How the design of a WWII plane led to the concept of user friendliness (2019)

Re:How the design of a WWII plane led to the concept of user... by ceejayoz on Sunday July 12, 2020 @10:12PM (#23816526)

Xbox controllers have large buttons, small buttons, joysticks, a D-pad, and two different triggers on the back.

The A/B/X/Y aren't distinguished between each other, but I suspect the four throttles for a B-17 aren't either.

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Re:How the design of a WWII plane led to the concept of user... by jmchuster on Monday July 13, 2020 @04:30AM (#23818488)

There's an interesting series on youtube where a gamer has his non-gamer girlfriend play through a bunch of games on her own, and one of the common patterns is that she has no idea where the buttons are, has to constantly look at the controller, is always pressing the wrong ones. The only game that actually solved this for her was the Legend of Zelda, which has prompts that show all four buttons ABXY outlined on the screen, arranged visually like they are on the controller, and then highlights the one you need to press.

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Re:How the design of a WWII plane led to the concept of user... by EricE on Sunday July 12, 2020 @10:38PM (#23816664)

> The A/B/X/Y aren't distinguished between each other

Sure they are - their layout is distinct and doesn't alighn with any other buttons on the controller. It's very easy to distinguish which one you are hitting even though their shape and size are identical.

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Re:How the design of a WWII plane led to the concept of user... by zelos on Monday July 13, 2020 @03:02AM (#23817831)

The Gamecube controller did it better, I think. Each button was a unique size, shape and colour.

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