My name is Ange and I have an assignment for my Interface Design class to redesign the Generation II Prius gas mileage and energy usage interface. I know that the Gen III interface was changed dramatically, but woudl like to come up with another solution based on your suggestions. Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if you only take a moment to answer just one of these questions. Thank you thank you. ~ Ange I have never been in a Prius but was shown images of how the display works. Do drivers use these often, and if so are driving habits directly influenced? Do you find that that it becomes like a game to shoot for the highest MPG? What feedback from the car's functioning is the most important to you? Do you like the touch screen functionality? If you could redesign anything about how this information is presented what would you like to see changed? Location? Size? Color? Sound? Social Media networked inclusions?
Since I (and others here) are quite interested in what's going on in the car, I would have liked another screen possibility for the display (in addition to the energy and consumption ones) that shows a more full instrumentation, like engine temp, rpm, main battery current, etc. Maybe this screen could also actually display the actual trouble code and description when something goes wrong. Another thing that bothers me is the nanny way it locks things out when it's moving, like phone numbers and cd tracks... I guess a lawyer made them do that, but there's a perfectly good sensor that tells them when there's someone in the passenger seat who could use that info when the seat is occupied. I had to buy a visor to go over the display so I could see it with the sun at different angles... why did they tilt it back like that to make a visor necessary? There's a start I suppose.
In addition to the displayed temps as above, one REAL SIMPLE thing that should have been done a long time ago is: On the screen, there is a picture of the engine with 4 dots (spark plugs). When the gas engine is running (consuming fuel), flash the dots or change their color. When the engine is off, darken the dots.
Hey I thought it was a video game. You know, if you get more than three little green cars up in any five minute period then you unlock special powers to use less gas for the next five minutes.
