Standard UX

A steering wheel has been one of the most widely adopted UX standard. Everybody knows what it is for and how to use it. But as cars are getting stuffed with increasingly more functions, a steering wheel is not enough. Many of the new functions migrate either to the central console (usually with a large display) or to various sticks and handles around the steering wheel.

Recently I booked a standard Ford through one of the car rental companies and they proudly "upgraded" me to a Mercedes. I usually don't fancy such upgrades, but wanted to be nice to the guy behind the counter, so did not object.

The CLS is a nice car, but it seems to have too much of everything and especially the initial experience has been very confusing (not to say frustrating). After starting the engine (good old ignition key) I could not find the gear shift stick. It took me a while to realize Mercedes creatively moved it to what usually is a wiper lever on the right side of a wheel. Wipers, on the other hand, are on a single lever with blinkers. And there is also very well hidden cruise control lever that does the opposite of what I've been used to - it limits the speed in such a way that the accelerator pedal does not work anymore (I engaged it at ~100 Mph, while it's default is set somewhere around 30 and the car suddenly started slowing down with the accelerator pedal completely unresponsive). This is not only frustrating. This is dangerous. Not better than texting while driving.

On top of that there is a fairly large LCD screen on the center console. It looks like a tablet, but is not touch - enabled, so entering a street address using a left/right knob is a real pain. We ended up sticking a suction grip to the windshield to bring the trusted Google Maps on a phone, which let us feel more like at home.

I'm afraid things look and work the same elsewhere, especially after learning that "BMW says ‘nein’ to Android Auto".

We are approaching an era when private cars will be the things of a past - shared riding services and ad-hoc rentals will take over. To get there the automotive industry has to start working together on a unified interface. The "our UX is our differentiator" road is a dead end. And will be increasingly problematic for casual users. We need a standard UX. Don't make us climb the steep learning curve each time a car rental agent offers us an upgrade.