Let's look at some common things and think about how we could improve them. Many things actually were easier to use before microprocessor technology transformed them. In many cases, the ease of manufacturing has become more important than ease of use.

Let's look at the car radio. The car radio of the seventies and two big knobs and five big preset buttons. I could find both knobs, tune for stations, set and select presets, all without looking away from the road. Today's car radios use tune up, and down buttons which I hold down to seek for stations. Pressing the button will change the tuner to the next frequency. Continuing to hold the button down will starting changing through frequencies quickly after a short delay. I have to constantly look at the display to see where on the dial the radio is tuned.

Using the knobs, I can tell exactly how far I have moved along the dial by feeling how far I have turned the knob. This design can still work with a scan mode by using a shaft encoded knob that clicks for every frequency step. Many radios today use these knobs for volume controls.