Creating unsafe driver experiences | by Rita Kind-Envy

Focus on safety.

That’s the main goal of drivers’ interfaces, right? This is why the car screen between the driver and the passenger has:

• huge buttons
• limited options for interaction
• large typeface
• short text

Like this:

Complications behind “simple” designs

When designing interfaces for car touch screens, you try to find a golden mean between:

• being simplistic and
• being comprehensible

Good news about “simple” — fewer choices mean less time scrolling through options and more time keeping your eyes on the road. You don’t want to squint at tiny buttons or swipe through endless menus.

Bad news about “simple” —huge buttons make it harder to find what you’re looking for. Limiting options leave drivers wishing for more control over their rides.

The goal of UX people who design car interfaces should be to minimize the risk of distracted driving.

About 3,000 people die in auto accidents due to distracted driving every year.

Delegating safety to users

Disclaimer: every car manual has a disclaimer (or even a dozen of them) that you shouldn’t use the car infotainment system while driving. To me, it sounds insane.

You can’t build a blender with blades outside the cup and stick a “be careful” label on it.

You design for safety. Not delegate the safety to the user.

It’s clear that drivers shouldn’t use their phones or stare at the infotainment system while driving. But it’s insane to design unsafe UIs and then claim that their use in motion is solely the driver’s responsibility.

I think disclaimers are the reason why we have poor designs like in Cupra.

The moody Cupra