Airplane cockpit vs Desktop PC

[mustang1]

Airplane Controls vs Desktop PC

I was at my computer doing some stuff when I clicked on something and it asked if I was sure I wanted to proceed (yes I did). Then I recalled earlier in the day when I wanted to deleted some movies from my other computer so I clicked delete and it asked me if I wanted to delete the movie (er, yes I did, that's why I clicked delete) to which it responded if I was sure I wanted to click yes (darn it, yes yes yes).

This got me thinking about my annoyances of the day: bad UI design.

And then I started thinking about controls in an airplane cockpit. When the auto-pilot is engaged for example and the Captain wants to change course from 90 degrees to 110 degrees, s/he just twiddles the knob. There is none of this "are you sure you want to change direction?" nonsense. Then the pilot might want to enter new co-ordinates in the computer during pre-flight checks so he just enters it. Again, there is none of this "do you really want to do that?" rubbish.

I was going to post this in Personal Matters, it really affects me that much but I thought more serious stuff should go there. So I was going to add this to the "things that annoy you" thread but this is too big a topic. This could almost go into News and Current Affairs. Ps: I think whoever designed the template for cyclechat done a good job if it.
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Does that mean the UI on an airplane is better designed and that buttons cannot be accidentally pressed, in combination with pilots being better trained on the equipment? Are consumer goods designed in a haphazzard way where things can be clicked, touch-buttons can be accidentally tapped?

This is a real bugbear of mine and I have very unpleasant feelings towards bad UI.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

There should be an additional option after 'are you sure', so you can put, 'not really, but can you give it a go to see what happens'.

 

[Seevio]

Pilots tend to be quite well trained and it is assumed they have a reasonable idea what they are doing.

The same can't be said for computer users.

OP might be IT competent but the UI has to cope with everyone else as well.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Big difference is: with MS Windows for example, if someone hits delete accidentally and there is no second check, the users complain/sue/don't buy the software. So it's essentially a marketing tool. In a plane, the pilot is specifically trained to not press things by accident, just like one does in a car. Having features that ask "are you sure?" would slow things down and might make them dangerous. I think the double checking on software is a good thing, as I've occasionally hit delete by accident

 

[Milkfloat]

Pilots also have the backup that if they are trying to do something really stupid the system won’t let them. In addition if they do something slightly stupid that could cause a problem then they will get a variety of annoying beeps and alerts. Finally, but most crucially, they have a copilot that is double checking everything they do.

 

[Cycleops]

Does that mean the UI on an airplane is better designed and that buttons cannot be accidentally pressed, in combination with pilots being better trained on the equipment? Are consumer goods designed in a haphazzard way where things can be clicked, touch-buttons can be accidentally tapped?

It means aeroplane controls are not generally operated by the great unwashed.

 

[Cycleops]

Pilots also have the backup that if they are trying to do something really stupid the system won’t let them. In addition if they do something slightly stupid that could cause a problem then they will get a variety of annoying beeps and alerts. Finally, but most crucially, they have a copilot that is double checking everything they do.

And yet they still crash occasionally which is almost always due to pilot error.

 

[Edwardoka]

Pilots also have the backup that if they are trying to do something really stupid the system won’t let them. In addition if they do something slightly stupid that could cause a problem then they will get a variety of annoying beeps and alerts. Finally, but most crucially, they have a copilot that is double checking everything they do.

This is the answer. A pilot is free to set the flight director to do a 180 or go into a 10,000fpm climb/dive, but the autopilot operates within very strict limits according to the aircraft's capabilities, speed, and throttle, and won't do anything drastic to follow the FD's instructions. Plus, the first sign of a pilot physically resisting the autopilot's control inputs will completely disengage the AP.

As for UIs, the glass cockpit in modern planes could learn a lot from desktop and touchscreen UIs. Rotary encoder for selecting heading, great. Using a rotary encoder to add waypoints to a flight plan is a usability nightmare.

 

[MartinQ]

You just need an Otto for your PC

View: https://youtu.be/WMhYl74vw2c


I know a few sites like that

 

[winjim]

I just want YesNoCancel back.

 

[cougie uk]

Pilots are highly trained and policed. Computer users not.

I'm very happy to have double checks on my PC. Less chance of me accidentally doing something or my cat intentionally deleting files as he walks on the keyboard. He's turned the display upside down on several occasions.

 

[PapaZita]

If a pilot changes course from 90 to 110 degrees, then changes their mind, they can just twiddle the knob back again. If you delete a file it could be gone for ever.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

If a pilot changes course from 90 to 110 degrees, then changes their mind, they can just twiddle the knob back again. If you delete a file it could be gone for ever.

Not if they do it 110 degrees down when they're already low.

 

[Drago]

My Dad flies and has his own plane. It would seem that the ergornomics in many aircraft, particularly light aircraft and sigle seat military stuff, is absolutely frightful. John Denver died when the plane he was flying crashed as he discovered too late that the fuel cock was almost impossible to actually operate while seated.

Before turning the knob (and it actually is a knob in most cases) to instruct an autopilot to change course requires a little bit of button pushing to initiate, and some more prodding to confirm, so in terms of the number of seperate actions required it probably is not all that different from clicking "are you sure?"

 

[ColinJ]

OTOH... I was plotting a route on cycle.travel last night and forgot to save it. None of that namby pamby "Are you sure - your work will be lost?" nonsense. Clearly, I wanted to discard it so it went ahead and discarded it for me. Only I DID want to save it...