Tesla’s Touchscreen UI: A Case Study of Car-Dashboard User Interface
I only skimmed the article, and I&#x27;ve only driven a Tesla (Model S) for a day, so my review&#x2F;comments might be incomplete, but <i>I almost completely disagree with this article</i>.<p>1. I love the size and quality of the touch screen. Nothing in other cars compares. Usually screens are small, low resolution, require forceful touch or aren&#x27;t touch. (Recent issues with screens failing in heat are a big minus, but I&#x27;m sure technology will improve soon.)<p>2. I barely use any of the &quot;buttons&quot; (or other controls) while driving. I almost always use the same temperature, and usually set it when I get in. Same with navigation destination. <i>Edit:</i> In any case, I think the big safety risk is using central controls <i>at all</i>, regardless whether they&#x27;re touch-screen or physical buttons.<p>3. Most controls that you use while driving should be placed on the steering wheel - things like music&#x2F;radio and cruise control. I don&#x27;t recall how it was in Model S, but many other cars have this, so I consider it a solved problem.<p>4. Reverse video camera, in most cars, automatically starts when you start reversing (I don&#x27;t remember reversing in Model S so maybe they didn&#x27;t do implement this yet). As this requires the car to come to a stop, even pressing some obscure button can&#x27;t be &quot;unsafe&quot;, at most a nuisance.<p>5. Some controls <i>are</i> important and are usually <i>not</i> on the steering wheel - things like <i>lock&#x2F;unlock car doors</i>, and the <i>4 blinkers</i> button. I think these would best be placed on the driver&#x27;s door, or alternatively on the top of the center console (above the screen) so that the passenger can also access them.<p>6. I don&#x27;t use lane assist, and I&#x27;m not sure whether having it is a great idea... people might come to rely on it and thus become worse drivers on their own. It&#x27;s often implemented as a light in the side mirror, which I personally dislike - the implementation is bad (false positives, or turns on when I&#x27;m not changing lane) and the light flashing at the edge of my viewing field distracts me from the road ahead, so I always want to turn it off. I think a useful UI would be, to change the sound that the blinkers make, if the car detects an obstacle on the side.<p>To conclude, I can&#x27;t wait until big touch screens are adopted by other car manufacturers and most other buttons are removed.