When I took the A6 for a test drive, this was one of the major things I wanted to test out, to see how easy those controls were to use while driving as I had previously read about their difficulty of use.
TBH, I didn't find it that much harder though. I realised, when I change the controls in my A4, I naturally take my eyes off the road while I position my hand in the right place, and I then look back at the road while adjusting the controls. This worked pretty much the same in the test drive in the A6. The haptic feedback felt really good actually, the same as a click of a real button (or the click as the dial turns in the A4 for the temperature), so very quickly I felt quite comfortable using it while driving which involved a brief glance down or across, just like I do now.
I phoned the dealer on Monday and they said it had literally just left the factory, so hopefully it'll be on a boat next week.