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UI good, but "Controls" section too complicated

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I've been observing this from a year ago in my test drives then... the main screen is very well laid out, very quick and easy to navigate, very intuitive... except for the "Controls" section.

In the Controls section, there are way too many layers, side menus, top menus, half screens, etc. making it slower to find/remember how you get to certain functions.

TM needs to break a couple of these out, and add perhaps a button in the main nav for this...

Need to break out the "Settings" and "Charging" sections from Controls, this might help improve simplicity of the controls section, eliminating the need for the horizontal nav in this section. Leave the charging access to the battery icon at there very top. I would then add/create a settings icon to the very top nav row, and use the ubiquitous "gears" icon for this section.

Also the look and feel for the very top row of controls/icons is far too "cell phone" in feeling to me. Why do we need to follow this UI set? Can't we improve on these icons, and make them a touch bigger while we're at it?

It's better to improve on this UI now, before there's too much (User) legacy out there. Get it right before the Model X comes. Set some new automotive glass cockpit standards for UI.

Also consider how Apple is now moving away from the pseudo cartoonish UI, to have the software look and feel worthy of the hardware it resides in... to be more harmonious/holistic.
 
Thank you for posting this! I've always felt exactly this way about the Controls section... but since I still don't have my car (living in Germany) I thought I'd wait until I have first-hand experience before posting. Now your post confirms exactly what I've thought all along!
 
Yep! Wanted to wait until I had mine first as well. To use it for a while, and see if I felt any differently... so I could speak from real owner experience. Your first impressions are correct.

The changes are easy, and would make this page far less overloaded, reducing the layers/menu steps, and trying to remember what's where within this section.

The other big awakening (Uff Dah!) moment for me, was in realizing what Apple is waking up to as well... That the software is as much apart of the hardware design/over all user experience too. Why should the software be cartoonish, when the hardware is so elegant? Really Tesla has this mostly right already, but I do wonder if the main nav (music, maps, energy, Internet, back-up cam, etc), if those icons could be a bit more elegant?

It might be interesting to get other suggestions built up on this here, and forward this to TM directly.
 
I actually like it, quite a bit.
If by 'splitting out' you mean more Nav buttons on the main screen, please no!
That, I would find confusing.

The way it is now, all user selectable items are accessed through the large 'controls' button which is always located in the lower right corner of the console. This also makes it one of the easiest spots to press without looking.

The 'settings' are a simple tab up top and are basically things you should never need while driving, so putting them 'out of the way' makes sense to me and keeps from cluttering up the screen.

Doors, locks and lights, which IMO is the most likely controls to need while driving, is always the lower half of the controls page with large buttons.
 
The main thing that I would like would be a "raise suspension to very high" button aways available Perhaps a three button hold selection on the steering wheel.
 
Most of the controls and settings are not items typically used while the car is in motion - so the current layout doesn't seem too bad - and wish they would actually add more options to provide further customization of the console display and applications (especially the navigation software).

However, there may be benefit in having a controls screen with those options typically used while the car is in motion - such as air suspension and sunroof. I use the air suspension whenever I pull into a parking space with a curb (to avoid scraping the nose) plus the sunroof.

Another option would be to add the air suspension controls to the right control wheel - but that still isn't as convenient as pushing the touchscreen controls button - and immediately going to the functions most appropriate while the car is in motion.
 
However, there may be benefit in having a controls screen with those options typically used while the car is in motion - such as air suspension and sunroof. I use the air suspension whenever I pull into a parking space with a curb (to avoid scraping the nose) plus the sunroof.

The sunroof isn't a "gotta have it now" function like the suspension is. (The current thumbwheel control for the sunroof is just fine).