Jornal#5 Comcast digital cable remote control

   “The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman points out the frustration of using product in our daily life, and the relationship between users and design. It also takes many examples to describe problems of designs and how to avoid them. Therefore, I really enjoy this reading because it reminds me of many problems I have faced. For example, when I come to a door, I always do not know which direction it opens. Should I pull or push? Maybe the door slides…in which way? These questions make me feel like idiot because it means that I can not handle a door! Even if a door marks pull or push, I still need few seconds to think what it means and then react. When I face this situation, I always blame myself. Now, I know maybe it is time to examine the design itself, not users. After all, good design should let users know how to react immediately without thinking.

    In this assignment, I will use the concepts I learn from the reading to observe and examine the design of the Comcast digital cable remote control.

      

      I totally agree with the statement by Donald that people have a tendency to blame themselves for difficulties with technology rather than the design itself. For example, I always let my guests watch TV when I am cooking dinner for them. However, I discover that they give up watching TV quickly because they have no idea how to use the Comcast remote control with many buttons and functions, which lead them to forget how to use basic function. Therefore, the first reaction they had was to blame themselves. They even said: “Come on, our majors are not digital media.” However, TV remote controls should be designed for everyone, not only for someone who has studied digital media before. To be honest, although I use the remote control to watch TV everyday, sometimes, I still feel confused with the relationship between buttons and functions. In this design, there are no visible structures and no rhyme or reason to the relationship between the actions users must perform and the results to be accomplished. Mapping is arbitrary. At the end, my solution is to press every button until the television reacts correctly. The only advantage of this design I can find is that it has good ergonomic appearance.  

    Basically, the problem of the Comcast remote control is that the device have more features and no visible function just like a pilot’s control room in the flight. It has fifty-three buttons on a remote control for watching TV. Which one I should press to start? What other functions are for? After using it one year, I still do not figure out the function of each button yet. For example, the function of the buttons of “Guide” and ” Menu” seems the same for me. When I am using On-Demand, “Last”, “Exit”, and “▼” all represent “return”. “Last” means returning to the On-Demand menu; “Exit” means returning to the regular programs; “▼” means stopping the program you are watching and then return to the On-Demand menu. Different buttons has similar function. How can the designer ask users to remember these complex functions? 

    Why are the modern remote controls so difficult to learn and to use? With the development of technology, it has been offering more functions to make life more enjoyable and provide more benefits. However, it also adds complexities to increase users’ difficulty and frustration. When I ponder this problem, Donald Norman provides a theory to explain it, a U-shaped curve of complexity: starting high; dropping to a low, comfortable level; then climbing again. According to “the design of everything”, new kinds of devices are complex and difficult to use. As technicians become more competent and an industry matures, devices become simpler. After the industry has stabilized, designers know how to add increased capability, but always at the expense of added complexity and sometimes eliminated reliability. That’s why I remember the design of TV remote controls was very simple and easy to use when I was a child, but nowadays they become so complex. 

      Is any possible that the design of the Comcast digital cable remote control become much simpler? The answer is yes because “The principles of good design can make complexity manageable, ” says Donald. If designers can focus on the seven stages of design process Donald mentions in his book: visibility, a good conceptual model with coherent system image, good mappings between actions and results, and feedback about results of actions, the device could be much better. Moreover, I agree with the statement that design should provide strong clues to the operations of things. The new design of remote controls may highlight common use buttons in the center or have a small display screen which have brief preview of all the feature of the remote control. When users turn on the preview function, they can press buttons to see what function they have. Or, maybe it could be as simple as this design below.