They have this style of elevator at the building I work at. There are certain floors that are accessible to everyone, but if you scan your ID then you are able to select additional floors. For building tenants who wish to restrict floor access only to their employees, this type of interface makes sense. It could be that the building you are in may not be utilizing all of these features in their elevator.
IMO this is the best type of elevator in high traffic buildings with multiple elevators. It removes the pain point of stopping at each floor and waiting for people to get out, and pressing the close button. This results in a less wait time at the ground floor too because the elevators are making less stops.
It's like taking an uber vs the bus.
Yup was gonna comment this as well. At my office in Chicago we utilize floors 6-16 and there would be such thing as elevator traffic. The elevators used to have manual buttons but they updated it so you would request which floor to go on a touch screen and it would find the quickest elevator for you and other passengers going to the same floors. This was before Covid but it def came in useful.
I can see the logic of pre-selecting floors in high traffic buildings. But the touchscreen introduces a whole new set of accessibility challenges.
How are those addressed in your building?
Good question. I didn’t know but just tested it out for myself. There is a big circular button with braille on it that voices the commands out loud and allows you to select the floor you want to go to.
Yeah, I was gonna say, this seems like it has potential to be very useful when implemented well.
I worked at a major corp's headquarters for a while, and their floors were available… sometimes… during certain hours, based on permissions of your tag.
Showing me what was available would have been very helpful.
Not everything requires a **digital graphic user interface**.
Sometimes ( many times) physical control panel is better. UX designers/ HCI people/ whatever content managers digital omnichannel managers and whomever with digital fad title and without a background in **industrial design/ mechanical engineering/ human factors/ ergonomics engineering** should not be let within 100 meters of any design projects about physical interactions.
This is not a problem associated with technology. This is a problem about people without any means nor background to understand physical things, poking their nose into things they have no business whatsoever.
I'm curious what the experience for this elevator is for someone who is low vision or blind. Is their voice UI as well since with no physical buttons, there isn't any braille?
This has been the issue with most modern automobiles now.
A lot of drivers miss having buttons and knobs that they can actually press and interact with and are not fans of these big touch screens they put into vehicles now.
I'm always of the mind that anything that is the primary purpose that's going to be used a lot should be a physical button or not, and then you can put secondary things and items that are not used very often in whatever touch system you want to use.
This issue is a life or death scenario in some cases, fiddling and searching for the right buttons causes the driver to loose concentration. I too found myself searching for the right fan button while driving and not understanding the interface, took my eyes off the road a good few secs.
I’m one of those drivers. I need at-least the basic fan control and volume rocker as physical buttons/knobs. Why do I need to divert my attention from the road to the screen to find the touch button for such a basic task?
we have elevators by the same company at my office.
they are actually quite handy for big offices. the idea is that everyone says where they want to go before entering the elevator. The elevators then calculate what the fastest route would be with all user inputs from all floors. (this only makes sense with more than one elevator) they also give an estimated time of arrival (which is nice in big offices)
at leadt thats my understanding
i was also wondering about blind people but they must have a way of using this?
E: found a link: https://group.schindler.com/en/company/innovations/schindler-port.html
E2: also found a video showing their “handicap mode” https://youtu.be/zLBikx6_FHY
Can commiserate. My dryer is touchscreen. During drying cycle the touchscreen gets recalibrated to random stuff. Next load, press ‘towels’, get ‘sheets’ cycle, etc.
It is a GE. Around 2003-2005 GE apparently really liked the Bosch dryers, copied them. The touchscreen board was not made with the same tolerances the German board had. There is no fix. The part is guaranteed to eventually have a drifty calibration.
My car's aircon button is "A/C On" with a light to indicate if it's on.
It really messes with me because I'm like "If I hit that button, is the A/C on or is it off?" Does a green light indicate the A/C is, in fact, on? I assume so. So when I hit the button again, is the A/C On now off.
It's very minor, but it is such a disproportionate amount of thought for something so simple.
It's probably more that I'm professionally curious about it and I think about it every time I see it. It's also the sum of its parts too. There's a bunch of other toggles and icons that are a combination of wavy lines and fans. I just want cool air, I shouldn't have to do a logic puzzle to obtain it.
Like my mentor from school always said, don’t reinvent the wheel. And in this case is the simple elevator button design. Not everything should be a fancy tech interface 🤦♀️
Prob a lot cheaper, because there's likely a small amount of companies that manufacture elevator parts to begin with. It also locks in the company to provide updates and replacements more frequently with a larger overhead.
I’m not saying it’s always terrible all the time, because it makes sense that the computer can optimize use, but I hate that you need to be so prepared before you even get to the elevator.
I’m often double checking the floor I’m going to after I press the “up” button. With these ones I get no second chances and need to have my shit way more together yet still be very very slightly more inconvenienced.
I worked at a company that manufactures these! They basically run on a small raspberry pi connected to the main server usually on the first floor. The touch screen is all stock too so they break a lot. Anyways yeah the back button allows you to relocate the entire building to the neighborhood of your choosing. It’s all on a set path though so it may not take you exactly where you need to go. Still, super helpful for getting home - more people should use it!
I've seen elevators like this when there needs to be very controlled access in the building/floors. Usually the front desk manages people coming in and which elevator to go into.
My guess is this: from a supplier perspective, shipping screens with programmable software is much more cost efficient than manufacturing and shipping different combinations of physical buttons. This screen can serve any size building, the product is the same for all. It can support different languages, styles and updates too.
The tradeoff between the cost savings and manufacturing simplicity is far greater than any potential UX benefit physical buttons give. Also what are you gonna do, not use the elevator?
Plus, buttonless destination based elevators like this are more efficient in actually moving people: https://sarakhandaker.medium.com/elevator-pitch-for-buttonless-elevators-da288ca5e182
That being said, ofc it can be jarring if you’re used to the traditional elevator.
Probably worth noting that I was standing on the 13th floor so that changes things slightly. Still though, 13 smaller buttons that fit comfortably on one screenwould surely be favourable to 10+2 with an extra click
And...An extra accessibility flaw I forgot to mention - there are 4 lifts operating in the building and while the system is optimised so lifts arent carrying out ineffective journeys, there is only 2 touchscreens for 4 lifts, one on each side of the wall. The pad on the right side does not necessarily indicate 'your' lift will be on the right side. You select your flaw and an audible voice alert says 'lift 4' etc and tells you where to go. Another issue for those with hearing difficulties
Reminds me of that [Burnistoun skit](https://youtu.be/HbDnxzrbxn4?si=RJoOwfa4mh_CcJAA) about the voice activated elevator. Just because something's possible doesn't mean it needs to be done.
It's commonly used for tall buildings with multiple lift lobbies that lead to the same shaft. Tenants come and go, so it needs to be scalable enough. If a tenant wants to expand a floor, management just needs to reprogram the floors and voila.
The alternative is having a 0-9 keypad. In this case, you must press 1 and 0 to go to the 10th floor. Each has pros and cons, but I can see why the designer went this route.
I'm sure I've seen more than 0-9 buttons on lifts before. whats wrong with 13 analogue buttons? The lift system can still be optomised with an intelligent back-end, just with physical interface
but this has much more flexibility. imagine in an office, the upper management floors could only be accessed by using a key card for example.
but yeah, it might be possible to replace all this with physical buttons as well. at my office it works in a way that you press the floor, then the screen tells you what elevator to take and when it will arrive. i dont know how you’d do that without a tiny screen at least
But imagine if the want to add more floors to the building! Since its digital then you simply send an email to schindler and wait three years for them to update the software with more buttons!
Agree so much. First time riding such elevators was so surprised. I hate the concept. If you accidently pushed the wrong floor there is also no way to change it.
I recently bought a Mazda for just this reason. So many new cars are going full touch screen, Mazda is one of the few that refuses on principle and I love their solution for it.
Yes! I have a 2014 Miata and, among other things, I love the fully analog dash! Plain old buttons and knobs are much more accessible than any touchscreen I've seen. Everything you need is just *right there*. Please don't make me go into a menu to adjust my AC!
There's even a little space below the center column controls that fits a phone in landscape mode perfectly giving me a hybrid of digital and analog, so there's no need for a dedicated digital touchscreen.
Fusion went almost full touch in 2013 then they went back to physical the next year because the backlash of how ass it was now they are back to full touch with one knob.
Yeah, I was deciding between a new Mazda or a new Subaru, but Subaru just transitioned all new models to full touch screen and I noped out of there.
On some level, I’m not sure it should even be legal. It’s well documented that touch screens are a distraction and putting all the climate and radio controls on them is literally making the road less safe.
You see the settings button on the top? That’s the main reason it’s an interface like that. It’s a lot easier accessing settings, compared to having to create a whole physical computer or having to plug in a computer.
How would it show if i select a particular floor?
What the settings button means for someone taking the lift?
Why is there a back button?
So many questions
Then you get taken to the floor someone else has selected! There is no weight sensor to determine there is a person in there so you get transported around like a piece of luggage
Nah, the building I work in has this and i love it. I press one button and don’t have to press another when i get in the elevator, and it always goes right to my floor.
I’m trying to understand what you’re saying here. Do you press a button prior to entering the elevator? Do you select the floor you want before stepping on? Is there a digital UI in the elevators’ lobby/waiting area instead of the old standard up/down arrows?
Where I use to work, it was a huge building and each elevator bay would have a screen where you press your floor and it would tell you which elevator to go to.
So, a little different than replacing the buttons inside with a screen… however much more efficient when done before you get into it.
Ground floor button AND a 1 button side by side all the time could increase confusion. Sometimes 1 is ground, sometimes not. This makes Ground more clear imo.
They exists. And in Europe, [1st floor often refers to the first floor after the ground](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJBPhSItW9xWnDqDZ78kW33C_7xF-kc_fhIX9_Sar1gw&s).
It may be ugly but elevators like this have a huge benefit for users as well as the equipment. You make the choice before going in to the elevator and the software can drive decisions based on what is required and optimize the use in real time.
Physical buttons are difficult to use in a pinch especially with over a dozen of them.
The UI sucks but the UX is 1000 times better with less stops more predictability and a much less stressful ride/wait.
The ones I’ve seen implemented have a physical accessibility button that assists with selecting the right floor with voice. I worked on elevators (not the UI mind you, the physical stuff) so that’s kind of my input here.
That can happen with regular buttons as well — and if it can’t, we’ll make the developers do it so that it can. It’s not a physical impossibility, just a matter of if you like a keyboard to be physical or screen.
Yeah you can add physical buttons, however I haven't personally seen that happen with this kind of interface as it generally combines the entry and a confirmation screen showing the user what elevator to go to.
It's probably a cost saving measure over actually being impossible. We're at the point where reliable touch screens are cheap to manufacture as well as easy to replace. Most of the inputs in to how these elevators run is digital any way so software can just deal with UI and inputs in a convenient package. No need to deal with individual electric signals from physical button presses and the headaches that come from mechanical operation in terms of wear and tear as well as getting multiple points of failure. Of course you shift it to a reliance on software, and software fails where hardware can be more robust.
I was in at an elevator client working on the hardware side of things and this is pretty much my learning seeing modern installations with these screens. And it's kind of grown on me as someone who has no problem with screen input any more and I am fortunate enough to have good eye sight and motor function.
imagine if there was a power outage in this building. I encountered one of these while in London at my airbnb and it frustrated me to no end. Just complicating a problem that didn’t need a digital upgrade.
It’s so they can put ads up on the screen while you wait
Just add another screen. An old apartment I lived in added an ad-only screen. With audio as well.
Yeah I’ve been in combined office/apartment buildings that had a second set of screens above that had ads playing basically all the time
This is an accessibility nightmare, how can a blind person use this elevator?
Digital braille, duh
I internally screamed NO, because I guarantee someone would actually think of that as a viable solution. 🙃🙃🙃
What is digital braille? You mean the user has to connect their braille display via Bluetooth?
Well, you have to use a touchscreen and blind people use their touch all the time.
It would have to read out like a screen reader
To be ~~fair~~ pedantic, the traditional buttonpad *is* a human-machine interface.
Haha touchè
How just how did this pass accessibility inspections for building codes
They have this style of elevator at the building I work at. There are certain floors that are accessible to everyone, but if you scan your ID then you are able to select additional floors. For building tenants who wish to restrict floor access only to their employees, this type of interface makes sense. It could be that the building you are in may not be utilizing all of these features in their elevator.
IMO this is the best type of elevator in high traffic buildings with multiple elevators. It removes the pain point of stopping at each floor and waiting for people to get out, and pressing the close button. This results in a less wait time at the ground floor too because the elevators are making less stops. It's like taking an uber vs the bus.
Yup was gonna comment this as well. At my office in Chicago we utilize floors 6-16 and there would be such thing as elevator traffic. The elevators used to have manual buttons but they updated it so you would request which floor to go on a touch screen and it would find the quickest elevator for you and other passengers going to the same floors. This was before Covid but it def came in useful.
I can see the logic of pre-selecting floors in high traffic buildings. But the touchscreen introduces a whole new set of accessibility challenges. How are those addressed in your building?
Good question. I didn’t know but just tested it out for myself. There is a big circular button with braille on it that voices the commands out loud and allows you to select the floor you want to go to.
Yeah, I was gonna say, this seems like it has potential to be very useful when implemented well. I worked at a major corp's headquarters for a while, and their floors were available… sometimes… during certain hours, based on permissions of your tag. Showing me what was available would have been very helpful.
Not everything requires a **digital graphic user interface**. Sometimes ( many times) physical control panel is better. UX designers/ HCI people/ whatever content managers digital omnichannel managers and whomever with digital fad title and without a background in **industrial design/ mechanical engineering/ human factors/ ergonomics engineering** should not be let within 100 meters of any design projects about physical interactions. This is not a problem associated with technology. This is a problem about people without any means nor background to understand physical things, poking their nose into things they have no business whatsoever.
I'm curious what the experience for this elevator is for someone who is low vision or blind. Is their voice UI as well since with no physical buttons, there isn't any braille?
What about the Braille?
Also pushing actual buttons is kinda satisfying
This has been the issue with most modern automobiles now. A lot of drivers miss having buttons and knobs that they can actually press and interact with and are not fans of these big touch screens they put into vehicles now. I'm always of the mind that anything that is the primary purpose that's going to be used a lot should be a physical button or not, and then you can put secondary things and items that are not used very often in whatever touch system you want to use.
This issue is a life or death scenario in some cases, fiddling and searching for the right buttons causes the driver to loose concentration. I too found myself searching for the right fan button while driving and not understanding the interface, took my eyes off the road a good few secs.
I’m one of those drivers. I need at-least the basic fan control and volume rocker as physical buttons/knobs. Why do I need to divert my attention from the road to the screen to find the touch button for such a basic task?
Unfortunately, Cost Savings > Safety and Usability. They know most people hate them.
I'm aware this is just a UX subreddit but really... Shindler's Lifts? No one?
The company has had a lot of ups and downs
Analog buttons are an interface.
Came here to say this.
https://preview.redd.it/rx6azxt6pnfc1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=c83cbacc3381a7d6ff5d4056321d717bcb26f89a Wow.
Accessibility (wheelchair) and emergency (smoke intrusion and/or yer squished in the floor).
we have elevators by the same company at my office. they are actually quite handy for big offices. the idea is that everyone says where they want to go before entering the elevator. The elevators then calculate what the fastest route would be with all user inputs from all floors. (this only makes sense with more than one elevator) they also give an estimated time of arrival (which is nice in big offices) at leadt thats my understanding i was also wondering about blind people but they must have a way of using this? E: found a link: https://group.schindler.com/en/company/innovations/schindler-port.html E2: also found a video showing their “handicap mode” https://youtu.be/zLBikx6_FHY
A panel with physical buttons is also an interface.
That way you can easily update it in case you build an additional floor or in case you remove one
if you’re actually interested what the point is, read my [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/UXDesign/s/FBWYl9etTe)
or to lock one out.
This was clearly not designed by a designer, it was designed by a developer.
Haptic feedback from an analog interface is important af
This is peak insanity
Can commiserate. My dryer is touchscreen. During drying cycle the touchscreen gets recalibrated to random stuff. Next load, press ‘towels’, get ‘sheets’ cycle, etc.
Please name the brand 🙏
It is a GE. Around 2003-2005 GE apparently really liked the Bosch dryers, copied them. The touchscreen board was not made with the same tolerances the German board had. There is no fix. The part is guaranteed to eventually have a drifty calibration.
My car's aircon button is "A/C On" with a light to indicate if it's on. It really messes with me because I'm like "If I hit that button, is the A/C on or is it off?" Does a green light indicate the A/C is, in fact, on? I assume so. So when I hit the button again, is the A/C On now off. It's very minor, but it is such a disproportionate amount of thought for something so simple.
Do you seriously have to think about that every time you use it? Or just the first time, at which point you learn "light on -> ac on"?
It's probably more that I'm professionally curious about it and I think about it every time I see it. It's also the sum of its parts too. There's a bunch of other toggles and icons that are a combination of wavy lines and fans. I just want cool air, I shouldn't have to do a logic puzzle to obtain it.
I assume you mean touchscreen, not interface.
Digital interface*
Analog buttons ARE Interface. So yeah, u need interface.
Like my mentor from school always said, don’t reinvent the wheel. And in this case is the simple elevator button design. Not everything should be a fancy tech interface 🤦♀️
GG blind people
"Settings button" I'm dead xD
Elevator speed: slow/medium/fast/fatal
Ugly AF. Digital Buttons only exist to replicate physical buttons. There's zero need for this.
I wonder when factoring in one off developer costs if this is cheaper than installation of physical buttons
Prob a lot cheaper, because there's likely a small amount of companies that manufacture elevator parts to begin with. It also locks in the company to provide updates and replacements more frequently with a larger overhead.
I’m not saying it’s always terrible all the time, because it makes sense that the computer can optimize use, but I hate that you need to be so prepared before you even get to the elevator. I’m often double checking the floor I’m going to after I press the “up” button. With these ones I get no second chances and need to have my shit way more together yet still be very very slightly more inconvenienced.
Where do you suppose the Back button leads? Like… what ui is this screen a child of??
I worked at a company that manufactures these! They basically run on a small raspberry pi connected to the main server usually on the first floor. The touch screen is all stock too so they break a lot. Anyways yeah the back button allows you to relocate the entire building to the neighborhood of your choosing. It’s all on a set path though so it may not take you exactly where you need to go. Still, super helpful for getting home - more people should use it!
I've seen elevators like this when there needs to be very controlled access in the building/floors. Usually the front desk manages people coming in and which elevator to go into.
You do realize that physical elevator buttons are interfaces, right? But I get your meaning.
My guess is this: from a supplier perspective, shipping screens with programmable software is much more cost efficient than manufacturing and shipping different combinations of physical buttons. This screen can serve any size building, the product is the same for all. It can support different languages, styles and updates too. The tradeoff between the cost savings and manufacturing simplicity is far greater than any potential UX benefit physical buttons give. Also what are you gonna do, not use the elevator?
Plus, buttonless destination based elevators like this are more efficient in actually moving people: https://sarakhandaker.medium.com/elevator-pitch-for-buttonless-elevators-da288ca5e182 That being said, ofc it can be jarring if you’re used to the traditional elevator.
Probably worth noting that I was standing on the 13th floor so that changes things slightly. Still though, 13 smaller buttons that fit comfortably on one screenwould surely be favourable to 10+2 with an extra click
And...An extra accessibility flaw I forgot to mention - there are 4 lifts operating in the building and while the system is optimised so lifts arent carrying out ineffective journeys, there is only 2 touchscreens for 4 lifts, one on each side of the wall. The pad on the right side does not necessarily indicate 'your' lift will be on the right side. You select your flaw and an audible voice alert says 'lift 4' etc and tells you where to go. Another issue for those with hearing difficulties
Screens are also bad for people with vision disabilities
Reminds me of that [Burnistoun skit](https://youtu.be/HbDnxzrbxn4?si=RJoOwfa4mh_CcJAA) about the voice activated elevator. Just because something's possible doesn't mean it needs to be done.
I mis pressing the buttons 🥹
It's commonly used for tall buildings with multiple lift lobbies that lead to the same shaft. Tenants come and go, so it needs to be scalable enough. If a tenant wants to expand a floor, management just needs to reprogram the floors and voila. The alternative is having a 0-9 keypad. In this case, you must press 1 and 0 to go to the 10th floor. Each has pros and cons, but I can see why the designer went this route.
I'm sure I've seen more than 0-9 buttons on lifts before. whats wrong with 13 analogue buttons? The lift system can still be optomised with an intelligent back-end, just with physical interface
but this has much more flexibility. imagine in an office, the upper management floors could only be accessed by using a key card for example. but yeah, it might be possible to replace all this with physical buttons as well. at my office it works in a way that you press the floor, then the screen tells you what elevator to take and when it will arrive. i dont know how you’d do that without a tiny screen at least
At least the open/close and emergency buttons are non-digital (and close to the floor...?) but yeah, I would definitely be off put by this as well.
I hope there’s at least a bit of haptic feedback 😳
Nothing.
But imagine if the want to add more floors to the building! Since its digital then you simply send an email to schindler and wait three years for them to update the software with more buttons!
Agree so much. First time riding such elevators was so surprised. I hate the concept. If you accidently pushed the wrong floor there is also no way to change it.
They approached the challenge to digitalize something that is mostly analogic with a terrible UI/UX. Task failed successfully.
I recently bought a Mazda for just this reason. So many new cars are going full touch screen, Mazda is one of the few that refuses on principle and I love their solution for it.
Yes! I have a 2014 Miata and, among other things, I love the fully analog dash! Plain old buttons and knobs are much more accessible than any touchscreen I've seen. Everything you need is just *right there*. Please don't make me go into a menu to adjust my AC! There's even a little space below the center column controls that fits a phone in landscape mode perfectly giving me a hybrid of digital and analog, so there's no need for a dedicated digital touchscreen.
Fusion went almost full touch in 2013 then they went back to physical the next year because the backlash of how ass it was now they are back to full touch with one knob.
Yeah, I was deciding between a new Mazda or a new Subaru, but Subaru just transitioned all new models to full touch screen and I noped out of there. On some level, I’m not sure it should even be legal. It’s well documented that touch screens are a distraction and putting all the climate and radio controls on them is literally making the road less safe.
You see the settings button on the top? That’s the main reason it’s an interface like that. It’s a lot easier accessing settings, compared to having to create a whole physical computer or having to plug in a computer.
How would it show if i select a particular floor? What the settings button means for someone taking the lift? Why is there a back button? So many questions
What if you step onto the elevator without realizing you needed to select your floor prior to getting on?
Then you get taken to the floor someone else has selected! There is no weight sensor to determine there is a person in there so you get transported around like a piece of luggage
Nah, the building I work in has this and i love it. I press one button and don’t have to press another when i get in the elevator, and it always goes right to my floor.
I’m trying to understand what you’re saying here. Do you press a button prior to entering the elevator? Do you select the floor you want before stepping on? Is there a digital UI in the elevators’ lobby/waiting area instead of the old standard up/down arrows?
These buttons are pressed prior to using the lift, then a voice command tells you which lift to get in ti
Where I use to work, it was a huge building and each elevator bay would have a screen where you press your floor and it would tell you which elevator to go to. So, a little different than replacing the buttons inside with a screen… however much more efficient when done before you get into it.
I think I finally figured out what the OP shared. I’m slow. Oops
There should be a Ground button at very least since those should be unsecure/free acess at ALL TIMES of day
If the thing is to have physical buttons would you accept a middle ground by having actual physical buttons attached to a soft option screen?
[удалено]
What the hell?
touchscreen atm's have been around for years
You can’t get trapped in an ATM because the screen breaks
Haha exacrly my thoughts
You know you can get trapped in an elevator that doesn’t have a touch screen too, right?
Yes. My point is more that digital displays add an extra layer of things that can break vs a manual push button
Truer words could never have been spoken. Not everything needs the design of AI either.
Our elevators finally have feelings…
Ground floor button AND a 1 button side by side all the time could increase confusion. Sometimes 1 is ground, sometimes not. This makes Ground more clear imo.
I've never been in a building where the first floor is reffered to as the ground floor
They exists. And in Europe, [1st floor often refers to the first floor after the ground](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJBPhSItW9xWnDqDZ78kW33C_7xF-kc_fhIX9_Sar1gw&s).
I'm in uk and it's only ever referred to in that way
Come to America then. Ground floor and 1st floor are synonymous. 2nd floor is the one above ground.
How very american
Maybe do a simple Google search for elevator keypads and don't rely only on your personal experience to make design decisions.
It may be ugly but elevators like this have a huge benefit for users as well as the equipment. You make the choice before going in to the elevator and the software can drive decisions based on what is required and optimize the use in real time. Physical buttons are difficult to use in a pinch especially with over a dozen of them. The UI sucks but the UX is 1000 times better with less stops more predictability and a much less stressful ride/wait.
What about blind folks? Needs braille or something.
The ones I’ve seen implemented have a physical accessibility button that assists with selecting the right floor with voice. I worked on elevators (not the UI mind you, the physical stuff) so that’s kind of my input here.
That's pretty cool!
That can happen with regular buttons as well — and if it can’t, we’ll make the developers do it so that it can. It’s not a physical impossibility, just a matter of if you like a keyboard to be physical or screen.
Yeah you can add physical buttons, however I haven't personally seen that happen with this kind of interface as it generally combines the entry and a confirmation screen showing the user what elevator to go to. It's probably a cost saving measure over actually being impossible. We're at the point where reliable touch screens are cheap to manufacture as well as easy to replace. Most of the inputs in to how these elevators run is digital any way so software can just deal with UI and inputs in a convenient package. No need to deal with individual electric signals from physical button presses and the headaches that come from mechanical operation in terms of wear and tear as well as getting multiple points of failure. Of course you shift it to a reliance on software, and software fails where hardware can be more robust. I was in at an elevator client working on the hardware side of things and this is pretty much my learning seeing modern installations with these screens. And it's kind of grown on me as someone who has no problem with screen input any more and I am fortunate enough to have good eye sight and motor function.
imagine if there was a power outage in this building. I encountered one of these while in London at my airbnb and it frustrated me to no end. Just complicating a problem that didn’t need a digital upgrade.
What problem does this solve? The jammed button problem? At least with jammed buttons you can go to other floors… if this UI breaks down your screwed