Car Mechanics vs. IT

What if people were as ignorant about cars as they used to be about computers...

- Hello, this is XYZ car repair shop and my name is Carl. How can I help you today?

> Hi, my car's light won't stop flashing.

- Ok, can you tell me which light?

> I don't know which one! I'm not "a car person" so I don't know that much about it. I just know there's a light flashing.

- Hmm... Are you talking about a light on the dashboard?

> What's the dashboard?

- The dashboard is the area behind the steering wheel...

> What? Why do you have to use technical names like dashboard. Can't you just say behind the big hand wheel? And no the light's not there. I'm not in the car.

- Oh, so it's on the outside of the car. Is it on the front, or the back?

> Uhm, let's see. I think this is the end of the car that I look at when I'm driving...

- That would be the front then. Is the light yellow and on one corner of the car?

> Well I think it's orange.

- Ok, I think your turn signal is on.

> What's that.

- That's the light you're supposed to use to signal to other drivers when you're going to turn.

> Why would I need that? Can't they tell I'm turning by looking at me?

- Well, legally you're supposed to use it before you change lanes to warn other drivers.

> Stupid laws, making my car more complicated. Isn't it enough that I have to remember which pedal does what?

- Yeah, well I can help you turn the signal off.

> The signal? Oh yeah, you mean the light. You'll have to stop using those technical words.

- Sure thing. I need you to get in the car.

> Ok, just a second. I have to remember how this key thing works. Let's see I put it in, and turn it. Nope that didn't work, let me try the other way. There we go. Ok I'm sitting in the car.

- Ok, so the steering wheel is in front of you?

> What? You didn't tell me to get in /that/ door!

- Sorry, my fault. Could you please exit the vehicle and then reenter through the driver's door. That's the one with the steering wheel.

> Oh, I'll never figure out that key thing again. Let me just climb over the seat.......... Ok, there we go.

- Ok so you're at the steering wheel now?

> Yeah, but now there's another light flashing. This time it's on the Dishboard or whatever you called it.

- Yes, that's the turn signal indicator, telling you that your turn signal is on.

> Whoa!! That went way over my head. I just want to know how to turn it off.

- Uhm, sure. So behind the left side of the steering wheel you'll see a lever sticking out of the middle of the wheel. Do you see it?

> Uhm, no.

- ... Are you sure? Try putting your had just behind the wheel and feeling around.

> Uhm, my hand doesn't fit.

- ... Why not? There should be lots of space behind the wheel.

> Well the flowers are in the way.

- ... ... ... Flowers? Behind the steering wheel? There aren't supposed to be flowers there.

> My cousin put some pretty flowers on my steering wheel. He's "a car guy" so he said it would look better.

- Hmmm... So there's flowers covering your steering wheel. Is there a lever sticking out behind the flowers.

> Oh yeah, this thing. I hate it. It's always in my way and I keep running my hand into it. Is there a way to remove it.

- That's the lever for turning your signal on and off.

> Oh, is that what it's for I always wondered. So is there a way to remove it?

- Uhm, remember the law says you need to use it, so no, there's no way to remove it.

> That's dumb.

- Yeah, well let me teach you how to use it. When you want to turn left, just push down on the lever and will turn your signal on. When you want to turn right, push it up.

> Right is up and left is down? That seems like a really dumb design.

- I assure you it's pretty easy when you get used to it.

> Whatever. How do I turn it off.

- Well, after you turn, you should tap it back towards the center. So if you pushed it up to signal a right turn, push it down a little to turn the signal off.

> I though pushing it down signaled a left? I'm so confused.

- Well if you push it halfway down it goes back to normal. If you keep pushing it down it will signal a left.

> That seems way too complicated. Why did you car people design something so stupid?

- It's really easy once you get used to it.

> I don't even want this feature at all. Are you sure there's no way to remove it?

- I'm sorry, you'll just have to learn how the signal works.

> Man I hate cars. I'm never going to buy one again...


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People are dumb, I'm the first to admit it. And anytime you're making a product for "everyone" you're really making it for the dumbest person around. User interfaces are always a pull between easy to learn and easy to use.

Cars have been around a long time. The interface has changed over the years, but the current incarnation is pretty good, and the rate of change has certainly slowed. Initially cars were terribly hard to drive. You practically had to be a mechanic to figure out how one worked. Eventually the basic things were simplified with inventions like automatic starters, fuel injection, automatic transmissions and ABS. This has made the car more accessible to non-experts.

But at the same time we've added things: Dashboard gauges, turn signals, seat belts, radios. These have been great enhancements, but they've added complexity to the interface. We've been able to do this because the interface of the car has become part of our culture and because we've required a basic amount of training in order to get licensed to operate a car. All people understand the basics, and we've been able to move past the most simple interface towards a more useful one.

As we continue adding to cars with navigation systems, backup cameras, and eventually collision avoidance systems and even self-driving vehicles we will have to adjust the interface. At each step there will be a resistance to making things "more complicated" but the new features will slowly become common and eventually will get so ubiquitous that we forget that it isn't obvious how they work.


Computers are at a very early age of the same cycle. The invention of the GUI was the beginning of non-expert usage. Even then, there were still a lot of interface objects that weren't critical. Over the past few decades we've made great progress in simplifying the GUI. A first time computer owner no longer needs to understand things like the file system, function keys, control panel or video modes. This has been a great step forward in bringing computers to everyone.

But what now. We don't have to keep making computers simpler. Our culture has grown and adopted the computer interface. The mouse, icons, menus, and programs are concepts grasped by everyone. It's time to move on to making the interface more useful.

Most programmers and IT professionals don't use the GUI. We use the command line! It's a horribly archaic interface that requires the user to understand a thousand details about the computer before they begin. This interface hasn't been improved in decades. But it's powerful! A few keystrokes can do what a half hour of clicking never could.

Now that the "dumbest" user knows the basics of the GUI, it's time to start moving the most useful features of the "advanced interface" into the basic one. It will make things more complicated, but eventually it will make everyone more productive.

After all, we all figured out how the turn signal works, and I'm glad for that. :)