What happened to "simple" design?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- Everywhere you look, products are getting too complicated, with more and more features aimed at attracting consumers. But designing things to do more can often lead to frustrated and unhappy customers. For designers, it's a constant and complex balance to get it just right. Correspondent David Pogue looks at how complicated lives - full of endless features - may be getting easier to navigate thanks to technology.
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Rather than people wanting new gadgets, I think it is manufacturers need to constantly change and discontinue the old in order to make more money.
I love how you're blaming the manufacturer instead of, just... capitalism. Manufacturers will do what makes money. If a manufacturer made something that lasted and found that it caused more people to buy it and it was profitable, they would do it. But it's not. They make more money and we're happy to buy products that are cheaper and don't last as long. We're short-sighted buyers, on average. And no amount of anecdotal, "well I would buy the thing that lasts," stands up to the market research that most people don't.
I freakin dislike "voice control". I have no desire to talk to my products. I can't be the only one?
You’re not the only one.
Ditto. Same with touch-screens, as a person with #dyspraxia they are next to impossible to operate.
@@JenXOfficialEDM most people don’t have that so it doesn’t matter to them
In the early days of phone answering machines, people where put off by having to talk to a machine. Today they are offended if someone does not have an answering machine / voice mail. See where this is going?
@@bobroberts2371 *"In the early days of phone answering machines, people where put off by having to talk to a machine."*
That is a fallacy. People weren't put off by having to talk to a machine, because they weren't talking to a machine --- they were recording a message. You are referring to a later phenomenon when people and businesses began using answering machines as call screening devices, which is naturally off-putting.
There is a difference between recording a message and being expected to literally pretend like you are having a conversation with a human being when you're not. That is something that I refuse to do. I just can't do it.
I remember when distracted driving was caused by trying to find an AM radio station with the knob...
Don't forget the five preset buttons for the stations that you pull out and push in to set. That is the ultimate high-tech. Who even needs more?
There will _always_ be distracted driving from every era that has driving. Hell, there are articles in newspapers from the days of horses with people complaining about distracted horse riders.
Not mentioned in your report: Complexity often is cheaper to manufacture. This is why automakers are eliminating knobs, even though they are safer to operate while driving. 4:05 addition to influencing manufacturers by buying simpler, we also should pay a little more for better.
“complexity is cheaper to manufacture” then it’s not complex. I don’t think you understand what complexity means. By definition, it would be easier to manufacture simple things.
@StarChaser1879, what they mean is this (probably):
Buying a touchscreen from a vendor is cheaper than designing plastic injection molds for buttons for thousands of dollars and having the wiring to those buttons done by hand...
Plastic parts are cheap to mass produce, but their molds and assembly by hand is very expensive...
@StarChaser1879 Complexity in the context of this report means complex to use and has nothing to do with manufacturing. The screens are cheap and simple to make but more complicated to use, especially while driving.
@@iverburl , I am not saying you're wrong, but just trying to say what the other person tried to say...
@@StarChaser1879 Hi, Like meirm471 said, things like physical buttons have massive up-front costs, but also there is a large amount of labor involved in making something simpler. Most manufacturing involves thousands of people each doing their own things. You can't just throw it all into a device and expect everything to work. You have to make sure everything works together--you have to go from chaos to simplicity. If you were writing a term paper you would not turn in your first draft, you would go over it several times editing it into something understandable--simpler. But that takes time, work, and money.
I used to work as a coffee shop barista and at one point, our register program was undergoing so many changes to the point where I could feel myself becoming very angry.
It's why I make my own coffee with just almond milk, nothing else!
@@___beyondhorizon4664: I worked in coffee shops for far too long so on one occasion one customer actually mistook my knowledge for passion. I leaned in closely and told her any passion I have for coffee began and ended with the punching of the time clock. I also make my coffee and I wish more people did too because the amount of waste created in coffee shops is beyond disturbing.
@@___beyondhorizon4664: I do the same thing and take it black. The amount of waste that is created in coffee shops is mind blowing.
Fewer screens and submenues to scroll through while driving the better. I much prefer physical buttons that I know where to find each and every time. Not to mention, in 15-20 years they can be easily/inexpensively replaced or repaired.
Follow the 5 to 7 rule. If there are more than 5 to 7 things, it’s too complex. We tried “voice” in our car: “Drive me home” …. “did you say .. go to home depot?”
My vehicle is way too complicated. I use minimal features. I went from a 2002 straight to a 2018.
Wow what a drastic change. Too much imo.
"These driving instructions are brought to you by Home Depot."
@@askew9976my strategy is to buy a low mileage used car (private party) from the early to mid 2010’s. That’s the sweet spot for tech imo. All the stuff you actually want, like heated seats and mirrors, auto-dimming mirrors, bluetooth, etc. but none of the crap like lane keep assist, monolithic infotainment screens that replace knobs and buttons. It’s relatively inexpensive and easy to retrofit an aftermarket radio with carplay/android auto, and I don’t need my car to do anything more than that in regards to tech.
You won’t be saying that that once it gets better. it would take you immediately home three years from now
The system has been hack by home depo
Back in 2010, I bought a Honda Accord new. I told the dealer I didn't want any bells and whistles. No touchscreens, no USB ports, no Bluetooth...as plain-wrap as possible. Based on the look on his face, you would have thought I asked him for a horse and buggy. Yes, I was in my late 40's back then, but it wasn't because I was afraid of technology. I've been in the tech industry since 1984 and a software developer since 1993. Desktop business systems, web portals, cloud computing, mobile apps...I've been on many teams for many organizations covering quite a few verticals. There is a lot about technological advancement to like, but even more to avoid unless absolutely necessary. I work to never compromise my security for convenience. QR codes? Only for authenticator apps, never for recreation. Even today, if I rent a car, I never connect my phone to the car's Bluetooth or USB because of privacy concerns. When you know what is possible (and I've been tasked to write some nasty code in my day under the guise of "online marketing"), you know what to stay away from.
I never connect my device to Bluetooth, ever! I can't be bothered, life has been ok without it
"you would have thought I asked him for a horse and buggy." 😂
When it comes to tech, especially for house hold items like fridges, stoves and so on. I go for things with the least bells and whistles too. Seen too many times how quickly the darn things break. I don't need a smart fridge or even a darn smart toaster for that matter. Also the things usually cost a lot less. And last for years. Pretty much I anything I look at I try to find ones that are reliable and do thier jobs without the fluff.
High tech is way too quirky, complicated and faulty to integrate into every critical aspect of our lives.
It’s also that there’s a different design standard in every piece of software, every car, every generation.
Also UI designers feel the need to fix things that ain’t broke, to justify their job. Even tho it makes the product worse.
@@sirdiealot53 You seem to think all companies are run by designers and not product managers. I have fought countless battles to err on the side of not adding complexity to products, but product managers (and a lot of executives) say they cant justify taking features away because customers then wont buy the product.
This video cherry picked everything.
@@sirdiealot53 Apple CarPlay, or android auto
@@sergiodeoliveira5358 Right, thanks! A reason I like Mazda, which seems to give more credit to design.
How many distractions can a car possibly have?
BMW: Yes.
How long do you have??? My list is long!
Let’s ask Tesla drivers
In 2020, BMW came out with a system where the driver would " gesture " rather than push buttons. .. . Imagine if this was on all cars. . . . . .And what it would do under certain circumstances. . ..
@@bobroberts2371 My climate control has 21 buttons to pick from! My ten year old pickup has seven.
HAHAHAHAHAA
As you grow old....you stop chasing the big things and start valuing the little things...alone time, enough sleep, a good diet, long walks, and quality time with loved ones. Simplicity becomes the ultimate goal. 😊
Time is the only resource.
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
"Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind's journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul's fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope's strength resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe's endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again."
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
--Diamond Dragons (book I)
"Go for simplicity" said the guy from his lavish house with complex design features 😅
Houses don't tend to run people over because the occupant was distracted.
I live in NYC and I have a driver’s license. However, I haven’t actually driven a car since 2008. I recently rented one for a road trip for a long weekend. When I got inside, I didn’t understand how to start the engine because it was keyless. It took me a good 5 minutes to figure it out. Same for using Apple CarPlay while driving 😅
I refused to buy keyless car, because it's training me to be stupid
Clippy was "before his time" because hell is not yet in session. 3:00
Clippy was like the bug that you want to swat.
It feels like they're making things more complicated than it needs to be. And the line between what people "want" vs what people "need" is getting blurred.
Companies want the option to repair or replace what you just bought. If what you bought lasted 30 yrs without problems, where does that leave the company?
This reminds me of helping my grandmother with her computer. What was simple to me, finding a podcast, old photo of a friend, etc was very simple to me since I grew up with computers. It was a challenge to her as it was not anything she was used to, and learning to navigate it was a challenge. One thing to remember when designing anything is how will someone who's never used this react when they see it?
Your last sentence says it all. The new technology is not user friendly to the typical person who just wants to go to work or shopping.
I used to work as a public librarian and one of my most challenging patrons was a 77-year-old man who had never purchased anything online before and didn’t know that in order to set up an account with an online retailer, you need to have an email address.
@@r.d.493 Those are the people you feel bad for who are trying to adapt to the changing environment but ultimately get left behind. Good on ya for trying to help how you could.
@@keithb2696wrong
I still can't figure out how to link my phone to my tablet. I definitely won't be buying smart watch
Stove is over 70 years old, features an oven probe, rotisserie, auto burner that shuts off when temperature is reached, instructions on cooking, an outlet, broiler, griddle and large burner for canning and schematic. I had to make one simple repair this year. Give me any pre-obscelent appliance. Also have Maytag washer and dryer from 1964.
All work better than the newer
Probe you say? 😮😂
I guess In someways it provides more jobs
@@christerry1773 not really, computers do all the design and labor. The most I could see is delivery drivers increasing. But if we trained them as repair folks instead and had them fix pre-existing machines... nah, that doesn't make the manufactures money. We have reached late-stage capitalism and the average consumer welcomed it with open arms.
@@terylbrat42 capitalism doesn’t have anything to do with the increase reliance on automation.
5:54 The problem lies in the name of the feature: if you haven't ever used it before or you don't remember the name of the feature it's hard to voice command it on or off.
Terrible to rely on AI that may not always work vs knowing where the controls are in the software.
Cue everything now has its own phone app...and many of those products don't need a phone app.
I bought a little space heater for the bathroom. It had digital settings, bright indicator lights, and a bunch of other blah, blah, blah. I took it back and got a little heater with two knob switches and just one light to indicate that it's plugged into power.
I have to pull over, off the road, to turn the AC on.
My Tesla you just say I’m hot and it does the rest
@@ntsecrets With Tesla, you have to go into a menu just to turn on the light in the glove box! (That's not even even a joke!)
@@Milesco dude I have a tesla and the light is automatic... everything is pretty much automatic... I get in an old car and see all the buttons and its like sitting in a flip phone.
@@ntsecrets I'll take the flip phone experience, thank you. Both my old and new car have manual transmissions. Then again, I prefer engaged driving.
Jakob Nielsen using a toothbrush metaphor in this video is giving me fits.
It’s getting way out of control
It's been that way for at least a decade. Soon enough, being born into such a vastly complex technological world won't allow for a child to truly, legitimately, properly develop into an ethical adult. They'll be crippled by an overage of "worthless digital knowledge". Things like knowing how to "swipe" on cell phones, but not how to deal with REALITY. 😕
Yep. My tv remote has 53 buttons -- no words, just symbols.
@@rridderbusch518 most smart TV remotes have less than that dude. Technology solves that problem.💀
I refused to buy a key less car, it's training me to be stupid.
I know others , like me, who can't be bothered with pairing all devices into 1 system. I also turned off my notifications, I don't need to know everything at all times.
I bought few remote control cameras for my vacation, never have time to read the manual, I just figured things out as I go. I ended up just taking pictures from my phone .
I took a administration test for interviews in the last few months. It test all the WORD, Excel features. How many people need to use every features in these applications on a daily basis???
Im glad my phone has thousands of settings because I have more control but hiding and making controls confusing is not what we want.
What an incredible ability to make the video feel fifteen years ago when it's brand new
Billy Shears doing his homework for Dr. Robert. Lmao I love all the little Easter Eggs you put in there David! 😂
Voice control, physical buttons, menus, AI… all in the same vehicle. Simplicity defined.
Yup. No thanks.
Since 2020 BMW uses gestures to control some features. I wonder what it would do with the gesture. . . ., well never mind.. . .
Something I´ve been saying for some time - great (and very important) piece, CBS Sunday Morning!
Tech-bloat for the sake of more profit and/or meeting certain regulations. What could go wrong?
EVERYTHING!
In this case, it's sadly driven by consumer demand.
The touch screens especially in cars are very frustrating! Ovens and stoves with touch screens are getting way too complicated plus too much to go wrong. Please go back to simplicity, buttons, levers, knobs etc. I am a fairly techie senior citizen but I cannot imagine how some seniors can even function in this world if they had little work experience with technology.
"stoves with touch screens are getting way too complicated plus too much to go wrong. " Never forget EXPENSIVE to boot.
I’ve never seen a stove with a touchscreen, but I’ll make sure my next one DOESN’T have one, even if I have to pay more. I love tech but I don’t want too much of it in a household appliance!
Washers and dryers are even worse
All of you guys are complaining about the simplest thing possible. All of that it’s easier than buttons.
@@StarChaser1879 yes pressing a stationary button in the same place all the time is such a hard thing to do.
I’ve had my Mazda CX-30 for a year and I still don’t know what any of the buttons do. I just want to drive lol
That will be me when it's time to buy a new car😊
Thank you CBS Mornings! I’ve been complaining about my new car since last year when I bought it. No wonder there is so much distraction on the roads. I absolutely hate the technology!
I can only imagine your dissatisfaction or frustration with your new car. I had an old 1998 vehicle through 2021. When I finally needed to get a new car, I was dreading it. Too many gadgets! I remembered driving my stepdad's new car during that time and backing into a parking space. When the backup camera came on and there were three different views, I was literally yelling in the car, This Is Too Much! This Is Too Much! I reverted back to using the mirrors as I always have done.
Thankfully I did not have to buy a new gadget-filled car. An elder relative passed away and I purchased his 2009 low mileage Chevy Impala LTZ from the estate. It has just the right amount of "modern" features, as compared to my former 1998 sedan. Only thing I updated was the radio head unit. Wanted Bluetooth and touchscreen.
It's part of why I don't drive anymore.
Why did you buy it if you don't like it?
Me too!! I miss my 2002😢😢😢
@@steveb6386I bought a new one because i had the money…but, I was also paying more for insurance than the vehicle was worth. It was nickel and diming me.
As a design professional of over 20 years, this segment is disappointingly simplistic. AI and voice control is not the solution to all problems. Current methods of interaction with AI consist of text/speech prompts which impose significant cognitive load on the user and are akin to the pre-GUI days of computing where people typed in commands via text based command prompt. Having investigated voice control in a variety of environments, it actually imposes a safety risk in situations that require human attention and concentration be elsewhere (driving being one of them).
Infotainment systems in cars are probably some of the worst from the point of view of distraction. A few physical buttons, knobs, and switches that can be sensed and moved by feel without looking at them are probably the safest. See GM, Chevy, and Buick vehicles from the 80's and 90's, a lot of good design ideas there for use of physical controls. I'm impressed however by Tesla's flat touch screen and graphic presentation and use of software, much better than competitors.
Speaking of simplicity, can you reword this comment for a layman?
OMG thank you. This segment did not even scratch the surface on design, and pretends that in a few minutes they can tell you how they have the answers. Disappointing to say the least. The topic is fascinating, this segment doesn't deliver.
We've kept all of our old cars and just fix them when they need repaired. We refuse to buy a car with a big ipad in the middle. No thanks
That is what I plan on doing with my 2009 Impala. I purchased it from an elder relative's estate in 2022. Currently has less than 65,000 miles.
@@MissLiveLaughLove1 I have one major regret in life, and that's not getting a new engine for the '06 Impala when it went. The '16 is garbage and I'm desperately searching for another '06 with bench seats in front and a column gear shift. They're impossible to find, but I know I owned one so I know it has to exist.
California enters the chat.
It’a amazing that more accidents have not been linked to touch screens the same way texting and driving have. Despite the amount of time interacting is less.
How bout a feature where the laundry folds and puts itself away???? 😂
Now you're talking!
So a robot then. I thought you were against those.
Robot 🤖 or your dry cleaner shop
That can be accomplished by getting a grandma. . Actually, a geriatric ward nurse once told me that in order to keep people under her care busy, she would have women fold towels, take them away and bring a new pile. With two piles in rotation she would unfold a pile out of sight of her patients. Folding laundry was so ingrained in the patients and familiar, they did it without thinking.
It's called a spouse.
I would fire all designers at Microsoft. They move things around just to justify charging for the next revision.
Discontinuing support does that already. Writing this on W8. Designers design for how THEY'D use it, not most folks. I don't need AWD, GPS, digital A/C and power seat/mirror memory to drive across town. W10 was glitchy from Day 1 but their idea of a fix was W11. They're always in love w/the next thing.
The song that is playing in the background for anybody that's wondering is "caravan"
New car in shop 4 times for same problem two mechanics. Nobody can figure it out after $2500.
Cafes will be noisy when everyone is talking to their computer and the computer is talking back. the biggest drawback to it, really, is public use. I mean on star trek all the talking is where everyone needs to hear or in private. I agree with Beamer guy. the trick will be creatively simple combinations of ways to interact with technology.
Please implement the talking car, just like KITT.
We have a large amount of technologies in cars... and so many options and menus.. yet no option in any car to not record or send data back to car manufacturers? Its like the complexity exists to obfuscate the reality of data collection. Same for microsoft and wanting to put ads into paid software!!
Tourmaline is a stone that looks different depending on how you look at it. Use that analogy for applications. Simply let users choose a viewpoint and base your settings on that.
I wish there was a toggle switch on all the MS Office programs for "novice, standard, and expert" level user interfaces. If it's something that has been around since first edition Word, Excel, etc. put it in novice and above view. If it was something that was added maybe in the early 2000s through Office 2010 (maybe their most intuitive and user-friendly version of all time) keep it as the standard UI and up format. Anything that's being added in the future like AI or whatever other junk they can dream up, have that be part of the expert view UI option. Then users can select their desired level of both view and assistance and everyone is happy.
The first thing I do when I have to get new Office programs, or get a new PC, is spend three days customizing the hell out of my toolbars to simplify things absurdly so. I use maybe a hundredth of the available features to make a 1-slide ppt with text for work. Literally font, font color, and font size is all I use. I might insert a picture on a holiday for fun. If they had the option for novice, I could select that at work and have the menu options be drastically simplified. I could use standard at home where I might want to do more thesis/dissertation style papers for a research group I'm in. I will never, in my entire life, have any use for any expert level writing or programming in Word or Excel. Ever. It feels like 50% of the functionality of the program is for extremely niche uses but everyone is forced to navigate around all those janky settings. Even 2010 Office suffers from this, though I stand by my assertion that it's the best overall in terms of user-friendliness.
A good example of this is the Remarkable 2 paper tablet. This device was designed to do one thing, functioning as a digital e-ink notebook, really well. However, in recent months the company has continued to push more frequent updates with more and more features. To gain additional market share and attract a broader customer base they are further complicating the user experience which in turn can destroy its original intended purpose.
Typing commands to a computer is going back to MS-DOS era. We have been there. MS-DOS had so many commands but still typing.
Every action I could do with my feature phone in 5 seconds, took a minute in my new smart phone.
I tossed the smart phone out the window.
I think the main problem with these features is that they never get someone (Or a very large group of people) who daily uses the product, and figure out what they actually use and actually don't use, and get rid of features based on that.
Because the average person suffers from major FOMO. And there are people who will keep thing they'll never use for days to even decades believing, "One day, I'll need it.". Reguardless of if it matters or not. So, you can't just take something away from some one who never uses it. Because they assume it will be needed later.
Clippit became that Nintendo dog on “duck hunt” you kept trying to shoot.
the floating heads up display is the most welcomed feature, and retaining tactile controls reduces distracting is even more desired
Yep, voice control is the future because it eliminate the hassle of having to go deep into settings to find a function that is use often. I like the way Microsoft Copilot can be use to assist with changing system settings with a request such as changing the system into "Dark Mode". I love that you can ask the vehicle computerised system to activate multiple functions. 😎💯💪🏿👍🏿
Apple and Google figured it out. Car companies want 100% of the pie and refuse to integrate the simplicity that’s already been developed. Cars and trucks are no longer affordable because of the insane amount of infotainment and unnecessary “safety” features.
Also, AI is as only good as the people who develop it, and we already know, developers are imparting their own biases into AI - that’s why I will never use it.
Take the cost of a car " in the good old days " and run that through a CPI calculator. Cars were not cheap back then and didn't last as long as a modern car.
I have a somewhat different view on this. I think that complexity in design (especially when it comes to technology) comes in cycles of "complexity buildups and releases", where each new breakthrough provides an opportunity to simplify. Then, in the time leading up to the next breakthrough, additional features (all based on the current paradigm) are added to the point of "full saturation", begging for the next paradigm to take over. For each new technology, innovative minds are naturally always thinking of "What else could I do with this? How else could this be used?". Touch screens are a great example. Before them, you needed dozens or even hundreds of dedicated buttons (all of which had to be laid out in some arrangement which would potentially take time to get a feel for as a user), but now, you can navigate on a more intuitive screen where functionality is categorized into units that you can dive into and come back out of. AI and voice control take that even further. If an assistant can execute commands for you, why do you need buttons. But we'll eventually saturate the voice command paradigm too, and people will complain of decision fatigue. And the cycle will repeat again.
I'm an Architect: I spend more time trying to figure out the software than actually designing the building.
Now, Ai is incorrectly making us think that we don't have to learn all this stuff to actually design the building anymore.
The problem I have with A/i is that I have to go back and correct it, and correct the mistakes the people that used it made.
Now, I'm doing as much work if not more to do that.
Simplicity truly is key, but we don't respect simplicity.
The problem is voice commands require you to remember all the features your device is capable of, in the instance of MS Word, that’s 10,000 commands. Menus allow you to dig around and SEE all the available features. You might not even remember a feature, but when you see it on the menu you remember, or learn. Voice commands, even AI, also requires you to remember the special terminology for the commands. “Dark mode” is easy, but what if I said “change the background color to black” or “dim the secret so it’s not so bright” - AI would be confused, do you want to change the desktop wallpaper? Do you want to dim the brightness of the screen? Do you want dark mode? It might work if it shows you all available commands related to what you are asking. I would like to say something like “show me a menu of commands related to screen brightness” - so a combination of voice and menu commands.
Just give me a button in my car already. No AI
Struggle in a way with tech and everything else is good. Without it we lose an essential part of our humanity. Life is frustration :/
I have been writing about how companies are making things needlessly complicated for years. It started at the beginning of the millennium. Simple things, like turning the oven on to a heat setting used to take about two seconds and was pretty intuitive. Now you have to find the right button, then set the time, then set the temperature, etc. It is a PITA and I hate it. I loved to cook and bake for decades. Now it is such a complicated process I avoid it as my stove/oven controls looks like the instrument panel of a jetliner.
Someone show this to Meta/Facebook
Amen! It is the designers fault. I’ve been teaching high school students and teachers computer operations for years. I usually have to rewrite instructions to make things easier for them to understand.
Incredible how many views in just 3 minutes now 19 minutes i missed this segments washing dishes glance at the television and seen them talking about microsoft now watching my missed segments of the show on Tablet and on tv at the same time cbs Sunday and Saturday morning my favorites shows all of CBS really
Thanks David and All!
When I was shopping for an electric toothbrush, I took forever to find one that had only one switch with low, med, high, and off. I don't need an electric toothbrush that connects to the internet. After I used my new electric toothbrush a few times, I put it on the back of the shelf in the cabinet and I've been using my manual toothbrush ever since. That was years ago.
I'm a low tech person 😊 allow me to introduce the best electric toothbrush 🪥, Panasonic USB and conventional charger. No need to connect to anything. When I replaced the new brush head, I press the gum care button, a month later, I press the Clean button. It's great for travel because it comes with a travel case and it can be charge with any USB port while the toothbrush is inside the case. I have been using electric toothbrush since 2008. Panasonic is the only brand I trust. OralB didn't last long.
And yet in those thousands and tens of thousands options and features, we STILL come across issues that haven't been addressed yet!
Apple not featured on a story about simple design? Big, big, miss here.
I have never once thought of technology as a design, or having a design. Design is a 1937 Cord 810. Or an elegant bathroom urinal surrounded by subway tile. Or a perfectly shaped axe handle. Or a wonderful garden hat worn by a beautiful woman.
Design is not a computer screen mounted to an automobile dashboard.
RIP Clippy!
Money - it's not that consumers want more, consumers only want what they're shown. Tech companies are the ones forcing this level of complexity on consumers as that's their business. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the car 20 years ago, or your oven, or your kettle, and improvements like gas efficiency were steady improvements, safety etc. Since the smartphone, these are all just ways of generating more money by incorporating software and apps needlessly into everything known to man kind, causing chaos, lack of human input and thinking, a lifespan of 5-7 years on a product that would otherwise last far longer, or even a lifetime as it's now software dependent, and ultimately a world where we're simply not in control anymore, which is even more worrisome if all your money is now just pixels on a screen, to be gone in an instant with no explanation.
When the company charges a lot, the consumer wants more. Try charging less and customers won’t complain if features are taken away.
AI is my old man yells at cloud right now, I never wanted it and it's now forced on me as a search because I'm a product tester every time I use Google from the phone instead of the PC. I never enabled it but less than a year it's just on as Google search learning everything I do without consent and still doesn't know me yet for this thing that's supposedly the wave of the future and somehow showing less results then before because it only spits out popular searches because they're popular which is usually the wrong thing anyway which is why I started a Google search. Like it knows the definition of things but doesn't know people and sometimes doesn't know POC that are celebrities, I have to keep teaching it people like Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice in my Google photos People section in my phone because it refuses to remember but a Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish no problem and that's my main gripe with it. It's constantly connected and selectively disconnected on certain sections of the population.
BMW already removed physical buttons for climate and radio. It's all on the screen to cut costs.
When I talk to my device, half the time it does not understand me. Do we need a relationship counselor?
This is something that I thought everyone knew, but I don't need the toothbrush with 5 or 20 features on it. Like those guys that want to install Android OS and a touchscreen in everything. A toothbrush operated by Android OS? _Maybe_ this can improve the mechanisms of brushing teeth in some way IF there is an objective use case for it, but again, not something I would go for.
Especially when a toothbrush is guaranteed to be a disposable item. It's like having a bar of soap or a toner cartridge with six microchips installed; it's non-sequitur. Sadly, one of the two is an actual reality and has been so for over a decade.
As a low tech person, allow me to share my experience with Panasonic USB port charger toothbrush 😊. I have been using it since 2019. It's my best investment, especially when traveling. Just charge it on any USB port while the toothbrush is inside the travel case.
I never have to read any manual, 3 buttons, clean, gum health, whitening. I don't have to connect to any Bluetooth!
I’ve had BMWs with iDrive and voice commands. Loved iDrive, hated voice controls.
This is because they (companies) don’t know the consumer they are selling their products too. They assume most people are tech savvy. I have meet young and older people who are not tech savvy and get frustrated when there is a long learning curve.😕
@Pogue - A great follow-up to this segment would be where AI actually is in progress towards this - even though Microsoft is saying you can ask for these simple, relevant asks, WSJ recently did a test of some AI startup products (Rabbit, Humane) and not-so-startups (Meta) and they still weren't great, and similar to Siri, it only takes a few tries with slow or incorrect responses before people give up altogether, making those features consumer-unfriendly and useless. I attempt to think in the simplest terms to give voice assistants, but it always comes up short. Whenever I ask for something that gets misunderstood, I then try again and over-enunciate (which would sound ridiculous if anyone were actually with me in the car "Directions to BuBBBBhhh building"), and then the output is embarrassing ("time from San Mayshio is..." (it's "San Mateo")).
"BMW promises not to eliminate physical knobs for radio & climate", isn't that exactly what they did in iDrive 8?
Adapting to change and innovation keeps my mind sharp.
Ironically iDrive 8 and 9 are one of the harder iDrives to use. I think sweet spot was iD6 or iD7.
I see next week is the design episode. I suppose this report did not make the cut?
They can make a simplified version for old people, and another for those that like tech. It's that simple.
Don't force us to stay in the deal ages because you're comfortable with the old ways.
"Dreiw mie tou Manhattan...dreiw mie tou Berlin........."
People will need to evolve to keep up with the increasing demands of technology. If you're not a digital native, that will make for a steep learning curve.
I've never been concerned over complexity. I'm concerned about privacy and security. Auto manufactures and tech companies fail epically on both of these fronts.
I have a 2016 Hyundai Elantra which has a central stack area that has buttons and knobs which is easy to use without even looking. Yes, it does not have a touch screen. And yes, that makes it superior and easier to use. I don't want nor need a touch screen.
I find it so funny that they suggest BMW of all companies are looking to make their cars "simple" LOL
Ug... voice and Ai, yeah it's coming but it's driven by marketing not good design. Ever get into an argument with Alexa? Typically it's because it only "thinks" one way and it's not your way. Now imagine getting into an argument with your car. I see road rage being taken to a whole new level.
That part 😂
FYI: this is a microsoft / A.I. ad
BMW: we've simplified our car.
Also BMW: *shows off tones of features*
There are just some controls in the car that are better to be knobs or dials, like for example, the climate controls.
what Jacob's notebook is?
Donald Norman would have been a good addition to this story.
And when you won't be able to change a setting because the AI doesn't understand you then you won't be able to change the setting at all since in the meantime the genius designer will have all the "Manual" settings removed... designers are just the most dumb category in the development process, instead of always pursing a one size fit all solution they could simply pick multiple approaches and put them together in a program and let every user pick which approach he prefers best... but nope, it must be always a one solution fits all...
Buy simple and if you feel like stepping up a notch or a few notches, go for it.
Nested menus in cars should probably just be illegal while driving.
Voice control is terrible just give us neat-looking physical buttons and knobs with a nice display it's not that hard.
I keep asking myself “why the heck my cars HVAC system has 13 controls?” No, it doesn’t have separate environmental controls.
What happened to just four controls? Hot/cold, fan speed, where do you want it to come out, AC on button.
Reminded me of our conversation
my 2018 Kia is more advanced than the 25 BMW. I just press buttons and dont have to navigate menus. Why would I want voice controls if Im listening to music or podcasts or talking to my passenger.
Complexity is profitable and these companies only care about money.
simplicity
says the company who made a touchscreen keyfob with car controls