Psychological Driven Design Functions - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 12:57:44 pm
content: The Snooze function on alarm clocks is a classic example of a design feature that is driven by the needs of human psychology.i.e. why is it needed when you can just set the alarm 5 minutes later?Any other example of products or features in products that are driven by our psychological needs?

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 01:07:05 pm
content: Thanks buttons on forums with a culture of typing thanks. :pI would have to say eco mode buttons on cars, a lot of the time accelerating at higher RPM improves your economy, as you spend more time higher in the cars torque band, and reach cruising speed much sooner.edit: same ballpark, engines that turn off when stopped for more than 30 seconds, that restart when you then try and move, it seems green, but it just flogs your battery and starter motor.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 01:08:50 pm
content: Any luxury items, many of which have little or no practical value.

author: pknoe3lh
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 01:13:12 pm
content: Nearly all smart phone games ... They are designed to make you addicted

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 01:14:45 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 02, 2017, 12:57:44 pmHorn on a car (approx 90% of the time, its use is "psychological", rather than "functional")Many of the plug in adapters, which claim they save (electricity) energy. It is really a "placebo" effect.Transistor tester sockets on multimeters (give more perceived improvements, rather than real extra functionality)Overly expensive HDMI (and similar) cables. Anything (even very cheap ones), good enough for acceptable quality digital, is as good as you are going to get, in most cases.Overly engineered and crazy priced loud speaker cables. As long as the basic cable is of reasonable quality, it then makes almost no difference, or even no improvement at all.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 01:29:05 pm
content: Some of the features, on very expensive, high end, home use, cpus, are very rarely of any real benefit to users. E.g. AVX2, because most software either doesn't use it, or shows little speed improvement with its use.Flash mode capability on some more expensive torches/flashlights. I.e. a button, which when you press it, only keep the light on while you keep on pressing it (as opposed to continuous mode). My experience is that the vast bulk of people, the vast bulk of the time, NEVER use/need such a capability. Yet they go out and spend more on something, JUST so they can have more features.Crazy high capacity (power output), computer power supplies. Yes, you do need your computer power requirements, plus some room for future expansion and maybe on over-rating factor, to keep it cool, quiet, reliable and long lasting. But after that, it is beginning to be a waste. Some people go for mega big wattage numbers, apparently more for the sake of it, rather than improving the computer as such.E.g. 150 Watts needed, 300 watts would be fine, 850 watts is what they get.All the flashing and lighting up LEDs, both inside and outside, some computer PCs. They are just for show. I.e. psychological rather than functional.Over the years, cars have sometimes had meter readout gauges, which were more for show (psychological), rather than usefulness.E.g. In the dashboard: Oil pressure meters, car voltage meters. Even speedometers, which could read to silly speeds, such as up to 180 MPH, when the car could barely exceed 100 MPH (in the old days). I.e. the speedometer is needed, but up to 120 or 130 MPH, NOT 180 MPH on your 96 MPH (many decades ago, these days, speeds are a lot higher) top speed car.Dual time feature in some digital watches. I presume, many/most people find it an unnecessary feature.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 06:55:22 pm
content: Electronic mediclal records (EMRs aka electronic health records or EHRs) are full of them. Multilple pop up warnings that force you to choose to take an action to get rid of the warning. In many cases they've proliferated to the point that they either directly interfere with patient care or create alert faigue so that important warnings are easily ignored. There's a well done parody music video about this:

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 09:31:11 pm
content: The technical/psychological term is "Illusion of Control".There are lots of examples:- [>|<] button in the lift/elevator (close the doors). It often non-functioning, but people think it makes a difference.- the push button at pedestrian crossings. Most people do not realize that it has to be synchronized with the main traffic flow.- non-functional temperature controls in office environments. The janitor actually sets the temp., but you have a feeling of empowerment.- "Hold" buttons on a slot machineThe examples are endless.

author: ^_^
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 09:35:44 pm
content: Fidget spinners?

author: chriswebb
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 09:39:56 pm
content: There are a lot of buttons like that called placebo buttons:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_buttonThings like some cross walk buttons and elevator door close buttons are an example...

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2017, 09:50:55 pm
content: I think throttle response in cars are much about driving perception (=psychological). Most cars are throttle/drive by wire so it's very easy to do in the engine ECU these days. I bet most engines won't really change much about the combustion parameters, it's probably just a non-linear mapping between engine load and throttle pedal.My car (Ford Fiesta) has a tendency to amplify throttle response, especially at low revs. At best (full blast) only half of the pedal range is usable. The rest is dead range on the pedal. As I said it's worse at lower revs. It's only 1.25L atmospheric petrol engine - so absolutely no torque in low end. You can hear that alot of the time the engine is hauling at full load despite almost no demand given by the pedal.Probably only done to make driving the car more fun. It's more responsive, feels more powerful, etc.On more exotic brands and models you can find these "sport modes" that tune more about the car as well, like suspension or gearbox, but really the simplest way to make the car feel more sporty is just amplify the throttle pedal...High output audio amplifiers. My stereo set goes up to 1W for typical satellite speaker. Yet it'salotof noise. Why would people demand more power, potentially doing hearing damage in the long term? Because music (especially rock, metal, house, etc.) soundsbetterwhen played louder.Image processing filters for TV's. Walk into a store and you'll find most of them be put on "dynamic" or whatever the vendor likes to call it. "Look at the colour richness!" - yes.. it's all saturated, contrast is low, etc.Same with music - turn the brightness of the TV to max and the image also looks a bit better.4K TV's. Unfortunately you're almost forced these days because 1080p models are being phased out, to see 4K for a typical 40-50" TV, you need to be sitting 1,5 - 2m close to it.With my vision (nearsighted with glasses) I can't see a dead subpixel after just over 1m. So why bother with 4K?My phone Samsung Galaxy S7 has same deal. It apparently has a WQHD (2560x1440) display. Okay; but if I put it at 1080p or even 720p I don't really see any difference at a normal viewing distance.(Sure the phone supports VR headset toys - but why is the phone not running default at 1080p to save power?)

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 03:25:56 am
content: Automotive spoilers.Tim

author: ConKbot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 06:05:13 am
content: Quote from: mtdoc on August 02, 2017, 06:55:22 pmHaven't heard the term alert fatigue before, but certainly know of it. Work PCs so loaded up with crap security settings that even starting a new word document gets a warning bar at the top. Maybe multiple, not sure, don't pay attention. Users continued to just click the warning bar that shows up every time aren't going to pay attention to the one time it's a macro warning.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 02:07:31 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 02, 2017, 01:29:05 pmOr because it is actually slower except in specific applications. Do to heat and power constraints, AVX2 requires lowering the processor frequency and it has a large startup delay so it should not be used for small and intermittent sections of code.Another way using vector extensions can lower performance is that once they are used, task switches then have to save the extra registers although I do not remember if x86 suffers from that; it may always save them anyway. Some other processors allow faster task switches if the vector registers are unused by a given task.Intel has become particularly bad about supporting new features across a wide range of processors in the name of market segmentation discouraging their use.QuoteThere is a good reason besides expandability to over specify a power supply; derating the power capability should improve reliability. This has become more important as PC power supplies have become cheaper and less reliable do to faulty component derating.QuoteAnd get rid of those crazy bright status LEDs! And shoot whoever required blue LEDs to be used as power indicators.QuoteI consider a calibrated oil pressure, voltmeter or ammeter, and temperature gauge to be indispensable for monitoring engine health. If my vehicle does not have them, then I add them.Quote from: Benta on August 02, 2017, 09:31:11 pmSort of a counter example is the removal of clocks where waiting customers can see them. Disney did this so that people waiting in lines would not be as aware of how much time they are wasting but I have noticed that offices have now done this as well.Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 03, 2017, 03:25:56 amI hate those things and other such accoutrements.They used to say, "If it doesn't go, chrome it" and I much preferred the chrome.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 02:24:30 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on August 03, 2017, 02:07:31 pmI won't derail the thread, by starting a discussion about thisEDIT: ok I just did. But will quickly say that I thoroughly agree with you. Intel's massive increase in market segmentation, is getting crazier and crazier by the minute. Hopefully AMDs recent success with their new cpu offerings, will fight back at that.Intel are shooting themselves in the foot. By massively removing new features, from the bulk of the cpus they sell. It hugely puts software developers off from using such features.Why bother and use something which will give a 2% speed improvement, for 0.1% of your expected software market.Which also is so complicated and hard to use (or even obtain in the first place, and really expensive), e.g. AVX-512, that it would need a high end development team, take a very long time, and hence cost a fortune to support the feature.tl;dr$75,000 development cost (pure guesstimate), for a 2% speed gain (under rare circumstances), which only 0.1% of users can use, anyway. Because of Intel's highly overactive market segmentation.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 04:43:41 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 02, 2017, 12:57:44 pmthen i would wake up (or have to get up) five minutes later... and i want another five minutes!Quote from: MK14 on August 02, 2017, 01:14:45 pmSo true. Man last year i the contact rings in my steering wheel failed and i had to change it.. no horn for two weeks. I was getting so mad ad everyone...Quote from: Benta on August 02, 2017, 09:31:11 pmyes, and while there are some that are actually doing something like speeding up/forcing yellow light, most of them are empty, disconnected buttons.Quote from: hans on August 02, 2017, 09:50:55 pmyou bet! we make one of those things you attach to the throttle pedal for instant responceyou really feel the differenceQuotemostly, but not only.Quotei disagree. while it is proven that music is perceived to sound better at higher volumes... those low power speakers can only be good in the nearfield, put them in a room bigger than your bathroom, move around and you'll hear the difference

author: Gribo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 05:14:24 pm
content: The absence of clocks and windows in casinos. Mall rent-a cop wearing blue uniforms. City benches with arm rests in the middle.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 05:19:09 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 02, 2017, 01:14:45 pmThen the horn was not loud enough.Quote from: hans on August 02, 2017, 09:50:55 pmThis reminds me of another one: cell phone signal bars which show all or nothing.At some point marketing decided it was better for the signal bar on cell phones to indicate higher signal strength because it implied a better cell phone. Now signal bars are useless.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 05:20:59 pm
content: Quote from: Gribo on August 03, 2017, 05:14:24 pmI mentioned the removal of clocks in office waiting rooms and Disney.Add to this the complete removal of benches. It looks bad when people are sitting around waiting.

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 05:56:54 pm
content: The position of the certain products on the shelves of the supermarkets, by examples: At the high view , the product with more priority for selling and the bottom shelves the products that has low priority.The elimination stock by the offers of 2X1 or discounts.The maintance the price of a product by reducing the quality,ergo, the producters bit by bit are going to reduce the quality without the customer realize it.Now , i haven't needed to use the snooze function neither the wake up , when i was child , i always was woken at the 4 or 5 AM as now

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2017, 06:14:47 pm
content: Quote from: vodka on August 03, 2017, 05:56:54 pmPosition the cookies and candies and junk food on lower shelves where children can see them.QuoteHere in the US they are slowly replacing imperial measurements with metric measurement. For a while that meant 1/2 gallon containers became slightly smaller 1.75 liters but now I see 1.5 liter containers showing up. The newer containers are shaped so they take up just as much visual and packing space while holding less which is now commonly done with lots of food packaging.Trombone caused an uproar when they altered their candy bar to have less volume while keeping the same volume as shown below.World Kitchen bought the Pyrex trademark and replaced the borosilicate glass with tempered soda-lime glass which tend to explode when used in cooking applications. I understand that in the EU they still use borosilicate glass which I suspect is because of stronger laws against fraud.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 11:19:10 am
content: Another psychological driven decision in modern cars: 'manual' CVT's.CVT sound great on paper (pun intended). The engine can always operate at it's peak efficiency or power rpm. Because it's continuously variable there are no gear changes, which is smoother and faster. One challenge in these transmissions is efficiency and durability, but you can get them on some (eco) road cars these days proving it can be done.Williams F1 tested a CVT in 1993 and it got banned even before introduction. It was speculated to be much quicker. But as a F1 fan, good so, because it sounds so monotone. After all, the engine (under the same load) should stay at the exact same RPM the whole time.I suppose to please car fanatics about the monotone engine note, some manufacturers added a "manual" CVT mode that simulates fixed gear ratio's. I suppose that's possible now with modern CVT that have electronic control over the belts tightening/loosening inside. Here is a comparison of both modes:From a performance point of view, it makes no sense whatsoever. With the gear 'changes' the engine is taken away from it's peak HP RPM, while the 'shifts' sound incredibly soft and slow. But perhaps better than 1 single RPM for the rest of your journey.

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 11:52:35 am
content: Quote from: hans on August 06, 2017, 11:19:10 amLotus cars were tinkering with CVT nearly a decade earlier, they announced their concept car "Etna" in 1984 which was to have CVT and active suspension. Unfortunately the company went down the pan so it never came to fruition

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 11:59:27 am
content: Quote from: chriswebb on August 02, 2017, 09:39:56 pmIn my lifts the close button actually works.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 12:57:44 pm
content: I once worked on the instrument clusters for a very large car company in Australia.Psychology at work:The temperature gauge is a lie. It is very heavily biased with firmware to a preset level, near the middle of the dial, so that only very cold or very hot engines will show the pointer deviating. It is the con the driver into thinking how reliable his car is, ie: the temperature is rock solid every time after many years of driving.The sports models had italics on their speedo to make you think the characters areFAST. The speedo also had a red line for high speeds - all to make the user think the car is ahotrod.The tacho is next to useless on an automatic transmission, but they had it there anyway due to psychological reasons.The auto industry is full of. Their advertisements are an insult to the intelligence of smart people. Pretentious people and face savers fall for the advertisements because they are basically stupid and are easily influenced by thefed to them.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 02:56:45 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 06, 2017, 11:59:27 amBut you cannot use the close button to crush people between the doors. I tried and it does not work.

author: tablatronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 03:14:45 pm
content: Real time fuel efficiency displays in cars

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 04:06:32 pm
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on August 06, 2017, 12:57:44 pmA more subtle case from a neighboring gauge:The fuel indicator.Yes, they always tell you: "the fuel gauge is only correct at two levels, F and E". But this too is wrong, by design.The indicator is designed with a sigmoidal curve, so that fuel drops slowly at the top and bottom, and more rapidly above the middle. The explanation goes: when the tank is just filled up, one feels more satisfaction when it stays fuller for longer. When it drops more rapidly (say in the 50-80% range), one doesn't notice, or mind much, because there's still a lot left. In maybe the last 10% (indicated), it slows down again, hovering over E, fooling you into refilling sooner. The last 5% or so (of real capacity) lies below the E.They know, damn well, exactly what indicator levels correspond to what actual fuel levels -- but marketing wins as usual.(Regarding the temperature gauge: in my car at least, it seems to be not wholly unrepresentative. It starts moving up at a little above room temperature, and once at operating temperature, reads a little low or high depending on outside temperature and activity. I also noticed, when I replaced the thermostat, it wasn't quite adjusted right, it seems, and was oscillating up and down for some miles. It eventually worked out the instability and settled down. I don't know that the ECU even has control over the gauges; but it's a '95, doesn't even have CAN as far as I know. Anything newer or fancier than that, I can certainly believe they'd do, uh, additional processing...)Tim

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 04:29:02 pm
content: How about drink sizes, where you get assorted size glasses that appear to have different capacities, but which in reality are all the same volume of liquid inside. sometimes the one that appears larger ( larger diameter rim) is actually the smallest capacity, as it tapers down considerably to a thin lower diameter as opposed to the regular one which is basically a cylinder.Or drinks served with a glass full of ice, so that you pay for a 330ml measure of whatever, but find that a 200ml volume of liquid will not fit in there, as the ice is added before the drink is.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 06:00:29 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 06, 2017, 04:06:32 pmWell designed cars have an empty tank light and alarm, as well as an overheat alarm (or it'll just give a check engine light).

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 06:11:23 pm
content: My car doesn't even have a temperature gauge.I read the data out with a ODB adapter to my mobile phone, and it shows the temperature in degrees Celsius. Apart from knowing if your engine is overheating, knowing if your engine is not getting up to temperature is also useful information. Especially if you drive it hard (e.g. small car in traffic or sporty driver).I noticed the sigmoid on my fuel guage as well. I can drive for 80km's (5 liters, 12% of my tank) without it going away from the full position, and then during the remaining 140km's (8L) it will drop to 2/3's full.. That would suggest my car only has a 24L fuel tank, instead of 42L.I think not mentioned here: speedometers in cars are getting more and more optimistic at high speeds. But IMO good in terms of road safety, because 3, 5 or 10km/h's at any speed can make a huge difference in stopping distance and/or energy on crashes.Then again, for my driving exam a few years ago I was taught to not drive exactly at the speed limit, but slightly above (53 instead of 50 for example), basically mitigating this effect.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 06:47:46 pm
content: About those pedestrian crossing buttons. Here in Darmstadt they do actually work because without pressing the button the lights at a junction will cycle through a sequence without activating the pedestrian crossing. Only if you press the button does the sequence add an additional step and change the little man from green to red.I often see visitors waiting for a considerable period at a crossing with puzzled looks on their faces. They see the cars stop but the crossing never activates because the button has never been pressed.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 06:57:13 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 06, 2017, 04:06:32 pmDatsun had an alternative that I liked when I saw it.

author: WZOLL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2017, 03:20:44 am
content: Non foaming soap works just as well as foaming soap. The foaming just makes us think that the soap is doing a good job at cleaning.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2017, 03:28:30 am
content: Quote from: WZOLL on August 07, 2017, 03:20:44 amThe foam could be considered an indicator that enough soap has been used. Wasn't that why a foaming agent was originally added?

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2017, 05:41:12 am
content: Quote from: hans on August 06, 2017, 06:11:23 pmThey're required to have an asymmetrical tolerance, like 5% up, 0% down, over variation in gauge characteristic and tire size. So it's normal to read slightly over, and yeah, it's a safety thing.Here in the US, it's tacitly understood that the speed limit is a recommendation... traffic normally flows at 60-65 in a 55 zone (MPH, so 80-90 km/h), much more than gauge error. While this gives officers a ready supply of cause to stop and ticket drivers they find suspect, it's also understood that a ticket for 3 over the limit is an asshole move and will likely be thrown out if you bring it to traffic court.But YMMV. I understand the neighboring Germans are a bit more strict about traffic law.OTOH, it feels like a kind of new movement in traffic design, maybe, these days; there are a few roads around here that are limit 50 and, because of the distance between, and timing of, stop lights, and the unrestricted access design (i.e., driveways connect to the road, it's not an on-ramp (restricted access) style highway), traffic normally moves at 40-50. That's good safe design. There's also a few roundabouts in the general area, which work very nicely. A few years ago, this state also installed its first diverging diamond interchange, which is cool (though it's not in this area so I haven't used it yet myself).Tim

author: IanMacdonald
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2017, 12:56:18 pm
content: Web content management systems. Invariably chosen because they offer a gazillion themes and plugins. In practice none are used and the site could have been made just as well with Notepad and some HTML. Plus, that way it wouldn't have gotten hacked.HTTPS:'Look, the browser has a padlock showing so that means I am perfectly safe browsing this website! .. Funny, my AV just reports a Trojan being downloaded. Surely that can't be, it'ssecure...All 'Carbon neutral' and 'Carbon offset' products.

author: Leiothrix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2017, 11:46:59 pm
content: Quote from: IanMacdonald on August 07, 2017, 12:56:18 pmThe browser has a padlock showing that you have a secure connection to the remote endpoint. It says nothing for the content hosted at said endpoint.

author: trophosphere
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 12:38:06 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on August 07, 2017, 03:28:30 amI've read that a foam dispenser actually gives less per pump than the liquid version. The same thought goes into liquid vs foam alcohol hand santizers in that it makes the user think they are getting a more effective form of hand santization. Our hospital went from the alcohol gel version to the foam version a few years back but not because of better perceived effectiveness... rather, the patients were drinking the gel version to fulfill their alcohol addiction. Guess the chlordiazepoxide/oxazepam regimen didn't give them what they want. Don't let them know that beer is actually on the formulary.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 01:00:52 am
content: Quote from: WZOLL on August 07, 2017, 03:20:44 amI have heard this quoted a lot about foaming dish washing detergent.In that case, it was probably promulgated by someone who had never hand washed dishes.I've used both, & the "non foaming" type leaves a floating layer of grease on the top of the water, which is deposited on the dishes when they are removed from the sink.The suds on the "foaming" type breaks up this layer so that does not happen.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 01:30:48 am
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 06, 2017, 04:06:32 pmA bit off topic, but years ago, when you filled up your tank,the gauge would go straight to "full".With a gauge with "real time" response, there was the possibility that the reading would be affected by the fuel sloshing around in the tank, so they fitted baffles inside.The "bean counters" noticed that it cost money to make baffled tanks, & removing them would be a nice cost saving..With no baffles,the "sloshing" problem reared its ugly head, so the gauge was re designed to have a slow response,.No more variation with " sloshing",but now, when you fill up, you drive a km or so before the gauge goes to "full".In this case, penny pinching goes directly against what the customer would like.

author: igendel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 01:52:54 am
content: - Progress Bars?- Metal pieces in products that are only there to make them heavier (found five of those in a cheap Chinese camcorder!)

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 03:08:57 am
content: Just to follow up on speedos, the latest change in tolerance of reading for chinese originating vehicles e.g. greatwall is +3% / -27% which is not far off the mark for there utes, (125 on the dial is 100 on road.Fuel gauges tended to have glycerin in the movement to slow down the sloshing effect, this was common back to the 70's. Modern car with a polling approach e.g. my 2004 corolla can show it when i am stuck waiting at the lights on a hill for more than 3 minutes.Temp gauges just flat out lie.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 03:19:59 am
content: How about dead zones/non-linearity in controls. Many cars have variable turn ratio to allow non-precision control near zero with high rate steering as sharpness of turn increases.Range knobs and sliders in software often change speed to make an appropriate compromise between precision and boredom during large movements.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 07:57:50 am
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on August 08, 2017, 03:19:59 amAh, but that's objectively helpful. It's a dynamic range problem!Mouse ballistics is generally more helpful than hurtful (though it does get annoying for certain applications).It works all the way down to analytical mathematics: if you're solving a polynomial best-fit by gradient descent, it helps greatly to use a named polynomial type (most often Chebyshev). If you use a bare polynomial (adjusting the coefficients independently), you may never get there because the partial derivatives become so small compared to the value of the coefficients. (Chebyshev polynomials are a series of polynomials with exactly bounded values and zeroes in the unit range. A best-fit performed with these is like the bounded range, polynomial equivalent of a Fourier transform for periodic signals.)Tim