rc3.org

Here’s a UI design consideration I hadn’t previously encountered, from a discussion of the on board trip computer in the Buick Enclave:

The display has a perfect location in the gauge cluster, right where the driver can see it. But the controls are located just below the radio. I guess I could get used to it, but I still have to hunt around to select one of four same-sized buttons. This mid-cabin location has another disadvantage that GM engineers might not have thought of: I’m using it so often (every couple of minutes) that my wife started asking me things like “Why are always playing with those buttons?” and “What are you doing?” and “Would you just stop already?” If the buttons were on a stalk (more on that later) I could press them to my heart’s content without having to undergo the Spanish Inquisition.