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The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

theturnsignalblog.com

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Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#91

Post by ModernMech »

nick__m wrote: post #86
ModernMech wrote: post #32

Mazda had it just right in 2016 with mostly tactile climate controls, paired with the center console dial interface (also tactile). I think their latest models have regressed just a bit with the button climate controls instead of the dials, but that's still far better than touch screen.

That new central console still looks designed with driving in mind: https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets/vehicles/2023/cx-5/vlp/g...

Yeah, it's still best in class I think; I just bought a new Mazda and did some comparison test driving, and although I'm not as happy with it as the 2016 offering, the 2021 design is still great.

This is the 2016 climate control cluster I preferred: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1225/1056/products/317144_...

What was nice about it was the three dials for all controls.

This is what they have now:

https://cars.usnews.com/pics/size/776x517/images/Auto/izmo/i...

I think this is aesthetically better, but they turned the fan speed and vent settings into push buttons instead of dials. Whereas before I could set this without looking, now I often have to look to verify my settings. So in that sense, I wasn't happy about that change.

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#92

Post by cudgy »

neogodless wrote: post #54
xyzelement wrote: post #25

As someone who doesn't want to navigate the touchscreens, I love that my 2021 Highlander has physical climate controls. But I also realized that you no longer need them. My wife set her climate control to 70 degrees and never touched it since. In the winter it warms her up, in the summer it cools her down. Her car is a perfect 70 degrees all year round. So for her, it doesn't matter how inaccessible the controls are,…

When the sun is hitting me, I need it to be about 5 degrees cooler. Does the climate control account for that?

Several cars with automatic climate control I owned have a sensor on the dash that detects sunlight and adjusts the system accordingly.

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#93

Post by ThunderSizzle »

moolcool wrote: post #27
tempest_ wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is such a bad implementation. Whenever I am in a car with a touch screen the two things that get me - The car bounces and I miss the thing on the screen I was aiming for - I am low vision I have to lean in so close to read those stupid screens with the tiny UI widgets I hope they figure something better out, I honestly preferred when they were doing the screens with the buttons around the edge.

First, car companies are generally terrible at making software from the jump. The interfaces are always byzantine, laggy, and poorly laid out. There's the small bandaid of Apple Carplay and Android Auto, but then your vehicle settings are decoupled from the rest of the UI, which is confusing and frustrating. I'm honestly due to get a new car, but I have no idea what to get because virtually every car on the market fe…

My F-150 2013 is exactly that. Anything since 2013 is a touch screen for everything as opposed to a small display screen with physical buttons for everything.

You might just need to find an older used model that is in good condition.

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#94

Post by twic »

culebron21 wrote: post #81
tomrod wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you call designers artists, remove objective KPIs, and give them free reign, you get one-button mice. Similarly, if you let engineers build something, you end up with git's cli. Am I in the wrong to think both of these are plenty functional to the point I like them? A one button mouse functions a lot like a touchbad when you factor in meta keys (at least to my memory -- I've only ever used one in conjunction wit…

I used Mercurial CLI in 2010-2016, before finally having to completely switch to git. I almost never had to memorize or look hg commands up. In Git, I routinely need to google that same answer on SO for flags. I do understand that it's the real inner machinery, and back in 2009 I did read how git works, but still cli is hard to remember.

In some ways, the Git CLI is easier: whatever you're trying to do, the command you need is always "checkout".

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#97

Post by [deleted] »

rocket_surgeron wrote: post #43
a2tech wrote: post #7

My Ford Edge has almost all the important controls accessible only through the touchscreen. If I'm in reverse for example I lose all ability to adjust the temperature, fan, or seat temperature. Its terrible. Adjusting the seat warmers requires moving an onscreen slider which is weirdly overly sensitive and yet at the same time laggy. Adjusting it while driving is almost impossible without looking at the screen which…

>If I'm in reverse for example I lose all ability to adjust the temperature, fan, or seat temperature For every single millisecond after you check your backup camera to make sure there's no kid in the blind spot behind your car, your whole-ass body should be rotated with you head looking over your shoulder and out the rear window. Unless you have a monster SUV that you can't see out of anyways, in which case use the…

[deleted]

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#98

Post by nick__m »

ModernMech wrote: post #91
nick__m wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That new central console still looks designed with driving in mind: https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets/vehicles/2023/cx-5/vlp/g...

Yeah, it's still best in class I think; I just bought a new Mazda and did some comparison test driving, and although I'm not as happy with it as the 2016 offering, the 2021 design is still great. This is the 2016 climate control cluster I preferred: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1225/1056/products/317144_... What was nice about it was the three dials for all controls. This is what they have now: https://cars.usne…

Your preferred model is the one in my CX5, I selected a lower trim level especially for those knobs! It also gave me a good reason to spend a weekend with my dad to sound proof the car and upgrade the audio.

Re: The design of in-car climate controls has gone backward

#99

Post by rkagerer »

danielvf wrote: post #17
rkagerer wrote: post #8

Are there any reliable modern vehicles with a UI more like a decade or two ago? (eg. physical knobs and a dash that doesn't blind you)

Toyota Tacoma - still has all the knobs and buttons just like God intended. Touch screen is small, works with CarPlay, good for podcasts and maps. Everything else, just reach over and touch it. And a Tacoma is the very definition of reliable. Console view: https://toyotaassets.scene7.com/is/image/toyota/TAC_MY21_000...

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think it's interesting that all the examples shared of "physical UI" vehicles, save one, are pickup trucks.
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