Hyundai Sticks to Buttons Because People Are ‘Stressed, Annoyed’ by Touchscreens

Modern Hyundai cars and SUVs have some of the nicest interiors in their price ranges, with interesting designs, relatively upscale materials, and loads of tech. The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe is probably the best example, with a high-quality feel, dual wireless phone chargers, and a UV light tray to clean bacteria off your phone, keys, or any other personal items. Things you won’t see in modern Hyundais, though, are touchscreen controls for simple functions like climate controls. Why? Because they annoy American customers.

According to a report by Korea JoonAng Daily, a Hyundai executive recently told media visiting its design center in California that it initially tried switching to one massive touchscreen for everything: navigation, media, and climate controls. However, focus groups proved that American customers preferred buttons or knobs over touchscreens for most controls. Touchscreens often require more driver attention, as some functions can be buried in several submenus, making them frustrating at best to use while driving, and dangerous at worst.

“As we were adding integrated [infotainment] screens in our vehicles, we also tried out putting touchscreen-based controls, and people didn’t prefer that,” said Hyundai Vice President Ha Hak-soo. “When we tested with our focus group, we realized that people get stressed, annoyed, and steamed when they want to control something in a pinch but are unable to do so.”

Tesla made massive, all-encompassing touchscreens popular, a trend that seems to be spreading throughout the industry. Hyundai admits that it, too, was wowed by Tesla’s interior design at first. However, that excitement seems to be fading.

Hyundai isn’t the only brand whose customers want simpler controls that are quicker to find. Aston Martin has an internal metric by which all interior controls are measured, called the “piss-off factor.” It’s pretty simple: if using a control pisses one of the designers off, they scrap it. And touchscreen controls often trigger that piss-off factor. “If you want to turn the volume up and down, temperature absolutely—the minute you’ve got to go into a screen and tap for temperature, you’ve lost the customer. You’ve lost the experience,” Aston Martin’s design director Miles Nurnberger told CarExpert back in March.

I’m firmly in the physical control camp, too, and I wish more brands had similar philosophies. It’s so much easier to quickly grab a volume or temperature knob than it is to fiddle with a touchscreen. There’s also something special about the feeling of a high-quality, tactile knob, switch, or button that a touchscreen can’t replicate. So thank you, Hyundai, for making sure your customers don’t get “steamed” by annoying touchscreen controls.

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