I don't own a model S but it seems like a lack of buttons to control basic stuff, such as door locks and rear seat heat (sub zero package) is a real miss. Anybody else think so? What's the point of having rear seat heaters that can only be controlled by the front passengers? How many screens do you have to go through to lock and unlock the doors?
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Lack of buttons - annoying?
- Thread starter BMan
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- Model S User Interface
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Bman, are you just trying to get a rise out of people?
... You do realize that the car has won reviews, with nary a mention of this being a problem.
... You do realize that the car has won reviews, with nary a mention of this being a problem.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Lack of buttons - annoying?
HELL NO! After living with it for 7 months and 11,500 miles, I say "why the hell didn't auto manufacturers starting doing this effectively years ago?!?"
It's such a benefit and not a problem at all. Just don't be stupid and stare at the screen while on the highway and tailgating a car
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HELL NO! After living with it for 7 months and 11,500 miles, I say "why the hell didn't auto manufacturers starting doing this effectively years ago?!?"
It's such a benefit and not a problem at all. Just don't be stupid and stare at the screen while on the highway and tailgating a car
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AC1K
Member
i dont mind the lack of buttons personally, its only 2 taps to unlock the door Control > unlock, the total time for taping twice is less than 500ms (muscle memory),
what i wish is the rear had their own climate zone, and a small touch screen LCD in the back for the rear passengers, on the touch screen in the rear their should be HVAC and heated seat controls
then on the front touch screen there is an option to turn off the rear touch screen. (similar to the disable all window controls except driver)
what i wish is the rear had their own climate zone, and a small touch screen LCD in the back for the rear passengers, on the touch screen in the rear their should be HVAC and heated seat controls
then on the front touch screen there is an option to turn off the rear touch screen. (similar to the disable all window controls except driver)
caddieo
Member
How many screens do you have to go through to lock and unlock the doors?[/QUOTE]
Hahahaha! You don't have to go through any screens to lock and unlock the doors! Know your subject matter before you try to dissect it. :biggrin:
Hahahaha! You don't have to go through any screens to lock and unlock the doors! Know your subject matter before you try to dissect it. :biggrin:
artsci
Sponsor
Agree. I don't miss the buttons at all. My Chevy Volt had so many, all in a very confusing array, that it was sometimes dangerous trying to find the right one while driving. Not so with Model S.
Hengist
Member
Nope, not annoying. Liberating.
Lock and unlock doors? Why would I do that? When I go to the car it unlocks itself. When I leave it it locks. When I drive it, it's locked. If I pick up passengers, I tap the park button and the door handles extend.
Why would a nine year old in back need to control her seat heat? She doesn't get to control air conditioning or heated air, so why give her a seat heat button. Mon can take care of that fine from the front.
My friend's Panamera is loaded with buttons. But my Tesla does more with greater ease, and better style. Those multi-functions on the steering wheel are a huge win.
carrerascott
FUEL FTR
Great and not distracting one bit. Much easier to do everything in the car on the touch screen than my traditional cars. The wave of the future fo shizzle.
Model S is easy to operate. They've done a really great job on the touchscreen. I really prefer it to anything I've driven before.
The interface is pretty intuitive; some things can be done via steering wheel buttons. Clearly you haven't looked at videos of it or looked at a Model S or done a test drive. (I may be wrong--but it sounds like this to me.) Give it a whirl. One nice thing about the Controls/Settings screen (IIRC--I rarely have to go into it!) is that it remembers where you were last...but really I don't think I go into it much at all.
Granted, one interaction from a test drive or sitting in an unmoving vehicle is misleading. But in 7 months, I haven't been annoyed by this. The interface is clean and clear. And hey, there are two buttons--glove box (LOL) and hazard lights. Plus the steering wheel buttons! And the Park button on the end of the shifter stalk. Come to think of it, there are plenty of buttons. . . .
A friend's brother designs cars and said all those buttons on other cars...that's a really expensive part of the car, believe it or not. He seemed somewhat impressed by my S's interface and IIRC, said this was the future of car interaction. So get used to it, I guess. ;-)
JPP
Active Member
Even the 3 auto test engineers at CU who usually are less than enthusiastic about the vehicles they test were more than pleased with the Model S user interface in general and the touchscreen in particular (search the web for the video).
AustinPowers
Total Smeghead
Strange when I read this thread, to think that some of MY posts were called "troll-like" by some member...
I recall when apple made the first iPhones, people said it wasn't possible to sell a phone with one button only. Tesla has designed a clean, efficient interface to match the internal and external decor. If you want additional buttons, I suspect you could glue or stitch them on and twirl them to your heart's content.
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Bman,
Almost forgot to tell you about the coolest feature of the car yet. I know I'm not supposed to say this to the non-owners (we've been sworn to secrecy). But, here goes. About a month into ownership, the car does a mind meld with you. It will just know when you want things to turn on/off. You think it and it just happens. I think that's the real reason behind the minimalist design. Honestly, the car just knows if your butt is cold, it turns on the seat heaters. If your kids are board in the back, it just flicks the windows up and down randomly. It's quite amazing. You should get one and see.
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Bman,
Almost forgot to tell you about the coolest feature of the car yet. I know I'm not supposed to say this to the non-owners (we've been sworn to secrecy). But, here goes. About a month into ownership, the car does a mind meld with you. It will just know when you want things to turn on/off. You think it and it just happens. I think that's the real reason behind the minimalist design. Honestly, the car just knows if your butt is cold, it turns on the seat heaters. If your kids are board in the back, it just flicks the windows up and down randomly. It's quite amazing. You should get one and see.
Tesla really did an exceptional job with the UI.
I find the lack of buttons is one of the things I really like about the car.
You an choose to have the right steering wheel dial control temp, fan speed, panoramic roof, or media source.
HVAC controls are always available at the bottom of the console.
Overall, I can't stand cars with lots of buttons, too distracting.
I find the lack of buttons is one of the things I really like about the car.
You an choose to have the right steering wheel dial control temp, fan speed, panoramic roof, or media source.
HVAC controls are always available at the bottom of the console.
Overall, I can't stand cars with lots of buttons, too distracting.
deonb
Active Member
Actually, I think it has too many buttons - why on earth is the rear window lock, as well as the drivers controls for the non-driver windows still physical buttons and not on the touchscreen?
Often I want to lower the rear windows to 80%, but that's hard to do with physical buttons.
Often I want to lower the rear windows to 80%, but that's hard to do with physical buttons.
Mike_Schlechter
Model S - P457
I was a little concerned that no buttons would annoy me at times. Ten months in and I now hate driving my wife's car, as the button seems clunky and poorly placed. It reminds me of when I switched from Blackberry to IPhone. Once you go, you never look back.
The lack of hard buttons hasn't been a major problem - especially since it's easy to access some of the features via the steering wheel controls.
My only complaint is that performing some operations can require a few extra touches to the console - so Tesla might be able to benefit in doing a user interface review, identify functions that are typically used by customers, and if there's any way to reduce the number of screen touches for frequent operations.
Or this could be addressed by providing owners some flexibility in reorganizing the user interface to match their needs - such as combining some of the settings displays onto a single screen. For example, I usually use the "very high" suspension mode when pulling into parking spaces with curbs - and also like to open the sunroof in the evenings - would be useful to have these two features on the same screen - and not to also hit an extra tab to switch between the sunroof screen (which wastes a lot of screen space) and the air suspension screen.
But this is only a minor complaint - overall the lack of hard buttons hasn't been a major issue - and the Tesla UI is well designed - with easy to use controls (though any design can always be improved!).
My only complaint is that performing some operations can require a few extra touches to the console - so Tesla might be able to benefit in doing a user interface review, identify functions that are typically used by customers, and if there's any way to reduce the number of screen touches for frequent operations.
Or this could be addressed by providing owners some flexibility in reorganizing the user interface to match their needs - such as combining some of the settings displays onto a single screen. For example, I usually use the "very high" suspension mode when pulling into parking spaces with curbs - and also like to open the sunroof in the evenings - would be useful to have these two features on the same screen - and not to also hit an extra tab to switch between the sunroof screen (which wastes a lot of screen space) and the air suspension screen.
But this is only a minor complaint - overall the lack of hard buttons hasn't been a major issue - and the Tesla UI is well designed - with easy to use controls (though any design can always be improved!).
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