When I went car shopping recently, I was amazed by the autonomous technologies in most new models: automatic lane-keeping, braking to avoid collisions and parallel parking, for example.
But I was appalled by the state of dashboard technology. Technology sells, so car companies are all about touch screens and apps these days. Unfortunately, they're truly terrible at designing user interfaces (UIs)—the ways that you, the human, are supposed to interact with it, the car. A good user interface (a) is easy to navigate, (b) puts frequently used controls front and center, (c) gives clear feedback as you make a change and (d) is apparently beyond the capabilities of today's car companies. I asked my Twitter followers to help me nominate the World's Worst Car UI Designs—and I was flooded with responses.
Source:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/automobile-dashboard-technology-is-simply-awful/
Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Thursday April 12 2018, @06:36AM
not excusing bad UI, but looking at the causes, I can see the people designing the radio/stereo/control head unit being six to twelve months ahead of the people doing the steering wheels, controls and buttons.
New car comes off the design CAD, a prototype or two are built, and then they look in the parts bin for bits that fit.
Base models get base model systems, but the buttons on the stalks are either on every model OR act differently, So.. Make them do something..
The premium mode, gets the premium systems, which may, or may not have been part of the premium control untit software... which gets re-done, in a hurry, to make government approval/certfication/whatever.
The in-between models get the cheapest plus one, unless the owner selects different options, whcih may or may not work together.
Now, take the switchgear out of last year's premium model for the base, and make new stuff to justify the premium model's price differential.
Also, try and do it with as few different looms as possible.
Don't forget to feel sorry for the designers when they best-in-class driving position turns out crap because the seats were too expensive to make, so they used some from a different model, and several components from third-party suppliers (outsource! cheapest bid!)
It is amazing some cars work at all, let alone have good UI.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex