Something about Ferrari

We all love Ferrari’s. Maybe don’t love them but wished we could afford one. The sexiness of the design, the power of the engine, the lines and the ingenuity of the engineers that spawn these adrenaline monsters — all make us awe in admiration.

Still, one design problem always struck me: the steering wheel. Commercial cars, like the Ferrari F430, have a “multifunction wheel”. Just like all of us have radio controls, honks and other buttons in our cars, they have engine controls. The gear shifting mechanism which is always welcome, the driving behavior knob which is mildly useful while driving and the engine start button. Why the hell would you want the start button on the wheel?

When everything is important, nothing is important

The designer that put that big, red giant button there really didn’t know what he/she was doing. Buttons on the wheel are put there so that you don’t shift focus while driving. Driving! Then, if you are driving, you must have started the engine already. And it is so big!

My firm belief is that the size and poignancy of controls should be proportional with the frequency of use. Ferrari crashed this one.