Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Rotary controls
Raised as a usability problem by 5 people on Hacker News over 15 years (2012–2026), in 5 threads.
People raised many different problems with Rotary controls, but no single problem has yet been raised by 3 people in 3 different months and threads.
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 5 complaints
- Knob requires cycling through options and watching screen, distracting the driver2026-07-06
- Circular knob drag is infuriating and hard to control precisely2021-07-14
- Selecting map points or menu items with a scroll wheel takes far longer and needs more attention2019-06-17
- Rotary dial-style volume control in phone apps is a poor interface design2017-06-08
- Touch input can't rotate a knob past 180 degrees in one motion, and setting a value needs reverse-rotating the indicator2012-05-09