A New Car UI: How touch screen controls in cars should work

Matthaeus Krenn
4 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2017–2023
YouTube
473K views · 12 years ago · demo · evergreen

Matthaeus Krenn's concept video for a car touchscreen interface that lets the driver control only one thing at a time through gestures. It argues that phone-style UIs do not suit driving and shows an alternative.

HN people bring it up whenever car touchscreens are criticized, as a sensible, elegant alternative they wish carmakers had adopted.

“I think it is an elegant solution (only allow ONE thing to be controlled by the touch screen at a time)”
Interaction designVehicle & transport design
#carui#touchscreen#automotive#gestures#driverdistraction#concept

7 comments from Hacker News

s
@ssalka2023 · in “Automakers are starting to admit that drivers hate touchscreens”
I feel compelled to share a video, now 9 years old, that shows how touch screens could be accommodated with sensible design in cars. The UIs we are used to on our phones are not suitable for driving, but we could make something that is. ▶ this video
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l
@lbayes2021 · in “Some new BMWs won't have touchscreens thanks to chip shortage”
I have a 2015 Audi A3. I didn't want the brand at all, but loved (and still love) the dial control. I've been dreading getting a new car specifically because I do not want the touch screen. Fortunately, I still have a few years left of good life in this machine, otherwise I'd jump on one of those immediately! I still wish something like this UI would have caught on. ▶ this video
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h
@hndamien2019 · in “Porsche Taycan revealed: $150,900 base price, 0-60 MPH in 3 seconds”
It doesn't help that automotive latency for touch screens is incredibly bad. It it had smartphone level response maybe it would be a better starting point for comparison. I'd love to see something like this, even in a Tesla. ▶ this video
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c
@cyberferret2018 · in “Why touchscreens in cars don’t work”
Every time I see posts about car touch screen interfaces, and the associated UX problems, I am reminded of this video I saw a few years ago [0]. I think it is an elegant solution (only allow ONE thing to be controlled by the touch screen at a time), however will require a lot of learning and remembering to get used to all the different gestures. [0] - ▶ this video
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m
@moviuro2019 · in “Tesla Model Y”
See this 2014 video: ▶ this video & associated website: link
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c
@cyberferret2017 · in “Redditors design worst volume sliders possible”
I'd love to see the antithesis of this collection - whereby smart UI designers try and improve the current audio controls to move away from the old style knobs/sliders, to something far better represented by todays interfaces, such as this concept for a car audio control: ▶ this video
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c
@cyberferret2017 · in “[dead]”
Whew, I was glad to see they hadn't completely scrapped the iconic 4 rings. Nice to see them making all their branding assets available like this though - right down to the icon sets etc. That would make third party apps or in car navigation systems etc. conform to the same look and feel. On that note - I wonder how soon it will be before car manufacturers have 'app stores' for add ons to their internal systems. Wouldn't it be cool, for instance, to have a custom navigation app that you could install in your Tesla to supplement the factory installed one? For example - this engineer's proof of concept for a touch screen interface in a car [0]. If he could brand it with the Audi graphic assets and pitch it to them, I am sure it will go a long way to them incorporating it in their future vehicles... [0] - ▶ this video
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