[HN Gopher] The UX of Lego Interface Panels (2020)
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       The UX of Lego Interface Panels (2020)
        
       Author : rcdemski
       Score  : 486 points
       Date   : 2024-11-28 19:00 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (interactionmagic.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (interactionmagic.com)
        
       | pvg wrote:
       | A thread at the time
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24035866 and a little one a
       | bit later https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29502811 both with
       | some author comments
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Thanks! Macroexpanded:
         | 
         |  _The UX of Lego Interface Panels (2020)_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29502811 - Dec 2021 (10
         | comments)
         | 
         |  _The UX of Lego Interface Panels_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24035866 - Aug 2020 (38
         | comments)
        
       | nom wrote:
       | The best interface bricks are these ones that actually work:
       | 
       | https://youtube.com/watch?v=0pUV_3qeHog
       | 
       | They even put an accelerometer in it, so it can show a working
       | horizon!
       | 
       | The console bricks were so special back then. When you got one in
       | a set it was like finding a rare specimen. Bricks look all alike,
       | but those were different!
        
         | nlawalker wrote:
         | Previously on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32531887
        
       | Rygian wrote:
       | The analysis of real-life interfaces is quite interesting, and as
       | a novice in the field I had never reflected much on the by-
       | feature / by-operation / by-technology / by-use case distinction.
        
       | istrice wrote:
       | This kind of post makes me tingle with joy
        
         | sghiassy wrote:
         | It's like a Christmas ornament. Unnecessary in utility, and yet
         | so fun to enjoy
        
       | soulofmischief wrote:
       | I wish my phone was more like a bop-it.
        
         | hennell wrote:
         | You're only a tube of glue and a bad decision away
        
         | Cthulhu_ wrote:
         | I wish I had a use case for a cyberdeck.
        
       | jddj wrote:
       | I'd like it if I could zoom on my phone on a site about ui/ux
       | with small pictures.
        
         | ndjdjddjsjj wrote:
         | My Samsung phone on Chrome lets me.
        
         | iamjackg wrote:
         | If you're on Android, there's an accessibility option in
         | Firefox and Chrome that allows you to always zoom on any page,
         | even if the website normally prevents it. On Firefox it's under
         | Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom on all websites.
        
           | jddj wrote:
           | That's better, thanks
        
         | george_cave wrote:
         | Hey, I'm the author of this site! You're on Android I think,
         | based on the other comments here? I only have an iPhone to
         | test, but I can pinch+expand the site on my phone no problem.
         | Was not intentional to have blocked it! Sorry, I'll see if I
         | can work out why.
        
           | sira04 wrote:
           | It's this in the <head>                 <meta name="viewport"
           | content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-
           | scale=1.0">
           | 
           | Remove the maximum-scale property.
        
             | george_cave wrote:
             | Thanks! Will try shortly. I guess iOS/Safari just ignores
             | this property then.
        
           | jddj wrote:
           | Firefox Android, yep.
           | 
           | That makes some sense actually if iOS ignores it. Whenever I
           | come across the behaviour I wonder _why_ , but if it's just a
           | copy/paste magic meta tag which goes unnoticed by most
           | browsers then I can see how that could proliferate.
        
             | george_cave wrote:
             | Ok, this should be fixed now, let me know if you still
             | can't zoom!
        
               | jddj wrote:
               | Works, thanks
        
               | tda wrote:
               | Works for me!
        
       | mlsu wrote:
       | Hah! Awesome post. I have to say my favorite as a kid was the
       | white radar screen with the "38" on it. Maybe I should have gone
       | into UX?
        
       | seumars wrote:
       | That's the UI. There's no actual interaction with the screens.
        
         | eru wrote:
         | UX stands for user experience, not for interaction?
        
           | mulmen wrote:
           | How do you experience an interactive system without...
           | interaction?
        
             | edent wrote:
             | Imagine you go to a foreign country. You want to buy a
             | train ticket. You walk to the station and go to the ticket
             | machine. You see a dizzying array of levers, buttons,
             | sliders, and dials. Each labelled with diagrams which don't
             | make sense to you.
             | 
             | You back away slowly from the machine and try to find a
             | human ticket seller.
             | 
             | Have you experienced the machine?
        
         | chefandy wrote:
         | Even if they were talking about interaction design (sometimes
         | called IX) specifically, rather than experience design, the
         | interaction is in handling, moving, and combining them. They
         | don't need to have a dynamic electronic interaction to be
         | interactive. I'm not sure a toy with absolutely no interaction
         | would still be a toy.
        
           | seumars wrote:
           | Yes, but in this specific case the focus is on the design
           | elements labeled onto the lego blocks.
        
         | carlosjobim wrote:
         | You can interact with them for example by licking them, or
         | stepping on them.
        
       | curtisf wrote:
       | Only tangentially related, but just yesterday I learned of Lego's
       | defunct "Modulex" brand, and the serious and apparently widely
       | popular Lego-brick-based project management display boards from
       | the '60s to the '90s.
       | 
       | The small size and comforting pastel colors seemed especially
       | inviting to me.
       | 
       | It makes me yearn for more tactile and actually pleasant-to-work-
       | with computer UIs.
        
         | matthewfcarlson wrote:
         | I wonder if there's a 3D printed version somewhere online
        
       | eru wrote:
       | The link to the Audi examples is dead, but you can find an
       | archived version at
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20211126012727/https://deeptread...
        
         | xorcist wrote:
         | This is a lovely example of great design. Beautiful, too. I'm
         | sad to see it didn't catch on.
         | 
         | On a related note, I would like to own an EV -- but a
         | touchscreen operated car is out of the question. Where did all
         | those competent designers go and why didn't they design an
         | electric car?
        
           | Cthulhu_ wrote:
           | Thankfully it looks/sounds like they're moving away again
           | from touchscreen-only operation. It's probably an Apple
           | effect where the established brands follow the innovator,
           | without actually confirming what the innovator did was good.
        
           | awinter-py wrote:
           | you and the us navy
           | 
           | https://news.usni.org/2019/08/09/navy-reverting-ddgs-back-
           | to...
           | 
           | they ripped out the GUI-based controls after a bad crash
           | 
           | (actual story is more complicated though -- they transferred
           | partial control of the helm to another station, instead of
           | transferring full control, leading the new operator to think
           | they had lost control of the boat. similar thing happened
           | with air france 447 where a single pilot panicked and the
           | others couldn't observe their control input)
        
         | george_cave wrote:
         | Oh good catch, I'll update it in the article.
        
         | hawski wrote:
         | I don't like this design all that much. It makes sense, but it
         | is too spaced out for me.
         | 
         | I love the design I have in my current car - Renault Laguna 3.
         | The HVAC control panel is between air vents and on the top it
         | has three buttons: Soft, Auto and Fast. I like how it uses
         | words with no negative connotations (it could be Slow and
         | Hard). Soft is for it to be quiet, Auto is the most common
         | setting for me and Fast is self-explanatory, though also
         | recommended if you have passengers on the backseat. Then there
         | is the current temperature (and other HVAC settings) display
         | and finally very comfortable and big up/down rocker switches to
         | change the temperature with a 0.5degC resolution. I usually do
         | not change the temperature much. A knob seems to invite changes
         | for people who do not understand a concept of a thermostat.
         | 
         | Then there is AC off, closed circulation, fan speed and air
         | distribution buttons. Right below this are buttons for quick
         | defogging (I don't know how to call it) and the back window
         | heating. Buttons that do not change the state shown on the LCD
         | display have their little LEDs to signify their state.
         | 
         | You can see it in action here:
         | https://youtu.be/oNHvtI_8A5w?t=12
        
       | CarVac wrote:
       | Wow, that Lincoln MKC was unfortunate.
       | 
       | https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/05/recalled-li...
       | 
       | Seems like they moved the power button to the top of the column.
        
         | stavros wrote:
         | Does that button really start and stop the engine? In other
         | cars I've seen, the start/stop button (with similar
         | iconography) toggles the start/stop system, which shuts off the
         | engine when the car is stationary to avoid pollution.
        
         | RedShift1 wrote:
         | In my car (BMW from 2012), the engine does not shut off when
         | you press the start/stop button when you're driving. It only
         | shuts off the engine when you press it AND you're stationary.
         | This seems like a totally obvious interlock to me, it puzzles
         | me that Ford didn't think of this and as a solution moved the
         | button instead.
        
       | DonHopkins wrote:
       | Somebody posted some beautiful and inspired Lego renderings of
       | their red science pack factory, created in Bricklink Studio 2.0,
       | to the Factorio Facebook group.
       | 
       | https://www.facebook.com/groups/factoriogroup/posts/24121149...
        
       | awinter-py wrote:
       | 'organized -- chaotic' and 'all screen -- no screen' are truly
       | the main axes of UI design
        
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       (page generated 2024-11-29 23:00 UTC)