we take approximately no lessons from them?
Perhaps what we do on a pc is not really that complicated or critical compared to flying a plane or steering an oil tanker. Just a thought.
