Poor ergonomics
The frustration of poor ergonomics
Poor product ergonomics are singularly exasperating.
Bad ergonomics have a special quality about them. I think it almost worse to use an ergonomically poor product than to use a broken product, simply because of the unrealized potential of the former. Or, put another way: If the jag-off engineer hadn’t dicked around on his project so much, I wouldn’t be frustrated. I mean, the product works, but sloppy design makes using it a chore.
Case study: The Saab 900S
I ran headlong into the frustration of bad ergonomics when Margie graciously allowed me to borrow her 1998 Saab 900S this weekend. My car, mind you, is broken. That is frustrating, yes, but when it’s working, my car operates as a normal automobile should. Margie’s car, by contrast, was designed by a Swedish cokehead. However, her car is working, which was very important for me over the weekend.
The Saab 900S is simply the goofiest car I have ever come across.
- Power windows
The power windows are operated from the center console of the vehicle, which is a goofy to start. The switch for the window should be near the window, not near the gearshift. It is, in New Church terms, out of order. Furthermore, the front and rear windows are operated by two separated sets of rocker switches, each of which is operated by pushing the down in different directions. Putting the rear windows up, in particular, requires an acrobatic hand movement that would likely strengthen the tendons over time. (Perhaps this was intentional.)
- Power locks
I think the power locks are somewhere near the power windows on the center console, where they absolutely don’t belong, but I couldn’t find them. I operated the locks manually.
- Windshield wipers
The windshield wipers for this vehicle are operated by a lever attached to the steering column, similar to other vehicles not designed by Swedish cokeheads. However, the Saab is different in that pushing the lever up turns the wipers on, while pushing the lever down also turns the wipers on. Yeah. Finding the right spot in the middle turns them off.
- Air conditioner/heater
The air conditioner/heater is operated by a combination of knobs and buttons. I’ll discuss only the primary two knobs. The first offers a wide spectrum of red (heat), with only a single notch for blue (A/C). I do not know why there is not a spectrum for cold. (There is a range of blue on my Camry’s unit.)
The second knob is a monument to ridiculous labeling. It controls the vents through which the air flows. The top setting (0°) shows air coming out of the top vents, near the windshield, and it’s clear enough. The setting on the left of the knob (270°) shows a downward arrow. It is unclear whether this means “down” or that one should turn the knob in that direction, since there is a line around the knob and this could indicate directionality. The third label (180°) shows two arrows pointing left and right.
I want the name of the designer who approved this third label.
In no way does the setting indicated by this label have anything to do with right and left. In fact, the air flow for both the first and second settings pumps air to both the left and right. This label has everything to do with up and down. If I had a spinal cord injury and I were looking at the label from the side, I might appreciate this label, but otherwise, it makes zero sense.
Sony Xplod CD player
The ergonomic disaster that is Margie’s car sadly did not end with the center console and the air conditioner. Luckily for Scandinavia, this travesty can’t be blamed on the Swedes, but it can be pinned on an underpaid CE designer in Beijing who probably preferred designer club drugs to coke.
Margie bought her car used, and the previous owner left the rockin’ Sony Xplod CD player in the dash. At first I think she thought this was cool, because she could tell her friends that she had an MP3 player in her car (even if she wasn’t quite sure what MP3s were), but now I hope she dislikes the Xplod as much as I do. In fact, I would like it to, ahem, (e)Xplod(e) and go into a dumpster.
- Switching to a CD
As far as I can ascertain, it is not possible to switch to a CD when listening to the radio. The only method available is to eject the CD, put it back in, and let the Xplod go into CD autoplay mode.
This is bush league.
- On/off button
The On button is big, glorious, and red. The Off button is small and hidden in the corner. When one receives a call on one’s cell phone and wishes to engage in dangerous driving behavior, it is important that one be able to quickly locate the Off button. This is not possible with the Sony Xplod.
Also, why are the On and Off buttons different? I noticed that my TV, receiver, computer, cell phone, DVD player, and electric toothbrush have a single button that turns the instrument on and off. I believe that car CD players can do the same.
Conclusion
In conclusion, don’t design crap.
Addendum
On 7/18/05, I received an interesting e-mail from George Fkiaras explaining the Saab ergonomics. If Mr. Fkiaras is not a Saab employee, perhaps they should consider cutting him a check, eh? He’s doing yeoman’s work for their reputation.
Ergonomics and user interfaces have fascinated me for a long time; however, the specifics of my 900 Turbo eluded me for a little while. But having owned a Saab for nearly five years now, I’ve come to fully appreciate their placement. I should point out that I have a 1988 Saab 900 Turbo, but the 98 shares some of its design heritage with it.
Many european cars, including mercedes, have the power window buttons in the center console. This was confusing at first, but it quickly made sense. The Classic 900’s were mostly stick-shift vehicles, which means the driver is acclimated to driving with the left hand while using the right for shifting. The C900’s also had the keylock next to the floor shifter, which was again odd. However, this setup means this: I can quickly start the car, select a gear, and open my windows (I’m in TX after all) in a rather swift, controlled motion of my right hand. All other vehicles have these three items in distinctly different locations. When driving, I can potentialy shift gears and open/close the windows when taking my hand off the wheel once instead of twice.
Power locks on many european vehicles only activate from the driver’s lock. I’m not familiar with the 98 900, but the absence of a power door lock button in the C900 served one purpose–you cannot lock your keys in the car. The only way to lock a C900 is from the outside, with your key, or while inside the vehicle with the door closed. The presence of a button would add confusion.
I cannot speak about the windshield wipers, as mine operate as would be expected.
The lack of a “cold spectrum” on the temperature valve is actually far more accurate than any vehicle that includes a “cold spectrum” of any kind. That dial, in nearly all vehicles, simply controls the ammount of heat that is added to the air. Air is never “chilled” unless the AC is on–and that is an “on” or “off” proposition. Thus, the wide spectrum of red accurately reflects what is really going on–whenever the dial is turned any distance away from the cold dot, engine heat is being added, no matter what car you’re driving.
It is a common misconception that turning temperature valve clockwise “turns down” your AC. Your AC runs fairly constantly; by turning the dial, you are adding engine heat to the chilled air to control the temperature. This is deliberate in order to control humidity–in the winter, the AC dehumidifies the air and it is then warmed up for even further fog control.
The strange symbols on the selector valve (arrows, etc) are fairly standard across european vehicles. They have to contend with different languages, so some set of symbols had to be devised. I think the japanese did a better job than the europeans, but the left/right arrows are generally taken to mean “vents” in Europe, and the down arrows are taken to mean “floor vents.”
July 13th, 2004 at 7:54 am
Thank you for starting my day off with some very well-written hilarity. :-)
I’m glad you didn’t wreck in that thing.
Now I’ll have to explain to the folks around me what I’ve been laughing about.
Take care,
Matt
July 13th, 2004 at 9:19 am
While looking for pictures of the Saab 900S, i came across http://autos.canada.com/national/researching/VehicleProfile.aspx?pro=1290, which states in its “At a Glance” section that the air conditioning controls of the 900S are “diabolically complicated.” I’m vindicated by a third party!
January 29th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Having driven Saabs for ever, I find their ergomics to be the best!
Notice how the dash wraps around you, thereby allowing you to reach the same distance to reach any control.
The heater position control is very simple. The down arrow means floor vents. The sideways arrows mean side vents. The flat bar means the central vents. Duh!
The heater control goes from zero heat to max heat. Normally they draw a blue line to show how cold air mixes with the hot… in any case, showing how the designers drew a blue line on the heater knob is pointless… Note the Saab heater is extremely powerful and you can use the defroster vents to cook a turkey on your way to Grandma’s house.
The controls are on the centre console for easy access. Let your hand slide off the steering wheel, it falls on the shifter. Right behind the shifter is the ignition key, and after that are the window switches. I don’t know how pressing a rocker switch needs special tendons…???
The car has central locking. Lock the driver’s door and all the other doors lock automatically.
February 27th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
PLEASE GET BACK IN YOUR CAMRY
I DRIVE SAABS AND FIND THEM GREAT. IF YOU DONT LIKE THE ERGONOMICS JUST GO AHEAD WITH YOUR CAMRY. SAABS ARENT MADE FOR EVERYONE, ONLY FOR THOOSE OF US WHO KNOW THEM AND LOVE TO DRIVE THEM. NEXT TIME BORROW A NISSAN AND LEAVE THE SAABS TO THE SAAB OWNERS
February 28th, 2005 at 9:32 am
Ah, yes. And next time, hit that “Caps Lock” key.
April 10th, 2005 at 1:32 pm
your a dick
April 10th, 2005 at 5:26 pm
*sniffle*
October 3rd, 2005 at 12:46 am
I can operate all controls - heat/air, radio, windows, wipers, power roof, rear def — all with my right hand - and in close proximity to each other. Steering control, signaling and cruise control can be accomplished with minimal left hand movement - and without any hand repositioning. These “ergonomic design flaws” are the result of many years of R&D in cockpit design in the aeronautics industry — Saabs primary capitol investment. With the aquisition of Saab by GM in ‘95 I think you will find less and less of these “flaws” as they attempt to re-invent the Saab to appeal to the American marketplace — remote control audio video systems - and onboard navigation (for those who never learned to read a map) will certainly be “standard equipment”. I’m also sure they’ll relocate the window controls to the drivers door so you can entertain yourself figuring out how to downshift, steer and open your window while pulling up to a toll booth (easily do-able with the 900 design - a single push on the window control and the window will go down by itself, then stop when finished — same applies to putting it back up) Just another one of those design flaws I guess — GM will probably do away with that too — in an attempt to appeal to folks like you.
February 19th, 2006 at 1:40 am
I can understand the frustration of getting behind the wheel of a car that is not familiar, particularly a SAAB. SAABs are not for everyone as several have stated in these postings. The 100% Swedish SAABs (before GM decided to get in there and ruin the car line) had specific ideas in placing switches and controls as someone pointed out: once you get settled, most of the controls that are centrally located between the seats will be within reach after you have started the car in the same area. I have an ‘89 900 that I have been driving for about ten years now. I absolutely love the car and will not part with it on my own free will. I have entertained getting one of the newer generation SAAB hatchbacks (since GM decided to stop making them… I guess it’s one more effort to make the line look like every other car they produce), but am still loyal to the older models. They take some getting used to, and you have to appreciate the design to be happy with it.
March 7th, 2006 at 8:53 am
SAAB….European…that says it all….
March 15th, 2006 at 8:21 am
I sell Toyotas. Great cars. Drive a Saab. Your description of the ergonomics is hilarious, in that it made me wonder how you manage to get by in this world, not being to figure out something as staightforward as Saab controls. They are among the easiest to use of any auto. They also were considering safety issues while we were building cars that explode on impact. The reason for the key position, for example, was to eliminate the permanantly destroyed knees that happen in thousands of cases during collisions in vehicles with conventional key locations. The window switches are right hand operated, and set up so that you can operate each side simultaneously. By the way, your Camry controls for all but your driver’s window are nowhere near the actual windows. I think your beef is that Saab controls are just different from what you are used to. They are actually better, and they have been making them the same way for years.
May 11th, 2006 at 1:10 am
just when you thought people weren’t wasting bandwidth , i have to come across this pathetic…..
aw, screw it..!!!
May 19th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
I have a boss who is a big Saab fanatic, and always espouses the value of having the controls in the center area. Personally, I find this arrangement horrid, for a couple reasons:
1. While you need different hands to operate windows and shift, these are never actions you do at the same time. The incrementally greater time needed to switch hands is really a non issue, I contend.
2. While good ergonomics are important (and a case can be made for *some* of the Swede “Cokeheadedness”), consistency to market standards is the most important. If Saab’s are sold in the USA, they should have interiors that map to the industry de-facto standard of controls on the doors. Everyone having a “bright idea” is what leads to massive incompatibilities and increased effective costs to the consumer.
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:25 am
Dude,
You are hardly a driver…most probably you never driven a real car.
I am driving a Saab forever, know that is a resistant car with real mechanical, and design strength. Comparing Saab with Camry not that is inappropriate but is also ridiculous; you just don’t compare Nokia with Motorola…stay and think why Nokia is the best rated cell in the world, for the same reason Saab is among the best ?unlike any of the US or Japanese (7 years life time foamy crap). I think you are just not used with the car and that’s all. European cars are not designed for (apologies) lazy drivers, they are designed to be fast economic and fun.. Well, friend, fun is not driving with one leg, one hand and no brain. You?d say probably the same thing about a BMW or a Mercedes, and people would laugh at you?do yourself a favor try to drive your car or if ever encounter a challenge that might over rank you at least do not make your story public. As you can see, I tried my best not to call you names even though ? you might deserve it?
Take care and try to stay away from real cars!!
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:54 am
Allow me to give you the design explanations:
1. The power windows are operated from the center console of the vehicle, which is a goofy to start. The switch for the window should be near the window, not near the gearshift
A: when you drive a car with manual gearbox you’d have to take your left hand off the wheel, take your right hand off the stick shift, put your right hand on the wheel, put your left hand on the switch …operate the windows… mkost people would find this awkward if not stupid. The way is designed you just lower your hand and operate the windows…. who’s goofy?
2. Power locks
A: see above
3. Windshield wipers
A: That’s the case with many European cars…can I blame a Japanese car for having the exhaust on the other side that most real cars (See BMW, Mercedes)… goofy…
4. a) The air conditioner/heater is operated by a combination of knobs and buttons. I’ll discuss only the primary two knobs. The first offers a wide spectrum of red (heat), with only a single notch for blue (A/C). I do not know why there is not a spectrum for cold. (There is a range of blue on my Camry’s unit.)
A: a) You paid a lot of money for a button with a lot of blue; the difference is called, common sense. The combination of buttons does what your camry does not have, that’ll be Bi Zone Computerized Climate Control. Now let me brief your small brain about this. That means that if your wife sits on the passenger side and wants her side of the car to be either cooler you can do that, as opposed to your camry that is freezing everybody or cooking them… advise …Read or die stupid…
and LAST:
Sony CD… Saab does not come with Sony out of the factory gate…so …you just insulted your friend Margie and she didn’t let you walk as you deserved. Why her car is running and your not???? Anyway, for Sony options I would suggest to talk to the manufacturer in Japan…I hope you know that Japan is another country, famous for its electronics the same way Germans are for their cars.
I also read you email regarding George’s feedback. I do believe that if I didn’t insulted you until now, you deserve to be call an IDIOT with no common sense/culture/or brain… I think that you lived with your mother until your 30’s and then married one of your 40 year old neighbors, if you think is not like this I imagine you are stupid enough not to realize it…
June 2nd, 2006 at 8:02 am
Re: Nikhil S. Shringarpurey
I have no idea what you are talking about Nihil.
And btw at your …whatever this is …comment:
While good ergonomics are important (and a case can be made for *some* of the Swede “Cokeheadedness”), consistency to market standards is the most important. If Saab’s are sold in the USA, they should have interiors that map to the industry de-facto standard of controls on the doors. Everyone having a “bright idea” is what leads to massive incompatibilities and increased effective costs to the consumer.
I can only laugh,and assume that you are retard, and do not realize that America is a mixture of people and not a standard, as none of the countries is. Why american cars are not sold in EU?… because?…answer Knucklehead…
June 2nd, 2006 at 9:36 am
Bob, aka Euroboy, lemme get this straight: European cars are not designed for lazy drivers, yet your fellow Saab defend Eric rationalizes the ridiculous center console with this explanation:
“I can operate all controls - heat/air, radio, windows, wipers, power roof, rear def — all with my right hand - and in close proximity to each other.”
That sounds daaaaaaamn lazy to me. And btw, you ask why American cars aren’t sold in the EU? Answer: your xenophobic tariffs.
By the way: I have a wife?!?!?!?!?! That’s worse than a Saab!
June 14th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Practical, not lazy….
June 15th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
This is starting to sound like a heated argument… why dont we stick to discussion of the ergonomics of a saab versus the ergonomics of a different brand of car. Personally, i own a ‘96 900s that is a manual, and i definitely find it extremely convenient to have the controls near my right hand.
said by Nikhil. “”While you need different hands to operate windows and shift, these are never actions you do at the same time. The incrementally greater time needed to switch hands is really a non issue, I contend.”"
Obviously you dont drive a stick, because in the city or in any traffic, driving a stick requires changing gears quite frequently, so then having all the controls by your right hand is extremely convenient. And just because it is convenient, doesnt make us lazy. For example if there is a gas station, 1 mile from your location and there is another 5 miles away, and you choose to go the closer of the two, does THAT make you lazy?