Buttons vs. touchscreen

According to a survey, German drivers prefer to rely on classic buttons and switches rather than touchscreens and voice control when operating their cars. In a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the car traffic platform mobil.de, 37 percent said that they prefer buttons, levers and sliders. These are best for opening and closing the windows, climate and volume settings in particular. Although voice controls would be an advantage, they are also the most prone to errors.

AUDIO MOBIL defined three operating worlds over 10 years ago. The user areas of HMI in the car are divided into driver, front passenger and passenger. The study showed that car manufacturers do not design the driver's workplace in a meaningful way without haptic actuation.

In 2013, the company from Upper Austria presented the iCS (an innovative control system integrated into the steering wheel), which showed that test subjects preferred to use buttons and knobs despite the built-in touch display.

AUDIO MOBIL CEO Thomas Stottan is considered a pioneer in the use, application and operation of multimedia systems in cars, and not just because of these studies and operating concepts. In collaboration with the Christian Doppler Laboratory at the University of Salzburg, 50 patterns were created that can be used as the basis for developing an optimal interaction platform in the vehicle.

This means that classic operating concepts such as buttons and shift knobs will probably remain an integral part of vehicles in the future.