Brennan Boblett, Tesla's lead UI designer since 2010, left in late 2015 or early 2016 to work for Faraday Future. He left FF in May of this year to work for stealth projects at Uber. Anyone who wants to know why Tesla's software UI has gone down the toilet in recent months now know why. Boblett previously worked as a senior designer at Apple, which explains why version 6.X was so much better than anything that came after it. Someone actually used brain cells to design 6.X and thought about how the UI would be used in a vehicle where a minimum of distractions is imperative.
Today I have to interact much more with the 17" display and it does not offer me the same level of information that it used to. What previously took one touch now takes 2-3 touches. Version 8 is a big step backwards in usability for anyone who has UI design experience. I worked as a UI designer in the late 90s and have 15 years of high-level graphic design and branding experience under my belt. Version 8 does not seem to be based on any solid UI design principles.
Take a look at Boblett's own philosophies when he worked at Tesla in
this article from 2013, you will see that much of this has been abandoned:
If you were to use five adjectives to describe Tesla's cockpit UX strategy going forward, what would they be?
The first word would be,
“innovative.” Tesla has deliberately broken new ground with this design and we aspire to continually push the boundaries of in-car UI and UX.
“Intelligent” is another adjective that’s important because it’s not enough to just do something new for the sake of being new: it needs to be well-conceived—born out of an idea that is user-centric from the beginning and one that adapts to the user’s tastes and behaviors over time. Tesla embodies that. Our firmware platform is just as impressive and technologically advanced as the car’s exterior design language.
“Inspiring.” Good design should evoke a positive
emotion. When you open the sunroof in our car from the touchscreen, it’s hard not to smile and relish in its simplicity and intuitiveness as you swipe your finger across the glass to drag the sunroof to the desired location, with precision down to the exact percentage.
“Sophisticated.” This is a premium car and, therefore, it also should have a premium user experience. That starts, first and foremost, with the vehicle being smart on your behalf and offering solutions that are likely what you need at that given moment.
“Empowering.” Nothing is compromised in a Model S, not even the UI. The software adapts to each driver’s preferences and configuration. You get to choose what “apps” you want displayed on either screen that may be beneficial for your drive, while having common controls (like climate) quickly accessible at all times.
