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Is there such a thing as touchscreen fatigue and a resulting renaissance in push buttons and physical controls, in new consumer products?

Peter Brooks

In the latest edition of the IEEE Spectrum magazine (March 2025) there was an article titled "This "re-buttonization " expert is in demand as touchsreen mania dies down" .

The article highlights safety concerns of using touchscreens when driving a car.

Hyundai and others are reintroducing buttons and dials on dashboards and steering wheels.

Then couple this with the apparent human need for a tactile experience as evidenced by digital musicians and gamers playing video games. 

All this indicates a need to include human touch into interfacing with new consumer products, in addition to touchscreens. 

Parents

  • Older cars often used mechanical switches with distinctive shapes so the driver could, with a combination of touch and proprioception (to get to the right area) make adjustments without needing to look at the dashboard. There were fewer choices, of course, but that's probably a good thing from the driver distraction point of view. Besides, automotive touch screens are usually too far away from the driver for comfort and, in UK, need to be operated with the left hand.

  • in reply to Stewart. Taylor

    That's very true Stewart. I pride myself on being able to operate my car stereo without taking my eyes off the road. 4th button in from the left is the play button and skip back a track and forward a track are buttons 1 and 2 respectively. Buttons are just to the left of the big sticky out dial that operates the volume and if pressed and held for 2 seconds, will invoke Siri on my phone so I can use voice commands. 

    I just don't get why people still use their phones while at the wheel when they can use the full 'hands free' ability of a bluetooth enabled car stereo! I've had mine for about 15 years now! 

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  • in reply to Stewart. Taylor

    That's very true Stewart. I pride myself on being able to operate my car stereo without taking my eyes off the road. 4th button in from the left is the play button and skip back a track and forward a track are buttons 1 and 2 respectively. Buttons are just to the left of the big sticky out dial that operates the volume and if pressed and held for 2 seconds, will invoke Siri on my phone so I can use voice commands. 

    I just don't get why people still use their phones while at the wheel when they can use the full 'hands free' ability of a bluetooth enabled car stereo! I've had mine for about 15 years now! 

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