DISQUS

UsabilityBlog: I Can’t Believe My Car Radio Makes Me Press And Hold The Power Button While Driving

  • Dave · 1 year ago
    Excellent point -- you could have an entire category of products like these that give the feeling that they were designed by people who never have to use them.
  • koz · 1 year ago
    In defense of this design:

    This button also powers off the radio. It's designed so you don't accidently power off the stereo if you hit the button.

    When do you power off your radio while driving? If you want to shut the thing up hit the mute button - it doesn't require holding down for 3 seconds. If you want to power off, pull over and take your time. While you're at it, you can use your cell phone.
  • Paul Sherman · 1 year ago
    @koz, yeah, but...that's my whole point: why did the designers combine the power and mode button? It's not a good idea. If they had separated them, they wouldn't have had to make the power button a 3-second press and hold, and therefore wouldn't have caused a safety issue.

    As for the mute button...point taken. But it's not really findable by touch. So it's not salient.

    And I don't agree about pulling over to power off. I think that's an apologist position; a car radio should be designed to be powered off while driving. Make a phone call is a different matter. That should be done while stationary.
  • Nikhil · 1 year ago
    Paul,

    I've used a similar system which needed me to hold it down for 3 seconds. I think you've got a great point there, its not only inconvenient, but dangerous to an extent.

    As a user of such a radio, and being a usability enthusiast, I didnot actually go ahead and find the mute button. Why? because the same button that shuts it off, had the volume control for me to turn down to zero. My point being, users are not involved in figuring out their car radio, god knows they've got enough appliances to get 'used to'. Make it as simple as possible, while trying to balance out aesthetics.
  • noroadzone · 10 months ago
    I had a similar case like yours in m car radio and since i was sooo pissed off i just replaced it with my ipod and bought an adapter so that i could use it in my car as a replacement to my radio.
  • Wheels for Volvo · 10 months ago
    Maybe that's dangerous and not convenient though, users love the simplicity and the easy way to operate things, I think they need to redesign this one. The concept is good but the usage is not.
  • johan305 · 8 months ago
    Used BMW BMW is an independent German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. BMW is the parent company of the MINI and the Rolls-Royce car brands. The company was formed in 1913.