[kryogen1c]

> As a non-native

i am a native and this confuses me constantly.

the windshield wipers in my car change their speed based on a UX showing an in increasingingly long bar. i can never tell if it represents time or 1/time until i futz with it.

[sandworm101]

>> UX showing an in increasingingly long bar

I have driven car where the pictogram meant "amount of rain", the longer bar meaning more rain and therefore a shorter interval.

[netsharc]

Huh? The lowest setting (the one closest to off or auto) is the one for the least rain, and it goes up to handle more rain, i.e. the further you are from off/auto the faster the windshield wipers wipe.

[kryogen1c]

> Huh?

Yes, you are right to be confused. You dont know the UX of car. Why did you think this was worth commenting?

> (the one closest to off or auto)

the on/off toggle is separate from the speed dial. there is no obvious (to me) directionality.

[jonplackett]

Only on hacker news can a discussion about an airplane engine end up about windscreen wiper UX.

[ars]

Yeah that's one thing European cars do wrong. They have two separate controls: one for on off the other one for interval.

American cars in contrast have just one control: it starts with off, then does intervals, finally the shortest interval, then low speed and then high speed.

[kergonath]

I’ve been living in Europe for a couple of decades and I have never seen a on/off control separate from the speed.

[netsharc]

Welcome to downvote hell with me. God damn, sanctimonius know-it-all HN jerkoffs do piss me off (yeah, go ahead reader, downvote me).

But your classification of European/American cars isn't accurate either. I drive an Italian car (well, but surprise, it's Fiat Chrysler) and the wiper controls makes sense, like what you refer as "American cars". Search for Mercedes Benz wiper controls on Youtube, that also makes sense. BMW's one is strange, the Ford one looks confusing but I didn't bother to look for a video.