I was about to reply to a couple of posts on the UI topic when I read Eric¹s post (below), which makes a point I would underscore.
Since many of us (not surprisingly) share aviation and hence avionics experience as well as amateur radio, that experience may be useful in reflecting on the topic of UI for amateur gear. As Eric implies, and as LS also points out, the question is not either-or. There are some functions for which soft keys are better than layered menus, and those better than dedicated buttons and knobs, and those better than or worse than touch screens. For example, I think that during critical phases of flight I would not want to replace the tactile feedback of a throttle lever with a screen-based input; I like having the gear lever feel like a gear lever when I grab it; and while this one I might be willing to change, I think a flap control should feel something like a flap. But navigation is cerebral rather than tactile, and for that an intuitive layer of soft keys seems just right. On the other hand, if I need to kill the strobes because I¹ve just entered IMC (clouds, to the earthbound), I¹d like to stab at a known, dedicated, and unprogrammable button that I¹ve mentally marked IF YOU CAN¹T SEE, PUSH HERE RIGHT NOW. Point - touch screen isn¹t better or worse than any of the alternatives. It¹s either better or worse for some functions than any of the alternatives, but not for others. Maybe VFO A knobs are like flap controls? My point in raising the experience of avionics was to say first, that that field seems a bit ahead of the amateur radio gear field in ergonomic design of similar systems; and second, that it shows that design choices shouldn¹t be driven by global preferences. No surprises there, eh? Ted, KN1CBR >Message: 27 >Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2016 17:50:37 -0700 >From: "Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft" <e...@elecraft.com> >To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] IC-7300 video - things to come >Message-ID: <56fb22dd.1060...@elecraft.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed > >As a private pilot I fly with a Garmin GTN750 touch-screen GPS NAV/COM in >a >Cessna 182. Its powerful and quite intuitive to use, even in turbulence. >(They >included ridges along the four screen sides when needed to steady your >hand.) It >actually reduces the amount pilot load and time spent looking inside the >cockpit >when used properly - Though you can certainly abuse it dangerously if you >treat >it like a video game and forget to look outside the cockpit.. I >wouldn't go >any other way now. (And I came from a full-on knobs based flight >environment >prior to that.) > >There are great touch-screen avionics implementations and horrible ones. >The 750 >is a good one and world's above many others. > >I think for future ham radios and similar product designs, what will be >important is meshing the correct balance between traditional hard knobs >and >buttons with unique touch-screen features (display and input). The >overall goal >should be to balance the user interface between the touch-screen and >knobs/buttons for ease of use without unintended confusion while adding >unique >touch-screen display and easy to use input features. > >As a side note - I use the remotehams.com free remote software with the >K3/0-Mini and a laptop to remote my home K3S, KPA500 and Rotor. >Interestingly, >the little h/p satellite 360 convertible laptop/tablet has a touch >screen, which >I use for many functions like rotor control, amp control/status etc, but >I like >it combined with the K3/0-Mini's knobs and display for regular intuitive >use, >versus using it only for 100% computer based remote control. > >73, > >Eric >/elecraft.com/ > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
