Punchcut’s Interaction Designer Ifran Chou and Interaction Design Director Gabriel White present an interesting idea to combat the ever-increasing number of household remote controls. According to Consumer Electronics Association the average American household owns 4 remote controls. Instead of the costly option of a store-bought universal remote, Chou and White suggest an added feature for the constantly-evolving mobile phone: an all-encompassing remote control.
The team outlay five different design considerations that would make the conceptual phone effective:
- Provide Automatic Configuration: The first use experience is critical, so automate anything you can. Before enjoying a media experience with a new remote, the very first two steps everyone must complete are compatibility check and configuration. Why not make this process more automatic by utilizing RFID or bar code system technology? At the same time, the compatibility check and configuration can happen over the network, storing information both on phone and online for backup.
- Display the Right Controls at the Right Time: We need to simplify the button controls, and provide clear feedback and guidance to users.
- Make It Personal! Each person can have his or her own unique experience based on the remote settings. For instance, I can reorganize my TV guide, only keeping the channels that interest me.
- Consider Hardware Variations: The mobile device remote should take all relevant control methods into account. The other challenge here is to figure out a rule for when and how to show information on both input device display and the output screen. Understanding the screen size, orientation, and resolution in a given viewing scenario can help to guide solutions.
- Be Aware of Context: Context is king when designing for mobile products. People want to control different things in different times, locations, and situations. You would never want to turn on the TV in the living room when you are in bed. These features are possible if the application is designed with contextual awareness.
[via Idlemode]
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I would argue that this is hardly new thinking, or when developed actually new technology. If you use apple products as your media players you can do most of the above with an iphone already.
But I would like to see this become a standard feature of the cell phone, it would save many hours of our lives spent frantically searching sofas.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Matt, yes, the concept is not new in fact Apple’s Remote application is a good example.
Ifan’s intention is to offer specific design insights to consider when designing the user experience.
November 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm