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Undertoad · 05-04-2012, 10:57 PM

Tonight the 2013 Ford Flex Fail entered a new dimension of user interface horror, as the dashboard dimmer switch wound up switching on the passenger map lights (not the dome light, but the lights at the top of the windshield).

WE COULD NOT TURN OFF THOSE LIGHTS WITH THEIR ON/OFF SWITCH

I can't express how shitty this design is. Now look. I've always had an interest in user interfaces, and now I suppose one could say I'm a professional at it as I make user interface decisions with the websites I build.

THERE WAS NO WAY TO PREDICT THAT THE DASH DIMMING SWITCH COULD PROFOUNDLY AFFECT THE INTERIOR LIGHTING

Any UI designer of any quality would look at this image and shit him or herself immediately. Consider, a dash dimmer switch next to a rear hatch opening switch, flush with their surfaces, next to each other, invisible to the driver:

You, the UI layperson. One switch will open the rear hatch, exposing the interior and possibly dropping any rear cargo onto the road. The other controls how bright the dash lights are at night. The switches are identical and invisible to the driver. What's wrong with this design?

But that wasn't the problem tonight. The problem tonight is that, somehow, operating the dash light dimmer switch turned on the passenger lights, and they couldn't be turned off with their own switches. It's sort of shocking that this wound up in a released product. It actually angers me, that this is the modern product from the only American car company that seems to be able to get out of its own way.

05-04-2012, 10:57 PM	#26
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Tonight the 2013 Ford Flex Fail entered a new dimension of user interface horror, as the dashboard dimmer switch wound up switching on the passenger map lights (not the dome light, but the lights at the top of the windshield). WE COULD NOT TURN OFF THOSE LIGHTS WITH THEIR ON/OFF SWITCH I can't express how shitty this design is. Now look. I've always had an interest in user interfaces, and now I suppose one could say I'm a professional at it as I make user interface decisions with the websites I build. THERE WAS NO WAY TO PREDICT THAT THE DASH DIMMING SWITCH COULD PROFOUNDLY AFFECT THE INTERIOR LIGHTING Any UI designer of any quality would look at this image and shit him or herself immediately. Consider, a dash dimmer switch next to a rear hatch opening switch, flush with their surfaces, next to each other, invisible to the driver: You, the UI layperson. One switch will open the rear hatch, exposing the interior and possibly dropping any rear cargo onto the road. The other controls how bright the dash lights are at night. The switches are identical and invisible to the driver. What's wrong with this design? But that wasn't the problem tonight. The problem tonight is that, somehow, operating the dash light dimmer switch turned on the passenger lights, and they couldn't be turned off with their own switches. It's sort of shocking that this wound up in a released product. It actually angers me, that this is the modern product from the only American car company that seems to be able to get out of its own way.