a product designer frustration with Tailgate function - Alfaobd possible?

[khaledubai]

Hi, Apologies as English my second language but so far I accidently opened the tailgate twice dinging it across wall/garage (using the fob button once, and pressing the roof button once when I wanted to turn on the lights).

My questions to the geniuses at RAM. You have parksense would it have been hard to disable tailgate open from fob and inside button if parksense reads obstacle preventing dings for pretty much a lot of people (I already read so many posts having these dings for the same reason).

No redesign, just a code to write that will make the logic .... logical.

Is this possible with Alfaobd perhaps?

Thanks.

 

[vincentw56]

Hi, Apologies as English my second language but so far I accidently opened the tailgate twice dinging it across wall/garage (using the fob button once, and pressing the roof button once when I wanted to turn on the lights).

My questions to the geniuses at RAM. You have parksense would it have been hard to disable tailgate open from fob and inside button if parksense reads obstacle preventing dings for pretty much a lot of people (I already read so many posts having these dings for the same reason).

No redesign, just a code to write that will make the logic .... logical.

Is this possible with Alfaobd perhaps?

Thanks.

It's not possible with AlfaOBD. I guess they (Ram engineers) probably figured people were not going to do that. I mean they try to save everyone from themselves with safety features and everyone complains about it. If they put that function in there, someone would complain that they wanted to open their tailgate, but it wouldn't let them. You know, "Darn engineers, I'm smart enough to know what I'm doing, stop trying to lock me out of doing things". Heard that a lot with the door open and moving the vehicle issue.

 

[mikeru82]

It's not possible with AlfaOBD. I guess they (Ram engineers) probably figured people were not going to do that. I mean they try to save everyone from themselves with safety features and everyone complains about it. If they put that function in there, someone would complain that they wanted to open their tailgate, but it wouldn't let them. You know, "Darn engineers, I'm smart enough to know what I'm doing, stop trying to lock me out of doing things". Heard that a lot with the door open and moving the vehicle issue.

It's not always engineers who make these decisions. In fact I suspect it's those who tell the engineers how it should work, and the engineers design to those requirements (specifications). The case of the "Heard that a lot with the door open and moving the vehicle issue", that was mandated by government agencies, likely the NHTSB. They don't want anyone getting killed by getting crushed by their own vehicle (Anton Yelchin)...

The Tragic Death Of Anton Yelchin, The 27-Year-Old Actor Who Was Killed By His Own Car

He perished in about a minute after being hit by his vehicle.

allthatsinteresting.com

 

[vincentw56]

It's not always engineers who make these decisions. In fact I suspect it's those who tell the engineers how it should work, and the engineers design to those requirements (specifications). The case of the "Heard that a lot with the door open and moving the vehicle issue", that was mandated by government agencies, likely the NHTSB. They don't want anyone getting killed by getting crushed by their own vehicle (Anton Yelchin)...

The Tragic Death Of Anton Yelchin, The 27-Year-Old Actor Who Was Killed By His Own Car

He perished in about a minute after being hit by his vehicle.

allthatsinteresting.com

Yep, and as a engineer, I know all too well about being told to do it their way.

 

[khaledubai]

It's not possible with AlfaOBD. I guess they (Ram engineers) probably figured people were not going to do that. I mean they try to save everyone from themselves with safety features and everyone complains about it. If they put that function in there, someone would complain that they wanted to open their tailgate, but it wouldn't let them. You know, "Darn engineers, I'm smart enough to know what I'm doing, stop trying to lock me out of doing things". Heard that a lot with the door open and moving the vehicle issue.

Fair, thanks for your comment. as a UX and product veteran this would be easily done to please the engineers as well to your comment.

User press Tailgate open button (Fob/roof button) > if obstacle present in rear it kicks an alert "Parksense" reads obstacle if pressed inside the truck or honk if pressed by the fob button. > user can press it again to confirm they still want it to open.

So clicks on > notification > if user clicks again it opens. (say within 10 seconds).

I know i'm stretching it but just sharing here with people who share the enthusiasm about their trucks. and its such an easy patch fix (programmable).

Best Regards,
Khaled Alshafi

 

[vincentw56]

Fair, thanks for your comment. as a UX and product veteran this would be easily done to please the engineers as well to your comment.

User press Tailgate open button (Fob/roof button) > if obstacle present in rear it kicks an alert "Parksense" reads obstacle if pressed inside the truck or honk if pressed by the fob button. > user can press it again to confirm they still want it to open.

So clicks on > notification > if user clicks again it opens. (say within 10 seconds).

I know i'm stretching it but just sharing here with people who share the enthusiasm about their trucks. and its such an easy patch fix (programmable).

Best Regards,
Khaled Alshafi

Part of it too is that not all trucks are equipped with park sense. Plus, they are only active when truck is in gear.