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For those of us who favor physical controls inside a car rather than a large touchscreen, the recent years of new car design have seemed like our voices are being lost in the wind. More and more car manufacturers are moving away from knobs and buttons for basic interior functions like HVAC and radio controls, consolidating them into a single, oversized iPad-like touchscreen.
Fear not, because there is at least one automotive designer who supports our preference for physical buttons: Ian Callum, the Design Director at Jaguar. When queried by Automotive News about the potential inclusion of a Tesla-like large touchscreen in one of his designs, his response was a resounding, “Not if I have a say in it.”
Callum, a Jaguar Land Rover veteran of two decades, is mainly credited with modernizing Jaguar’s range, moving away from dated, retro looks to the sleek, contemporary cars seen today.
During the unveiling of the updated Jaguar XE sedan at a dealership in Manhattan, Callum expressed his primary concern with touchscreens: they divert too much attention from the driver, as he detailed to Automotive News.
“When traveling at 80-90 miles per hour—and it is legal in certain countries—you wouldn’t want to be swiping through an iPad attempting to adjust your mirrors or seat controls. You should be able to navigate your way around the vehicle without taking your eyes off the road for more than a split second,” emphasized Callum.
Upon reading Callum’s statement, I couldn’t help but cheer internally. The prominence of large touchscreens in cars was popularized by the Tesla Model S and is now being integrated into various vehicles, from McLarens to the new Subaru Outback.
The Tesla Model 3 serves as an extreme example of this design shift, with a large central touchscreen managing most of the vehicle’s functions., Tesla
However, my opinion shifted to favor physical controls that can be manipulated by touch after test driving a McLaren 570S. On a pleasant autumn day in Texas, I adjusted the air conditioning to full blast upon entering the hot car, only to need to regulate it during a drive on an unfamiliar, winding road.
I tend to be more cautious when driving someone else’s vehicle to avoid unintentionally testing the car’s safety systems. Balancing the demands of an unknown road and a touchscreen was unexpectedly stressful, even though the road’s speed limit was relatively low. At one point, I may have even requested the accompanying journalist in the passenger seat to adjust the air conditioning settings since I didn’t want to risk distraction.
As I navigated through that car, keeping my focus on the road ahead, I wished for a knob similar to that of an HVAC system to adjust by touch, which aligns with Callum’s vision. The Jaguar XE unveiled by Callum retained two screens, with primary information displayed on the top screen and more detailed data on aspects like climate control on the lower screen, as highlighted by Automotive News. Additionally, it featured tactile controls for adjustments commonly made while driving. These tactile responses, whether from turning a knob, flipping a switch, or pressing a button, provide confirmation of your input without the need to divert your gaze.
Even the most technologically advanced vehicles on the market—such as Formula 1, Formula E, or Le Mans prototypes—incorporate numerous physical controls within or on the steering wheel, and I am not convinced this is solely due to drivers wearing gloves. Despite the potential for touchscreen-compatible fingertip gloves, teams craft their buttons and switches for clarity and ease of use, prioritizing the driver’s focus on the road ahead. It’s time for this emphasis on driver attentiveness to make its way back into car interiors, and it’s reassuring to hear at least one designer vocalize this concern.
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