form versus function

[cellio]

On my way home tonight someone backed into my cursed car. I'm fine, and damage is minor -- might be non-existent, but I'll have to scrub the area to be sure there are no scratches and I don't have time to fuss with that right now. I have the guy's information and I told him it would be a couple days before he hears from me.

The only reason I'm writing about this at all is to comment on a user-interface decision by VW.

The biggest, most visible thing on the face of my steering wheel is the VW logo. I know, without thinking about it, that that's not the horn. The second most visible thing is a raised area that, on closer inspection, says "airbag" in non-obvious lettering. Elsewhere and barely visible -- a mere blip in the molding, with no contrast at all -- is a little "horn" icon.

I knew all that in theory, but it's possible that under the gun I might have been able to get the guy's attention before he hit me -- if I hadn't been pounding on the airbag thingie.

For people who use their horns all the time, this wouldn't happen. But I'm very moderate when it come to that, and I just haven't internalized the "the thing that looks like a button isn't" rule. I wonder if the people who designed this are the sorts who use their horns liberally (and so have adapted to the interface), or if they just didn't think about it.

Comments

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

I always thought they'd moved/changed the horn button to stop people from using them so often. But I have absolutely *no* evidence of that, just a feeling.

Gessi

[cellio]

I wouldn't be surprised, but by doing so they've interfered with the most important legitimate use of the horn. Sigh.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

This is all too common, and is in fact one of my tests before buying a car. This was after my dad spent a frustrated 5 seconds pounding on the steering wheel in our old Nissan, before I reached over and honked the horn for him (in a very similar situation to the one you just were in). The horn on that car was two little buttons on either side of center, near where your thumbs would be if your hands were at 4 and 8 o'clock. This car didn't even have an airbag, so I have no clue why they did this...

It's such an OBVIOUS UI problem; can't imagine why so many companies get it wrong.

[cellio]

I'll certainly be paying attention to this in the future. I don't know why so many get it wrong, either!

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

Odd, on my Jetta pressing the "big button" does honk the horn. I hate to see people /downgrade/ user interfaces.
Of all the cars I've driven the worst horn interface belongs to my parents' 1984 Peugeot, where the horn is activated by pressing the turn signal lever inwards.

[cellio]

That's weird. The big contrasting plate right in the center with the shiny logo is the first thing I ever tried when I wanted a horn, and it was only after that failed that I went in search of other options.

Of all the cars I've driven the worst horn interface belongs to my parents' 1984 Peugeot, where the horn is activated by pressing the turn signal lever inwards.

Ick!

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

There's an absolutely wonderful book called "The Psychology of Everyday Things" by Dr. Donald Norman. Bluntly put, any object that gets used everyday that isn't intuitively obvious how to use is a design failure. Which is not to say that learner's permits and user's manuals are useless, but you should be able to do simple stuff thoughtlessly. The book has photographs of doors to buildings and asks if the door swings clockwise or counterclockwise as you look at it. If it's not obvious, it's a design failure.
Wonderful book.
-- Dagonell

[cellio]

I've read that book. (Well, actually, I've read the revised edition, which is now called The Design of Everyday Things -- apparently he kept getting shelved with the self-help books!) He points out a lot of interfaces that are really, really wrong, some of which are certainly types that have confused me in the past. (For example, the row of dials along the front or back of a stove that correspond to burners, but unlabelled so you don't know which are front and which are back.) Decoy door handles (on doors that you have to push) are especially annoying -- and not uncommon.

[goljerp]

For example, the row of dials along the front or back of a stove that correspond to burners, but unlabelled so you don't know which are front and which are back.

My parents got a stove when I was in highschool which was labeled with pictograms. The problem is, I could never make sense of the pictograms. Were they supposed to be a top view, or what?

[cellio]

My stove has a row of dials (front to back, not across the front) alongside the burners. Each of them has a "+" next to it and a red dot in one of the four quadrants, corresponding to the burner. That's much better than not labelling it, and I suppose it wastes less space than laying the dials out as a 2x2 grid, but it's inelegant.

[akitrom.livejournal.com]

I think cars ought to have two horns, a "I'm just letting you know I'm here," toot, and a blast equivalent to the SCA "Hold!"

I've also wondered if there's a way for car horns to interface with radios, to get the attention of drivers who are cranking their stereos and can't hear a honk from outside.

[cellio]

Ooh, I crave the radio interface. But then, I also crave the "make static on his stereo" interface for when a nearby car has the sound cranked up so far that even though all windows are closed it's blasting over my stereo.

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

What does it say about me that my first impulse is to say "file a bug report"?

[cellio]

*laugh*

*groan*

Nicely done. :-)