Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds

[Eric]

Interesting study. Being able to know what a dial is doing by touch is easier and safer, it's one thing I miss about my BMW.

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

www.vibilagare.se

 

[Cmaier]

Not even sure why this needs to be tested. Having to look at a screen to find a button, especially when that button moves around, is obviously harder and more distracting that reaching to the same spot every time without looking. One of the things that drives me crazy about tesla is that with each new center-screen UX update over the last decade they’ve made it harder to control things without looking - now you have screen UI elements that move around or that disappear or reappear based on context.

The center screen is great as a display/information interface. But common input functions deserve fixed, tactile controls.

 

[Joe]

I remember my friend bought a new Honda one year and it had touchscreen buttons instead of actual buttons...he hated it after a while. I thought he was overreacting until I tried it for myself. It was not user friendly.

I'm keeping my 2019 Tacoma with physical buttons for a while so hopefully by the time I'm ready for a new vehicle it will still have physical buttons.

 

[Edd]

In early 2021 while test driving cars, I compared a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and a Toyota Venza (Hybrid only). These two have the same powerplants and are pretty much the same car in many ways.

But the Venza used touch controls for a fuckload of functions. That kind of interior is a prettier, cleaner look. so I get it, but that alone pushed me to buy the RAV4.

 

[fischersd]

BlackBerry.

The best keyboard was the 72xx "Photon" with the oval keys.

You'll never be able to type so damn fast on a phone again. Heh...sorry. /end rant.

We'll need considerable gains in touch screen technology before they ever approach the 100% (5 9's?) that physical keys / buttons enjoy.

 

[Nycturne]

Test confirms water is wet.

I'm surprised the Outback did as well as it did. The latest models have been pretty touch-screen heavy with their controls, ditching the perfectly usable physical controls that were there with the MY2019 and earlier.

 

[Edd]

Test confirms water is wet.

I'm surprised the Outback did as well as it did. The latest models have been pretty touch-screen heavy with their controls, ditching the perfectly usable physical controls that were there with the MY2019 and earlier.

We own the 2018 Outback, which I like, and I wouldn’t buy another with the current configuration. They went nuts.

 

[Arkitect]

Interesting study. Being able to know what a dial is doing by touch is easier and safer, it's one thing I miss about my BMW.

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

www.vibilagare.se

100% Agree with this.

While driving I can reach for a knob or button without taking my eyes off the road any longer than necessary — if at all.
But hell, with a smooth glass surface there's no telling where my fingers are going.

Just look at the debacle with Apple's TouchBar on the MacBooks.

Test confirms water is wet.

True that.

 

[Herdfan]

I think people who have a hard time with the concept of "menus" have a hard time with this.

My mom could just not grasp the concept of a button doing more than one thing. Granted she was older when this style became popular, but still.

My parents bought one of the new S-Class Mercedes with the control knob, I think they called it COMAND. If I drove the car and left the radio on SAT, she couldn't get it back to AM because it required you to use the menu system vs pushing the AM button. They downgraded to an E-Class the next year because it had physical buttons for tasks.

 

[Nycturne]

I use touch screens daily, I help build apps for touch screens. I’d call myself pretty fluent with the tech. I still don’t like the “everything must be touch“ trend in cars. Menus exacerbate the problem by adding more steps to the process and keeping folks distracted even longer, IMO. Something good UI designers try to minimize.

Touch screens require hand-eye coordination. Something humans are good at, but when driving, those eyes really should not be looking at the touch screen. Humans also have muscle memory and the ability to tell the difference between things by touch. This is what knobs and buttons lean on when implemented properly. In my Outback, I know the knobs on the center console control temperature. So if I reach out and hit a knob, I know what it is immediately. A good button interface can also help you remember what button your finger is on by shape, texture, bumps, etc (something my Outback isn’t as good with except on the steering wheel).

I don’t need everything as a button and turn the cabin into a fighter jet cockpit, but when we’re facing more and more distracted drivers on the road, do we really want the car itself to be one of those distractions?

Voice isn’t super great either unless you can quickly train the person to be comfortable with it and build up that memory of what the commands are. Making someone figure out how they have to phrase their request to turn cabin temperature up without it getting misunderstood distracts the driver in other ways, even if they have their eyes on the road.

 

[Herdfan]

Touch screens require hand-eye coordination. Something humans are good at, but when driving, those eyes really should not be looking at the touch screen.

Maybe I'm biased, but I think Ford in their trucks has a good blend of TS and buttons. Common functions like temp and radio volume are buttons, but also available on the TS. Most of the things you set once are all behind menus via the TS. And they can't be accessed when the vehicle is moving.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Interesting study. Being able to know what a dial is doing by touch is easier and safer, it's one thing I miss about my BMW.

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds

Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.

www.vibilagare.se

It was one of the reasons I chose my i3 over other options. No touchscreen. Nice physical buttons.

 

[Nycturne]

Maybe I'm biased, but I think Ford in their trucks has a good blend of TS and buttons. Common functions like temp and radio volume are buttons, but also available on the TS. Most of the things you set once are all behind menus via the TS. And they can't be accessed when the vehicle is moving.

My current car has good buttons on the steering wheel, the volume dial is physical, and the climate controls are buttons and dials below the touch screen. I'm fine with that. There are some settings for the instrument cluster that are controlled with steering wheel controls that I wish were in the touch screen instead where it's easier to navigate them while parked. I'm not against having touch screens where it makes sense. I'm more frustrated that with the advent of touch screens it's like they threw out all the designers that knew how to create good physical interfaces and hired a bunch of SV phone devs, and are making mistakes that I thought we learned from decades ago.

Ironically, touch screens make accessibility for those with visual impairments more difficult as well. A passenger that can't adjust their own temperature because of accessibility issues means more distractions for the driver too.

 

[Herdfan]

My current car has good buttons on the steering wheel,

Why can't the manufacturers all get together and decide agree they will all put the radio controls on the same side of the wheel. Mine is on the right, wife's car is on the left.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Why can't the manufacturers all get together and decide agree they will all put the radio controls on the same side of the wheel. Mine is on the right, wife's car is on the left.

Worse if you ever have the misfortune to have the indicator on the wrong side. It should be on the left. Of course not an issue for me as a BMW driver, we don’t use them (before someone else says it!).

If you are really unlucky you might get one of those cars where they put the steering on the wrong side. As we all know the steering wheel should be on the right side!

 

[Cmaier]

If you are really unlucky you might get one of those cars where they put the steering on the wrong side. As we all know the steering wheel should be on the right side!

Not everyone wants to work at the post office, bub.

 

[Roller]

Worse if you ever have the misfortune to have the indicator on the wrong side. It should be on the left. Of course not an issue for me as a BMW driver, we don’t use them (before someone else says it!).

If you are really unlucky you might get one of those cars where they put the steering on the wrong side. As we all know the steering wheel should be on the right side!

I always use the turn signal on my BMW, not that any other drivers pay attention. But it’s still useful because the car warns me and even tries to keep me in my lane if it senses I’m about to hit another vehicle.

The windshield wiper control is an annoying example of inconsistency. On my last car, moving the stalk down activated the wipers. On this car, it’s the opposite.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I always use the turn signal on my BMW, not that any other drivers pay attention. But it’s still useful because the car warns me and even tries to keep me in my lane if it senses I’m about to hit another vehicle.

The windshield wiper control is an annoying example of inconsistency. On my last car, moving the stalk down activated the wipers. On this car, it’s the opposite.

Down for a single wipe on mine. Up for auto wipers on mine.