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Driver Study: People Want Fewer Embedded Apps, Just Essentials That Work Easily

Posted by Soulskill on from the good-news-for-apple dept.

Lucas123 writes 'A study released at the Telematics Detroit 2014 conference revealed the obvious: Most people don't want more distracting embedded apps in their cars; they just want essential apps like navigation and music to be intuitive to use and reliable. Part of the study involved a focus group of 46 people who were asked to evaluate infotainment systems from three luxury car makers and four "mass consumer" car makers. The drivers were asked to do three things: Navigate home, find a pizza shop and find a radio station. Only 40% were able to complete all three tasks. Not surprisingly, the highest rated infotainment system was Tesla because its icons were "large" and it was easy to figure out.'

3 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Need to be able to use without looking at it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For any in car control - I need to be able to use it without looking at it.

    Too many things fail at this.

  2. What I want by clinko · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The car stereo I wanted 10 years ago"
    "The car stereo I want today":

    http://i.imgur.com/NGcUN.jpg

  3. Doesn't surprise me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I test drove a Cadillac recently and GM's touch screen looks like it was built by people with zero UI experience. Of course, it's just about as bad as every other modern app. Nobody understands flow anymore. And it's not an American thing either. The same problems plagued touch interfaces on imports as well. Oddly, BMW's is much better than it used to be.

    This garbage is so sluggish, too. Adjusting climate controls used to be a matter of turning on a knob. Now, I have to tap on a vague piece of plastic. Nothing happens, so I tap again. Then again. Finally, the fans kick on FULL BLAST... And apparently there are only three speed settings. And seriously, adjusting volume by sliding your finger across a screen? Jesus Christ, whomever thought that shit was a good idea is a fucking MORON... Why have umpteen volume levels if all you can do is wildly skate between 0 and MAXIMUM with barely any control.

    I don't care if I sound like the old man on the porch, shaking his fist. These UIs are completely retarded.