Interaction Design Studio

Research and Design
for People Derm McNally MSc is principal consultant with more than 20 years experience of software development, usability and design.

12/01/2026

Returning to Buttons is a Failure of Design

Volkswagen’s decision to reintroduce physical buttons has been framed as “listening to customer feedback”. But listening to feedback does not guarantee the right outcome.

Henry Ford is famously, and perhaps apocryphally, credited with saying that if he had asked customers what they wanted they would have asked for a faster horse. The point is not that users are wrong or that feedback is unimportant but that users describe symptoms rather than solutions. Interpreting that feedback and designing the solution is the responsibility of the designer.

The same principle applies in digital design. If users cannot find a feature, they will often suggest a solution such as “make it bigger”. That does not mean the right answer is a larger button. The real issue may be placement, hierarchy, visual distinctiveness or placement within the user flow. Good design responds to the problem highlighted by feedback not the proposed fix.

Volkswagen, in my view, is making the same mistake. Drivers were articulating a genuine problem and proposing a solution. They were reacting to a frustrating, distracting, poorly designed interface and reaching for the familiarity of buttons. Treating that proposal as the answer confuses user feedback with design responsibility.

Poor Interfaces Create Demand for Buttons

Complaints about touchscreens usually focus on deep menus, inconsistent layouts, slow response, and basic functions buried behind multiple taps. In that context, buttons feel safer because they are familiar and predictable. That does not make buttons better. It means the interface was badly designed.

Other manufacturers with screen-based controls do not face the same backlash. Carmakers that design their interfaces well, such as Tesla, Polestar, and Rivian, rarely see sustained calls for a return to button-heavy dashboards. The reason is usability. Their interfaces are intuitive, consistent, fast, and visually clear. The medium is not the issue. Ex*****on is.

The Evidence is Misread

Much of the claim that “buttons are safer” comes from methodologically dubious lab studies comparing physical controls with touchscreens. One in particular is repeatedly cited, often without proper context. These studies typically involve unfamiliar systems, uncommon tasks, no learning period, and poorly designed interfaces. The methodology strongly biases the results.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration explicitly warns against over-generalising from such tests, noting that distraction risk depends on interface design and task structure, not control type alone, in its Visual–Manual Driver Distraction Guidelines.

The Question That Matters

The real question is not “buttons or screens”. It is “how quickly and safely can a driver complete this task after a few months of ownership? If the answer is poorly then the solution is better design, not nostalgia.

Buttons are not a safety feature.�Screens are not a hazard.�Good design is the difference.

(Certain functions such as hazard lights are, of course, mandated as physical controls.)

And Finally

There will always be people who prefer an old Nokia to a smartphone, and that is a perfectly valid personal choice. It does not make it a superior product.

And don’t get me started on the tasteless skeuomorphic design such as digital displays made to look like physical dials or infantile fake gear shifts with vroom vroom sounds. They add familiarity not usability.

The uncomfortable truth is that legacy car makers just make lousy interfaces.

Author’s note

For context, I am qualified in Human Computer Interaction and Ergonomics and have worked across digital UX and UI design, physical ergonomic design and in the automotive sector. I arrived here after years of owning and driving classic and sports cars and now find myself a slightly surprised convert to electric vehicles, or more precisely, good electric vehicles with good control interfaces. I am also a long-time motorsport fan and was, briefly and unsuccessfully, an enthusiastic amateur racing driver. In short, I have thought about controls and attention both academically and at speed, so… no notes.