Unpopular Opinion: I love the bottom-half UI in V9

[spectrum]

As a UI Designer, it makes a lot of sense why Tesla made maps persist no matter what. It's in preparation for FSD, where navigation matters a lot more than anything else. You need to see where you're going, you need to see where the car is, and that's the main point of why you're in a car in the first place. I also always disliked having the rear-facing camera on the top half, as it was distracting and disorienting, and not just for me but for many other people that drove my Model X.

Tesla, if you are reading this, don't change. We know you thought long and hard about the UI in V9, and we don't need you to take any steps back — only steps forward. Please focus your attention on perfecting EAP, FSD, and fixing bugs, quality issues, and keep running!

P.S. If you're one of the people that are being overly dramatic "Woe is me, I shouldn't even upgrade to V9 because I can't have my camera on top", either stick to your guns and go post another complaint thread, or tough luck and join the future.

 

[OlderThanDirt]

spectrum, I agree with thoughts completely.

It’s time to move forward.

 

[rw99]

Have it both ways, configurable by the owner of the vehicle. Like it used to be.

The UI should be flexible, when possible.

 

[spectrum]

Have it both ways, configurable by the owner of the vehicle. Like it used to be.

The UI should be flexible, when possible.

Does BMW let you rearrange where your buttons and displays are?

 

[cgrubbe]

How many more design trends are we going to go through that necessitate a UI refresh before we get to the point that FSD is actually a thing? I don't buy that argument for maps for a minute. The UI layout was conceived around a 15 inch landscape display without an instrument cluster. I've got 17 inch in portrait along with another 12 inch in landscape. You could run an iPhone app on an iPad full screen at one point too, but that didn't mean it wasn't a waste of perfectly usable real estate.

Had a BMW, plenty of flexibility in what was displayed and which buttons did what.

 

[thecloud]

Does BMW let you rearrange where your buttons and displays are?

One advantage of having fixed buttons and displays is that they can't be removed arbitrarily later on by the manufacturer.

 

[RayW]

What about those who don’t have FSD, don’t need a map to know where to drive, and those who prefer a choice of what/how to display in the center console?

 

[kavyboy]

It's in preparation for FSD, where navigation matters a lot more than anything else.

I honestly don't understand this. The whole point of FSD is that the car takes you there. Navigation would matter not at all. Don't even bother me with it. When I get on a plane, I do not review the pilot's flight plan. Why would I care one whit about navigation under FSD?

 

[Anzir]

Man, you were just waiting to get roasted on this! I don't have V9 so I can't give my opinion on anything. That being said, I've only had my X for 2 months so I haven't had any opportunity to get used to anything. My rearview camera is only on in reverse.

 

[deonb]

As a UI Designer

Why do I always cringe when I hear those 4 words these days?

 

[kavyboy]

Why do I always cringe when I hear those 4 words these days?

Could have been "As a UX designer".

 

[spectrum]

Man, you were just waiting to get roasted on this! I don't have V9 so I can't give my opinion on anything. That being said, I've only had my X for 2 months so I haven't had any opportunity to get used to anything. My rearview camera is only on in reverse.

I'm willing to let my ego go for the sake of some good discussion. This has probably been my most controversial post to date.

All, I just want to add that this is my opinion (as the title states) and that I personally always have maps open on at least one half of the display, and 9 times out of 10, it's on the top, so that I know where I need to go, see a traffic jam up ahead, or can see my ETA at a glance. Very rarely I'll end up with two panels shown that don't include navigation, and I feel annoyed because now I have to take my eyes off the road and play with the icons until nav is shown at the top or full-screen again. That's why I love this update. My ideal wish was always to have a huge map at the top and a small, always-on media player at the bottom. I also hated tapping the map to view my icons for other apps. V9 solves that.

 

[Ormond]

I try to keep my rear camera on top at all times, especially on the highway. I use it to check my blind spots. I'll probably upgrade for the Atari games and give up a little visibility.

 

[garrett5688]

I honestly don't understand this. The whole point of FSD is that the car takes you there. Navigation would matter not at all. Don't even bother me with it. When I get on a plane, I do not review the pilot's flight plan. Why would I care one whit about navigation under FSD?

Agreed! I keep seeing this argument. It makes no sense. These people must watch the cartoon flight tracker during their flights also.

 

[garrett5688]

As a UI Designer

As a UI user, I disagree with being forced to use it in the way tesla deems best. If you want to see a map, I want you to have that option. If I don't want to see a map, I should also have that option. Just like I used to. 3 days ago.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

As a UI Designer, it makes a lot of sense why Tesla made maps persist no matter what. It's in preparation for FSD, where navigation matters a lot more than anything else. You need to see where you're going, you need to see where the car is, and that's the main point of why you're in a car in the first place. I also always disliked having the rear-facing camera on the top half, as it was distracting and disorienting, and not just for me but for many other people that drove my Model X.

Tesla, if you are reading this, don't change. We know you thought long and hard about the UI in V9, and we don't need you to take any steps back — only steps forward. Please focus your attention on perfecting EAP, FSD, and fixing bugs, quality issues, and keep running!

P.S. If you're one of the people that are being overly dramatic "Woe is me, I shouldn't even upgrade to V9 because I can't have my camera on top", either stick to your guns and go post another complaint thread, or tough luck and join the future.

As a UI designer do you ever do data collection on how people are using the UI?

You came to the conclusion of why Tesla did this while failing to understand that FSD is still a long ways away, and you also failed to understand the users needs.

I could give Tesla a free pass if only a handful of owners were putting the rear-facing camera on the top. But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

It really comes down to Tesla doing something that likely made their life simpler, but failed to understand the ramifications for the end users.

Personally I blame the draconian rules surrounding the early access program. The early access program should catch things like this. It could be better caught if those users were more free to share their experiences to their fellow Tesla owners.

 

[spectrum]

As a UI designer do you ever do data collection on how people are using the UI?

You came to the conclusion of why Tesla did this while failing to understand that FSD is still a long ways away, and you also failed to understand the users needs.

I could give Tesla a free pass if only a handful of owners were putting the rear-facing camera on the top. But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

It really comes down to Tesla doing something that likely made their life simpler, but failed to understand the ramifications for the end users.

Personally I blame the draconian rules surrounding the early access program. The early access program should catch things like this. It could be better caught if those users were more free to share their experiences to their fellow Tesla owners.

To your point, how do you know that only a handful of owners aren’t putting the rear view on top? What if all 12 of them are the only ones being vocal, due to people’s nature to complain when unhappy and stay quiet when happy? How do you know there isn’t a 90% silent majority out there that doesn’t mind the new V9? If you don’t know those things, you have no room to tell me what I know or don’t know, nor can you question my opinion.

 

[spectrum]

I try to keep my rear camera on top at all times, especially on the highway. I use it to check my blind spots. I'll probably upgrade for the Atari games and give up a little visibility.

You’re getting actual blind spot detection built in though, so you won’t need to do that anymore.

 

[garrett5688]

You’re getting actual blind spot detection built in though, so you won’t need to do that anymore.

A lot of us aren't.

 

[Tech_Guy]

Forcing maps in the center display is redundant on the model x and s since the dashboard displays your navigation at a quick glance once you enter your destination. I can understand the model 3 doesn't have a dashboard and it needs the maps to be displayed but the model s and x does not face that limitation since it has the extra display in the dashboard. Thus I find the new UI a waste of screen space and would prefer the ability to display Tesla Waze or the rear view camera up top where they would be easily glanced at on the center display.