Firmware 7.0 Beta Discussion

[neroden]

Assuming Tesla isn't really taking away our beloved combined speedometer / power meter,

That's my main issue, yeah.

But why make something that's essentially "perfect" (6.2) and screw it all up and move things off the main screen that are really quite unobtrusive (time/temp/date, etc) and used all the time?

I'm pretty sure a very talented a GRAPHIC designer designed this layout, and not a USER INTERFACE designer. You really need both.

All I can say is I really hope this is far from production ready. If it's not (i.e. close to production), I, for one, won't upgrade past 6.2 until this is fixed. The end result is such that Tesla is screwing users out of any other new FUNCTIONAL features (Nav, drive unit, etc) that may be released just because of this crippled IC user interface.

Everything HankLloydRight said, too. The "status line" is very useful; I routinely check the time, the temperature, the odometer.

As leaked, this is a serious downgrade in functionality. Tesla should restore:
(1) our beloved right-of-center power meter with the "green" and "orange" and the dotted line showing regen limits and power limits. Removing this is totally unacceptable.

The replacement not only obnoxiously takes up an entire slot -- it is also actively distracting, showing the energy graph more prominenently than the crucial kilowatt meter. The power meter is something I use all the time when driving, so I can tell whether I'm hitting regen or power limits, and see whether I'm coasting, etc. etc. This is important for safe driving on slippery roads. Anything which makes it less easy to read is incredibly obnxoxious.

(2) the extremely-well-designed status line.

I don't know who designed the original UI, but they were clearly substantially more competent than whoever designed this one. This one seems like it was designed by someone who never drove the car.

The only car which gets downgraded after you buy it -- not an ad Tesla wants to run. *Never remove functionality in an update*.

My issue is that they appear to have removed a bunch of information in pursuit of a simpler look. Look, e.g., at the energy graph in post 73; it gives you an average and a graph but the scale on the graph is gone and the graph itself appears more compressed.

Time, date, and temp are key pieces of info I use all the time. No reason to have those only available on the main screen, especially if there's a vast empty slab of black on the screen in front of the driver.

I also can't emphasize enough how dumb the toy car display is. Even on AP vehicles, WTF is the point? You shouldn't be watching the display, even while on AP; you should be watching the road. If the point is that you should be comparing the vehicles shown on the display to the ones shown on the road to make sure the AP is seeing everything it should...well, that's just dumb. That increases driver workload, rather than decreasing it.

Everything JST said, too.

This was not designed by competent people. The "flat look" is not the issue (I couldn't care less) -- the removal of information is the issue. A "flat look" version of the same layout we currently have would be OK. This "get rid of useful information" layout is not OK.

If the useful information, such as the absolutely vital power meter on the center display, can be turned back on in the options, that would be OK. But so far, it doesn't look like it.

 

[yobigd20]

(1) our beloved right-of-center power meter with the "green" and "orange" and the dotted line showing regen limits and power limits. Removing this is totally unacceptable.

^^^this.

(2) the extremely-well-designed status line.

I don't know who designed the original UI, but they were clearly substantially more competent than whoever designed this one. This one seems like it was designed by someone who never drove the car.

^^^ and this.


good thing I have my service appt this week (so SC can't force 7.0 on me), because after this week I'll reject any pending software installs until they give us functionality back and a less crappy UI.

 

[neroden]

Tesla needs better product managers in any Scrum development teams as their backlog prioritization skills stink.

That too. The last thing they needed was a "reskin". They still don't have gapless play working in the audio player. They actually introduced *driving* bugs in the last update. At this point, I think Elon needs to go to the programming team and tell them "7.0 is cancelled because you're idiots. We're getting you a new product manager who has some sense of prioritization."

 

[anxman]

Could we get some reviews of the UI from someone that has actually driven this car using 7.0 versus just people looking at screenshots and casting judgement?

This reminds me of when Facebook or Apple would update the UIs of the products. Customers would complain like crazy, but usage would increase.

 

[MsElectric]

Maybe Tesla hired whoever designed the Microsoft Windows 8 interface and this is their masterpiece?

The number one feature that I thought was always simple, functional, beautiful, informative, and futuristic was the combined speedometer and power meter. It was brilliantly done and so useful in immediately conveying all the useful information at a glance. I have no idea why they'd want to not dismantle that and replace it with a dumbed down interface...

Also as Hank mentioned a few times I like the actual date and time with the outside temperature being always visible.

Let's hope these screenshots of 7.0 are of an early conceptual design that got rejected...

 

[OddB]

The number one feature that I thought was always simple, functional, beautiful, informative, and futuristic was the combined speedometer and power meter. It was brilliantly done and so useful in immediately conveying all the useful information at a glance. I have no idea why they'd want to not dismantle that and replace it with a dumbed down interface...

Because they need the space for the toy car.....

 

[rickgt]

I think even if it does bring new features, but has that ugly UI, it'll be a failure in my book. I really, really hate the flat, "minimalist" look on my iPhone, hate it on my Windows 10 PC and don't like what I'm seeing here. I suppose I should simmer down until I actually see it in person, but I'm not optimistic.

+1 from me...

 

[neroden]

Maybe Tesla hired whoever designed the Microsoft Windows 8 interface and this is their masterpiece?

The number one feature that I thought was always simple, functional, beautiful, informative, and futuristic was the combined speedometer and power meter. It was brilliantly done and so useful in immediately conveying all the useful information at a glance. I have no idea why they'd want to not dismantle that and replace it with a dumbed down interface...

Also as Hank mentioned a few times I like the actual date and time with the outside temperature being always visible.

The old design of the combined speedometer and power meter is a brilliant design, yes, and driving the car safely depends on retaining that design. The power meter information is critical for dangerous road conditions.

And I have peeked at the outside temperature and the odometer and the date and the time on the status line many many times; losing it would be a loss.

Taking that away from us is a functionality downgrade. Period. The car should not be downgraded after purchase.

I'd like to note that I have a record of correctness on this kind of thing. When I say something Tesla is doing is a problem and a mistake, so far, it almost always has been, regardless of what cheerleaders are saying. Tesla does sometimes make erratic, poorly thought out changes without listening to customers -- stuff where my eyes bug out at how thoughtless the changes are. There's a lack of QC in their procedures. Do NOT withhold judgement -- call Tesla and get your complaint on the record now, before they release a defective design.

 

[AnOutsider]

I think we should take a breather until we see the final software. From pics disappearing and SW rollbacks it would appear to me that those that got the update, got it in error (IIRC, it didn't even have a version number?). That leads me to believe it's still not final (or, if it is, the version that went out likely wasn't it). I'm going to reserve judgement until I see what appears to be a final release.

 

[Stoneymonster]

I'd like to note that I have a record of correctness on this kind of thing. When I say something Tesla is doing is a problem and a mistake, so far, it almost always has been, regardless of what cheerleaders are saying.

 

[neroden]

I think we should take a breather until we see the final software

You're absolutely wrong here. By the time the "final release" comes out, it'll be too late. Tesla will be committed emotionally and financially to it, whether or not it's a complete pile of crap. There are a gazillion examples of this in the history of the software industry, though Windows 8 is probably the most famous.

Complain NOW. That gives the best chance of the final release actually being decent.

*sigh* I guess I have to call this week.

 

[NigelM]

There have, however, been quite a few more "that sux0rs!" or equivalent posts, and the S/N there severely impacts the ability to absorb the more thoughtful feedback.

Bingo. And the tendency of some to shout "incompetent" and/or "fire this person" in just about every post makes some threads like this one unreadable. I'm giving up on this thread for the foreseeable future, I'm sure nobody cares but there's also likely plenty of others who are tired of the screaming.

 

[J1mbo]

Bingo. And the tendency of some to shout "incompetent" and/or "fire this person" in just about every post makes some threads like this one unreadable. I'm giving up on this thread for the foreseeable future, I'm sure nobody cares but there's also likely plenty of others who are tired of the screaming.

+1.

I really hope we get a new thread when 7 is released.

 

[neroden]

In the spirit of saying something positive, being able to see the brake light status on the dashboard is nice.

Removing heavily-used functionality from the main meter, however, is simply unacceptable. I don't know what they are thinking at Tesla Engineering, but someone really is incompetent.

 

[FlasherZ]

Must be a deal-breaker.

 

[Andyw2100]

I think we should take a breather until we see the final software. From pics disappearing and SW rollbacks it would appear to me that those that got the update, got it in error (IIRC, it didn't even have a version number?). That leads me to believe it's still not final (or, if it is, the version that went out likely wasn't it). I'm going to reserve judgement until I see what appears to be a final release.

It's obviously possible that the pictures we've all seen don't represent the final product, or even the product currently in beta. I'm pretty sure most of us posting our concerns understand that.

It's also pretty clear that a great number of people will be quite upset if it turns out that the functionality we now have with the current combined speedometer / power meter is lost. Many of us use that information constantly as we drive.

The images that we've been seeing that are worrying us are consistent with the observations of a member here who ran into a Tesla employee with a test car at a supercharger, and posted about it just over a month ago:

Info on Autopilot + v7

- The instrument cluster follows the same dark/flat approach.
- The energy graph and nav were on screen. As much as I said 'flat', these two were 'rounded', in the sense of round dials - the energy graph no longer is the rectangular design.
- v7 UI Overhaul is very close, again except for the rounded energy graph (and I'm pretty sure Nav was rounded as well, but less certain)
- As the car wasn't in motion/on (i didn't step on the brake), nothing of note was displayed in the center area.
- It was mentioned that the center area got a large redesign. I honestly couldn't grasp/picture what was being explained to me - it sounded like the round dial interface was gone - which would seem to be represented in the above link/picture.
- The center area is going to show the cars position in relation to the lane markings
- It (or somewhere) will also indicate the position and distance of cars/objects around you - "very dynamic" were the words used.
- It was mentioned that if you got too close to an object beside you, the car would move you away. I interpreted that as a means to prevent/reduce impact of side swiping.

So I think we do have at least some cause to be concerned, though it's probably not yet time to look for the pitchforks.

 

[Krugerrand]

*sigh* I guess I have to call this week.

I'm sure they are waiting with bated breath for your call.

 

[tomas]

I'm sure they are waiting with bated breath for your call.

 

[Bet TSLA]

I'd like to note that I have a record of correctness on this kind of thing.

I feel pretty confident about your correctness in that these are your opinions regarding software you've never seen operating. And I believe it's worth exactly what it cost me. That's about it.

My opinion is that if I listen to people in this thread then Tesla engineers must be a bunch of idiots; it's truly incredible that a bunch of idiots produced such an amazing vehicle. I wonder who might be wrong.

*sigh* I guess I have to call this week.

That's got to be the funniest thing I've read all week. Customer service is a really hard job. I'm imagining the recipient of this call trying to keep a straight face.

 

[davidc18]

No, it's not.

:/

+1 The versions shown so far are a miss in my opinion. The phrase Half Baked comes to mind. I sincerely hope the final version is more fully Baked.

- - - Updated - - -

+1 to both quotes

In the spirit of saying something positive, being able to see the brake light status on the dashboard is nice.

Removing heavily-used functionality from the main meter, however, is simply unacceptable. I don't know what they are thinking at Tesla Engineering, but someone really is incompetent.