A seat control that looks like a seat

Showing users what they're manipulating

by Michael Beavers

Published on 19 Mar 2008

| 0 Comments

Car seat control from a Kia Amante

When we first moved to the Bay Area, we rented a car while we waited for ours to be shipped from back east. This picture is of a Kia Amante’s seat control, which looks just like a seat. It depicts the two moving parts that the user can manipulate. My old Mercedes’ seat control features a separate knockout just to raise and lower the headrest—which is the "luxury" part, I suppose.

I LOVE this control. Auto dashboard design can suffer under the weight of featuritis, just l like software and toaster ovens. Many auto manufacturers place tactile controls on the door-side of the seats, but this door-installed version is something that is immediately recognizable to either the eye or the fingertips.

As long as the control is placed far enough forward on the door to accomodate varying elbow axes, this is a preferable approach…at least to me. There’s absolutely no way to confuse this with something that would lower your windows, adjust the stereo volume, or shift gears.

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Michael Beavers

Michael is an independent digital strategy director for several agencies in San Francisco and Atlanta.

A digital strategist by training and industry veteran with marketing experiences, enterprise portals, communities, and Web applications, Michael has an appreciation for thoughtful, empathetic design of all stripes, from interfaces to devices, controls, public architecture, urban design, transportation, and land use.

His peer-reviewed journal, http://www.physicalinterface.com, is a new community of everyday design enthusiasts from technology, user experience design, architecture, human factors, New Urbanism, product design and academia.

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