Abstract: A manual control device with a control stick (joystick) whose output signal is proportional to the angular deflection of the control stick has transducers that step the output signal in such a way that the manual control device imitates or simulates the switching behavior of a N-stage manual control device. For that purpose, analog or digital electronic means associate with the output signal of the manual control device, depending on its value, one among N different voltage values, whose number and potential difference may be predetermined. The advantages of an analog manual control device (few mechanical components, cheap production) are thus combined with the advantages of a N-stage manual control device (adjustment information for the user, wider field of application in industrial control processes).