Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Automobile Mag hands out Funky Ergonomics Awards]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/09/automobile-mag-hands-out-funky-ergonomics-awards/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/09/automobile-mag-hands-out-funky-ergonomics-awards/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/09/automobile-mag-hands-out-funky-ergonomics-awards/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The scholars over at Automobile magazine have handed out their "Funky Ergonomics Awards" this year. As expected, BMW's iDrive and 7 Series interior (shown above) remains their favorite pincushion. Rightly so. Their list includes convenience keys that are downright inconvenient, window switches that are out of reach, touchscreens that are dangerously slow to respond, all center-of-the-dashboard mounted instrument clusters, complicated navigation systems, reverse-action manu-matic transmissions, and dimly lit interiors.

While we generally agree with their list, our own ergonomic pet peeves include spinning seat adjusters mounted inaccessibly outboard (yeah, by the doors), cruise control stalks hidden out-of-sight by the wheel itself, and manual modes for old-fashioned "slushbox" automatic trannies. Oh yeah, the list goes on and on...

[Source: Automobile]

Automobile Mag hands out Funky Ergonomics Awards originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Automobile MagazineAutomobileMagazineErgonomicFunky Egonomic AwardsFunkyEgonomicAwardsPet PeevesPetPeevesMon, 09 Jun 2008 17:57:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1219883/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/06/09/automobile-mag-hands-out-funky-ergonomics-awards/1219883/article-detail.xml 1219883 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/06/7_series_dash_450_opt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/06/7_series_dash_450_opt.jpg <![CDATA[Dozen reasons to send car designers back to school]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/17/dozen-reasons-to-send-car-designers-back-to-school/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/17/dozen-reasons-to-send-car-designers-back-to-school/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/17/dozen-reasons-to-send-car-designers-back-to-school/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Bill Howard reviews a new vehicle each week for the website, TechnoRide. While most people envy this aspect of his job, he points out that driving so many vehicles exposes him to flaws and foibles that generate responses ranging from "Huh?" to "What were they thinking?" to "Stop the car, I want to get out."

Here are the twelve designs elements that particularly peeved Howard...
  1. Space-wasting ashtrays
  2. Mechanical transmissions
  3. No digital owners' manuals
  4. Bad PDF manuals
  5. No PDF hot links
  6. Dumb button placement
  7. Overly reflective wooden consoles
  8. Nag screens
  9. Where's the Map button
  10. No LCD screen controls
  11. Unintelligent night settings
  12. Dumb speaker systems
Note from JN - We've driven a few media vehicles in our day, and disagree with a few of Howard's criticisms. Ashtrays don't bother us too much anymore, as they're usually pretty small and make great places to stuff wads of paper in a jam. We're guessing Mr. Howard's love of electronics makes him loathe the mechanical, but there's nothing like feeling the components of a good transmission do what you ask. And PDF manuals? Who reads manuals? If I can't figure it out in five minutes, it's a bad design. We're with him on dumb button placements, nag screens, map buttons for nav systems, and pretty much the rest of the list, though.

Related: Technology Overload

[Source: TechnoRide]

Dozen reasons to send car designers back to school originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>designsfeatureslistpet peevesMon, 17 Jul 2006 10:03:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/643572/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2006/07/17/dozen-reasons-to-send-car-designers-back-to-school/643572/article-detail.xml 643572 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/07/bright-wood-car-dash_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2006/07/bright-wood-car-dash.jpg -1 2