For years, car safety experts and everyday drivers have bemoaned the loss of the humble button. Modern cars have almost unilaterally replaced dashboards full of tactile knobs with sleek, iPad-like digital displays, despite concerns these alluring devices might be making distracted driving worse. But there are signs the tide might be shifting.
After going all in on touch screens for years, Korean carmaker Hyundai is publicly shifting gears. Hyundai Design North America Vice President Ha Hak-soo remarked on the shift during a recent interview with JoongAng Daily admitting the company was lured in by the “wow” factor of massive, all-in-one screen-based infotainment systems. Customers apparently didn’t share that enthusiasm.
“When we tested with our focus group, we realized that people get stressed, annoyed and steamed when they want to control something in a pinch but are unable to do so,” Ha said.
Now the company is reversing course. Hyundai previously announced it would use physical buttons and knobs for many in-cabin controls across its new lineup of vehicles. They aren’t alone. Porsche and Volkswagen are amongst the major brands planning to buck the trend. It’s part of what looks like a broader acknowledgment of so-called “screen fatigue” setting in amongst car buyers.
Touch screens let carmakers jam-pack features into a single panel
The first touch screen in a car dates back nearly four decades to the 1986 Buick Riviera. That application, a cathode-ray-tube powered 3×4 inches box, was comparatively quaint compared to the massive desktop-sized screens in some modern vehicles.
Over the years, screens gradually developed in size and overall functionality. These screens were no longer just used for controlling the AC and the radio. In time, drivers were able to use touch screens in some models to adjust core car mechanics like traction control and even cycle between performance modes. The introduction of systems like Apple and Google CarPlay, which let users access some of their phone features through a car’s in-cabin display, similarly incentivized carmakers to outfit their vehicles with larger, more intuitive touch displays. At the same time, touch screens have reportedly become much more cost-effective for carmakers.
In theory, a tablet-like display should free up more space in the front of the vehicle by replacing a dashboard full of analog knobs with one centralized control panel. Since the screen interface isn’t limited by space it also gives drivers a greater ability to customize and control every aspect of their driving experience, from seamlessly linked Spotify playlists to perfectly warm seats. Tesla, which may have done more than any other carmaker to popularize the current in-car touchscreen aesthetic, took this trend to its logical conclusion by adding in the ability to play graphically intensive video games like CyberPunk 2077.
Many drivers find touch screens overly complicated and annoying
But it turns out drivers, for the most part, aren’t too interested in all that choice and functionality. A survey of U.S. car owners by JD Power last year found a consecutive two-year decline in overall consumer satisfaction with their vehicles for the first time in 28 years. The main driver of that dissatisfaction was complicated, difficult to navigate touch-based infotainment systems. A more recent JD Power survey found that most drivers ranked passenger-side display screens–a growing trend in the industry–as simply “not necessary.” Only 56% of drivers surveyed said they preferred to use their vehicle’s built-in infotainment systems to play audio.
“This year’s study makes it clear that owners find some technologies of little use and/or are continually annoying,” JD Power director of user experience benchmarking and technology Kathleen Rizk, said in a statement.
There’s also evidence a growing reliance on overly complicated touch based infotainment displays may be a safety hazard. A 2017 study conducted by the AAA Foundation claims drivers navigating through in-car screens to program navigation apps and other features were “visually and mentally” distracted for an average of 40 seconds. A car traveling at 50mph could cover half a mile during that time. Buttons and knobs aren’t totally distraction-free, but research shows their tactile response allows drivers to use them more easily without looking down and away from the road. The European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), an independent safety organization, stepped into the debate earlier this year and announced it would grant five-star safety ratings to cars with physical controls for turn signals, windshield wipers, horns, and other critical features.
[ Related: Too many screens? Why car safety experts want to bring back buttons ]
A reinbrace of buttons?
A handful of carmakers are responding to this growing dissatisfaction by going back to basics. In Hyundai’s case, the company is responding directly to customer feedback it received through focus groups. Drivers reportedly complained about touchscreen systems adding in at times annoying levels of friction to simple functions like climate control and music. In some cases, Hyundai Design VP Ha said, touch screen systems would take several taps to execute a function a physical knob could perform immediately.
“As we were adding integrated [infotainment] screens in our vehicles, we also tried out putting touchscreen-based controls, and people didn’t prefer that,” Ha said during his interview with JoongAng Daily.
Ha’s remarks come one year after luxury carmaker Porsche revealed it would move away form fully touch-based experiences and add back in more physical controls for its Cayenne SUV. Volkswagen, similarly announced it would do away with touch-sensitive controls on its steering wheels and replace them with physical buttons following complaints. At the same time, a select few car makers like Nissan held back from joining in on the touch screen arms race and have only recently introduced comparatively modest digital infotainment systems.
“I think people are going to get tired of these big black screens,” Nissan Senior VP for Global Design Alfonso Albaisa said during a 2020 interview with Green Car Reports.
It’s worth noting that, for now at least, these carmakers are still in the minority. American carmakers like GM and Ford will have large, Tesla-esque touch screens come standard in many of its upcoming models. Mercedes-Benz has even announced its own gargantuan, 56-inch “Hyperscreen” display. In other words, don’t expect screens to suddenly disappear from cars anytime soon. But if current trends continue, buttons might still have a fighting chance.