
Why Tesla's dashboard touch screens suck - viburnum
https://www.fastcompany.com/90356020/3-reasons-why-teslas-dashboard-touch-screens-suck
======
mamon
Little offtopic, but I disagree that Tesla's touch screen makes it look
"futuristic". In fact lack of more traditional displays, knobs, etc. makes the
car interior seem very empty, giving you impression of riding something that
was built by an amateur in his garage. I mean, if I was building a prototype
of my own car I would probably just have bought an iPad and have glued it to a
dashboard.

~~~
Gibbon1
If you've dealt with electro-mechanical switches and displays you know

electro-mechanical switches and displays => expensive

touch screen => cheap

Both from a manufacturing standpoint and a design stand point.

So you are right it's not futuristic it's chintzy.

------
robotzero
I own a 2010-2014 Lexus RX-350 with a tactile feedback "mouse" / "joystick"
for the UX that was later replaced by Toyota / Lexus in newer models and I
will never understand why. The cursor when it moved over a button will
feedback to the mouse to make it more difficult / needing a nudge to navigate
away from the button but still feels very natural. I am not sure why this type
of UX was completely abandon but after driving older and more recent cars this
was the clear winner for the task of navigating an interface while also
operating a huge SUV through traffic.

~~~
jaak
Personally, I hated the Lexus mouse. Compared to the prior generation (which
used a touchscreen) it was slow and awkward to use.

The newer touchpad style they're using is almost as bad.

The touch screen was basically tap-tap done.

I know touch screens get some hate here, but CarPlay with a touch screen is
about the best I've seen so far.

------
gdcohen
I drive a Tesla. Not having haptic feedback has not been a problem for me. It
took just a few minutes to become familiar with the UI and, after a few days,
I found it easier and more intuitive than anything else I had ever driven. In
comparison, I recently tried a friend's prestigious German car. This car had
dozens of controls on the steering wheel, steering column, dashboard, etc.
After a few hours, I still found everything confusing.

~~~
dangus
Would I be daft to suggest that what you're engaging in is post-purchase
rationalization?

Dozens of buttons still have an inherent advantage: as tactile buttons they
can be activated without using your eyes.

I agree that most German luxury cars get completely over-ambitious, but that's
not to say that nobody's succeeded at making something that's less distracting
than Tesla's touch screen.

Out of the cars I've driven with modern infotainment systems, Mazda might have
the most intuitive one out there. The touch screen is completely disabled
while driving, with a simple four direction, press down, rotating knob to
control everything along with a back button and logically placed shortcut
keys.

That layout also includes a physical volume knob and physical climate controls
in the standard, logical dual dial layout.

Most importantly, the gear selector is a completely normal front-to-back push
the button lever with physical tactile feedback, none of this rocker/button
pushing nonsense.

Picture here:

[https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets/vehicles/2019/mazda3-sed...](https://www.mazdausa.com/siteassets/vehicles/2019/mazda3-sedan/gallery-
page/2019-Mazda-3-Sedan-dashboard.png?w=1800)

~~~
DeonPenny
Nah I would say it's usually just being more used to using touch screens. Same
as the explanation people used to use for blackberrys vs iphone. Yes testing
one handed without looking was fine but it's just as easy when you figure out
the screen no matter how unintuitive it sounds.

~~~
dangus
The major difference being that you don't use your phone while driving (do
you?)

I really don't think you can operate an iPhone without looking at it unless
you're using accessibility features or a really basic function like the
flashlight.

------
m463
I think there is room for improvement

#1 - why do you have to take your hands off the wheel?

#2 - when you DO take your hands off the wheel, the targets should be well
positioned (high) and easy to hit (large). Now they are neither. Multiple taps
are terrible (eg raise suspension for a driveway)

#3 - listen - to ui experts, to customers - there are enormous forum threads
devoted ui complaints (v9 vs v8, crappy usb ui, etc)

I think Steve Jobs ran into most of this sort of stuff with the original
scrollwheel iPod and managed to pull off a good UI for the time by "sending it
back to the kitchen". I think some of these UI decisions should be sent back.

Good thing is things can be improved in a software update (apart from the
nonexistent model 3 dashboard).

I will say, most people with a tesla don't want to give up their car.

------
tomcam
For me a huge amount of driving depends on muscle memory and tactile feedback.
I’m pretty much Tesla’s target audience but that’s a deal killer for me.

------
CriticalCathed
> Stretching your arm all the way across the dashboard to fiddle with a vent
> may not be ideal from a Fitts-ian standpoint, but you can accomplish it
> without ever taking your eyes off the road. The Tesla’s touch screen,
> though, makes no-look operation impossible—which raises the stakes for any
> non-ideal button positioning.

Does it actually? It seems to me whether it's a physical button or not, a
glance is usually enough to hone in on it. If you're going for completely
blind groping for a knob type action I guess I understand, but I don't do
that.

A fixed button on a fixed screen should be almost as easy to fix in muscle
memory as a physical button or switch.

Small codicil: I much prefer physical buttons and dislike the tendency for
physical interfaces to disappear.

------
xedeon
Yeah, this is not the consensus among actual owners who voted with their
money.

~~~
brokenmachine
I'm voting with my money by never buying a car that uses a cheap touchscreen
to control essential stuff that should have dedicated buttons.

~~~
xedeon
Talk is cheap. The same applies when validating any product and people tell
you they will "buy" it. But when you ask them to pay, they are nowhere to be
found.

Using your same analogy, this also means that I have chosen not to vote by not
buying any of the luxury German of Japanese sedans. I've had both as daily
drivers previously and I do not foresee myself going back. In fact, my wife
and I were willing to take two depreciation hits to trade-in our relatively
new MBenz sedan and SUV vehicles to go all Tesla.

Also, 99% of the functionality needed can already be controlled on the
steering wheel buttons if you are so keen with that. Pretty much everything
else is automatic. You are also not being forced to buy these cars, so why the
vitriol?

~~~
brokenmachine
> Talk is cheap. The same applies when validating any product and people tell
> you they will "buy" it. But when you ask them to pay, they are nowhere to be
> found.

I think the talk is less cheap when a person is saying that they WON'T buy
something though. I'd contend that people are more likely to NOT buy something
they say they won't buy than to buy something they say they will buy.

> Using your same analogy, this also means that I have chosen not to vote by
> not buying any of the luxury German of Japanese sedans.

I could have bought a Tesla but decided not to. There were many reasons but
that screen was one of them.

> You are also not being forced to buy these cars, so why the vitriol?

Vitriol? All I said was I'm unhappy about the trend, wouldn't buy a car with
it, and expressed that, in the likely vain hope that someone managing these
companies is listening, because it's limiting my choice for future cars. Same
as you're expressing your love for the design.

Also all the phoning-home is something I won't be a part of.

When my current car reaches EOL, I think I'll have trouble finding a newish
car because of these horrible user-hostile trends.

------
robomartin
Can someone who owns a Tesla talk about nighttime operation?

LCD displays this large and bright can mess with low light adaptation. Unlike
OLED technology, LCD’s just can’t make really dark blacks and glow.

~~~
ssewell
Implementation is really nice, actually. The display automatically switches to
a white on black mode and the brightness is automatically regulated.

You can override either display setting (day/night and brightness) manually,
if desired.

Given that it's an LCD, the performance is quite surprising. The blacks are
_very_ black. Just take a look at the set of controls at the bottom, is near
impossible to see where the controls end and black bezel begins.

