I did a couple hundred mile trip the last two days and spent some time with the 8.0 Nav. I don't see any improvements (like multiple waypoints), and the UI is marginally worse. What really struck me, and this isn't entirely new, is how the UI is NOT designed to be used by someone driving a car.
First, the new expansion of the map into the top bar is annoying. It doesn't add a significant amount of screen area for the map, but it does now take a couple of clicks to do what could previously be done with one. The generally sluggish display now has to refresh itself to reveal the top bar every time you touch the map. So for example if I want to toggle the satellite or traffic views, it's one touch to get its attention, and a second to change the setting. This is not progress. I generally measure the efficiency of a UI by how many clicks it takes me to do a task, and this is a step backwards.
Second, and most of this has been around since before 8.0, most of the menu items are placed on the far right side of the display. Since the driver is on the left, the icons on the right are a stretch for the driver. Why not put them along the left edge where they are more convenient to reach? And the icons aren't all that big. I can see them, but it's not unusual for the car to take a little bump and my outstretched arm/finger to jab the wrong button.
The only function on the left side is the destination and route. The destination can be accessed via the voice commands, and the current routing is shown on the instrument display. There is rarely a reason to have to touch the individual route points with time/distance/direction, but this is what the UI designer has chosen to place closet to the driver. The destination/route stuff should be on the right side as I can read it there just as easily. And if they added distance/ETA to the nav display on the instrument panel, there would be very little reason to look at the CID at all for the route data.
Same thing goes for the Media Player which is organized like a desktop computer or maybe an iPad with the choices horizontally across the top when the easiest to reach would be vertically along the left edge.
Tesla needs to hire some UI designers who understand the context in which their work is being used.
First, the new expansion of the map into the top bar is annoying. It doesn't add a significant amount of screen area for the map, but it does now take a couple of clicks to do what could previously be done with one. The generally sluggish display now has to refresh itself to reveal the top bar every time you touch the map. So for example if I want to toggle the satellite or traffic views, it's one touch to get its attention, and a second to change the setting. This is not progress. I generally measure the efficiency of a UI by how many clicks it takes me to do a task, and this is a step backwards.
Second, and most of this has been around since before 8.0, most of the menu items are placed on the far right side of the display. Since the driver is on the left, the icons on the right are a stretch for the driver. Why not put them along the left edge where they are more convenient to reach? And the icons aren't all that big. I can see them, but it's not unusual for the car to take a little bump and my outstretched arm/finger to jab the wrong button.
The only function on the left side is the destination and route. The destination can be accessed via the voice commands, and the current routing is shown on the instrument display. There is rarely a reason to have to touch the individual route points with time/distance/direction, but this is what the UI designer has chosen to place closet to the driver. The destination/route stuff should be on the right side as I can read it there just as easily. And if they added distance/ETA to the nav display on the instrument panel, there would be very little reason to look at the CID at all for the route data.
Same thing goes for the Media Player which is organized like a desktop computer or maybe an iPad with the choices horizontally across the top when the easiest to reach would be vertically along the left edge.
Tesla needs to hire some UI designers who understand the context in which their work is being used.
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