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Speculation: Delay in 6.0 Due to Liability and User Experience Issues

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From all of the forum threads that I've read across the web, coupled with talks with various pundits (Tesla, User Experience, Lawyers, etc.) - perhaps two reasons why Tesla has not released 6.0 is due to the following:

1) Liability issues: by this, if Tesla were to introduce a vastly improved (and likely very different) interface into the car, what would that mean in terms of Tesla owners getting into their cars and finding out once they are out driving, that the controls don't work like they did previously - and particularly if there are new features and functions or dramatically changed existing ones. Think of the lawsuits from Tesla owners and other victims, if the change would cause accidents and such. While many of us are fanboys and look forward to change, many others would assume that how they drove the car on Monday is how it'll drive on Tuesday. There would need to be a full system in place to educate drivers and also have them accept the changes (and learning on the road isn't an option).

2) User Experience: somewhat of an issue here. Yes, there's a 17" inch screen in the car, but boy, Tesla does not make it an intuitive experience and one where form follows function. As an example, having so much of the text on the screen in a gray scale makes it hard to read in dim light - such as radio stations. For those individuals (and i'm not one of them), light gray on dark gray isn't the best. Same with temp controls and many other controls. Also, why the notion that we need 50% of the screen for two functions? Radio.... probably only needs 20-30% screen space (having the album cover really big isn't a big value), instead, I'd rather have easier access to radio, Slacker, other media, etc. - instead of having to tap three or four times to go from playing a playlist to going to a radio station. And then to have the temp controls at the way bottom, yes - they are out of the way, but should be more usable. The icons used for changing temp, etc. on the screen aren't the best and aren't best practices from a user experience perspective.
 
Title needs updating to include something like "Speculation:".

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Think of the lawsuits from Tesla owners and other victims, if the change would cause accidents and such.
I don't buy this argument at all. If that was the case, Tesla wouldn't have released a car with such a design nor promoted with emphasis on the updatability feature.

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2) User Experience: somewhat of an issue here. Yes, there's a 17" inch screen in the car, but boy, Tesla does not make it an intuitive experience and one where form follows function. As an example, having so much of the text on the screen in a gray scale makes it hard to read in dim light - such as radio stations. For those individuals (and i'm not one of them), light gray on dark gray isn't the best. Same with temp controls and many other controls. Also, why the notion that we need 50% of the screen for two functions? Radio.... probably only needs 20-30% screen space (having the album cover really big isn't a big value), instead, I'd rather have easier access to radio, Slacker, other media, etc. - instead of having to tap three or four times to go from playing a playlist to going to a radio station. And then to have the temp controls at the way bottom, yes - they are out of the way, but should be more usable. The icons used for changing temp, etc. on the screen aren't the best and aren't best practices from a user experience perspective.
I don't share the same reaction or assessment to the current and prior revisions of the firmware. In fact, this post is literally the first time I've heard any of these types of complaints. Perhaps I'm sheltered by participating in TMC vs. other forums.
 
From all of the forum threads that I've read across the web, coupled with talks with various pundits (Tesla, User Experience, Lawyers, etc.) - perhaps two reasons why Tesla has not released 6.0 is due to the following:

1) Liability issues: by this, if Tesla were to introduce a vastly improved (and likely very different) interface into the car, what would that mean in terms of Tesla owners getting into their cars and finding out once they are out driving, that the controls don't work like they did previously - and particularly if there are new features and functions or dramatically changed existing ones. Think of the lawsuits from Tesla owners and other victims, if the change would cause accidents and such. While many of us are fanboys and look forward to change, many others would assume that how they drove the car on Monday is how it'll drive on Tuesday. There would need to be a full system in place to educate drivers and also have them accept the changes (and learning on the road isn't an option).

2) User Experience: somewhat of an issue here. Yes, there's a 17" inch screen in the car, but boy, Tesla does not make it an intuitive experience and one where form follows function. As an example, having so much of the text on the screen in a gray scale makes it hard to read in dim light - such as radio stations. For those individuals (and i'm not one of them), light gray on dark gray isn't the best. Same with temp controls and many other controls. Also, why the notion that we need 50% of the screen for two functions? Radio.... probably only needs 20-30% screen space (having the album cover really big isn't a big value), instead, I'd rather have easier access to radio, Slacker, other media, etc. - instead of having to tap three or four times to go from playing a playlist to going to a radio station. And then to have the temp controls at the way bottom, yes - they are out of the way, but should be more usable. The icons used for changing temp, etc. on the screen aren't the best and aren't best practices from a user experience perspective.

You've been way spending too much time talking to lawyers:)

And I couldn't disagree more about the touchscreen.
 
Delay in 6.0 Due to Liability Issues and Not Having the Right User Experience...

I don't get this either. Pure speculation. Has Tesla said they are drastically changing the UI? No one really seems to have a problem with the current one in terms of readability.

Can you suggest a shorter title? I can't add Speculation:
Without deleting a word or two.
 
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I also think this is off base. The concern is a valid one in principle, but not in practice. Tesla is WAY better than most auto manufacturers in thinking through user interface issues, IMHO. Legal issues are always of course a consideration, but not as a major focus for this update.

The delays to 6.0 are all easily (Occum's Razor) explainable by the fact that it is clearly a large and complex release with many deep changes to the navigation and trip-planning functionality, at a minimum. Having led software and UI design teams, I am not at all surprised or all that impatient. I would rather them take lots of time in beta and get it clean and stable and refined before we all pile on to critique it, much less rely on it.
 
I strongly disagree with the OP. I can see by his VIN he hasn't been through firmware updates. They're really not the big deal that he envisions. There is no reason to think the update to 6.0 will be any more difficult or confusing to owners than any of the previous updates. If there is a new feature you don't understand yet, just don't use it.
 
I do agree with op's assessment of the 17" user interface design. Particularly the media and climate control menus. Way too many touches to get to the radio from some other media. And the climate controls are also multiple touches deep. I just want to adjust the fan speed sometimes. I always think it is funny when technology makes things that were at one time easy more difficult. But all that said I love the 17" screen and I think it has great potential. I'd love for it to be customizable.
 
I strongly disagree with the OP. I can see by his VIN he hasn't been through firmware updates. They're really not the big deal that he envisions. There is no reason to think the update to 6.0 will be any more difficult or confusing to owners than any of the previous updates. If there is a new feature you don't understand yet, just don't use it.

You are correct, I haven't been through any firmware updates (so I don't know what I don't know... other than the experiences that others have posted).

And as another commenter stated (and thank you moderator!) - it is speculation. But as with all things in life, we live in a world where people sue McDonald's for spilled coffee (or someone sleeping at a ball game sues the league/TV station for broadcasting that he's sleeping). So, it would be extremely easy and convenient for - say an owner of a Tesla that gets involved in an accident, particularly after a firmware upgrade to blame it on the software. It could be something simple, such as having the screen resize itself as the car is in motion (or a new screen popping up... or whatever) - but the point is, just by upgrading the software, there 'could' be a liability issue. Perhaps there's a litigation lawyer that is also a Tesla owner and could comment?

On the user experience perspective, we've all seen also comments from users on how to improve the interface. And it is not intuitive, nor fast, to do many functions that could be solved with simple dials...
 
From a litigation standpoint....anyone can sue anyone/any company over anything. There are lots of frivolous suits. In addition, give me an extra touch step versus a dial. Dials are so 'yesterday':wink:
 
Gotta be kidding. It's software... pretty much always behind schedule at all companies.

Also I strongly disagree about the usability of the current interface. I'm sure it can be improved, but it's already miles ahead of any other car I've ever driven.
 
I do agree with op's assessment of the 17" user interface design. Particularly the media and climate control menus. Way too many touches to get to the radio from some other media. And the climate controls are also multiple touches deep. I just want to adjust the fan speed sometimes. I always think it is funny when technology makes things that were at one time easy more difficult. But all that said I love the 17" screen and I think it has great potential. I'd love for it to be customizable.
Just use the wheel on the right side of the steering wheel to adjust fan speed.
 
I believe that the answer in the jobs listings, for a Linux programer, and multiple listings for user interface engineers.
If I wasn't gainfully employed, that's a pretty attractive position actually. I suspect the "unfilled" status is a quality of candidates issue rather than an availability of resumes problem.

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Someone's been playing with their 'Jump to Conclusions' mat.

[Moderator note: Language in video not family friendly]
 
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Maybe someday car manufacturers will open up non-critical areas (like the media screen) to let third parties develop different skins that one could try out. They would probably need to vett these like Apple does with iOS apps, and charge a reasonable fee for that QA process.