Comparative Research on the Remote Control Interface Cognition Oriented to Universal Design

Linghao Zhang1 School of Design, Jiangnan University

Wuxi, China e-mail: wowo.zlh@163.com

Wangxi Li2 School of Design, Jiangnan University

Wuxi, China e-mail: rwashy@gmail.com

Abstract—The universal design evaluation of projector remote control interface has important meaning to the businesses and users, which is a multi-user-oriented hand-held device. The article first discussed the concepts and principles of universal design, as well as the research methods of PPP, USS ,etc. On this basis, it selected EPSON, SONY, and SANYO projector remote controls, successively had tests on the product used phases from unfamiliar to familiar through PPP methods, and then had comparative tests for 7 items and 23 categories including Comfort, Convenience and Clarity, Freedom, Accuracy, Consistency, Fault tolerance, etc. Finally, it put forward the improved suggestions on comprehension button interface, the number of the button and operating procedures etc.

Keywords-universal design; PPP method; use contrast; sensory evaluation

I. INTRODUCTION As a hand-held product, projector romote control usually

works as a supporting part in the presentation, but it interacts with people in daily work a lot. The consumers have transferred their focus from the basic requirements of functionality and practicability to various aspects such as attractive appearance, portability and uniqueness. Now once again they are focusing on the origins of the design which is the easy-to-use or general use. Projector brands on the market today such as Sony, BenQ, Epson, HP, NEC,etc, all have their own respective design concepts. The user different feelings and experiences also varies on the specific use of the hand-held remote control Relevant. Of course, there are also some problems, such as button interface difficult to understand, it need to learn the description to operate, hold up and feel bad and the wrong by later don’t know how to recover,etc.These are more involved to the universal design problems of romote control from the user starting -to be easy to use and understandable for multiple users with different requirements in different stages.

The universal design (1987) has led designers to observe life, to pay attention to details, to identify problems and to explain the contradictions. It does not mean copy the principle slavishly in design implement, but to analyze specific issues according to specific circumstance and look for ways to improve. Therefore this paper aims to understand the user’s different reflections in multiple projects in different stages by taking the comparative research on the

remote control interface cognition, so as to find out the potential problems and put forward detailed suggestions on improvement.

II. THE DISCUSS OF THE CONCEPT OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND THE DESIGN OF REMOTE CONTROL

A. the Concept of Universal Design Universal Design, also known as common design. Its

design concept is that the product must meet the most people's demand. It bases on accessible design, and takes into consideration the needs of the users of all ages [1]. It is the comprehensive design which based on the Humanistic spirit .And now universal design has become the most-watched design concept in recent years.

B. the Research Methods from PPP to USS of Universal Design Ronald L. Mace further defined the specific principles,

including: Equitable Use, the product provides a consistent and equitable using method to all users; Flexible Use, the use of product corresponding to different preferences and capabilities of different users; Simple Use, regardless of their experience, knowledge, language skills, concentration and other factors are different or not, the users also can easily operate the product; Perceptible Information, no matter how bad the using situation of users is, such as the visual, auditory and other ability to feel, etc. , necessary information can be quickly and efficiently transfered; Tolerance for Error, which refers to that wrong using methods and unconscious actions will not cause dangers; Low Physical Effort, which means the design is efficient and easy to operate and is not easy to make people tired; Size and Space for Approach and Use, which means to provide space where is easy to get close and operate regardless of fitness, posture, and mobility. It can be easily seen that universal design contains a collection of elements and orders that can fit each person to the maximum extent. As a matter of fact, the deficient index of current products leads to problems in practice.

As a user-centered design, Universal design is determined to be based on its users and observation, instead of just being the designer's own ideas. Therefore, the study of universal design focuses on consumer-based design evaluation, including evaluation of the scene and use; at the same time, it concerns on the status of various users and their psychological

effects,

what's

more,

as

well

as

field

2010 International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Design

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2010 International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Design

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experience. The most effective evaluation method so far is the PPP(Product Performance Program) Act 1997 [2], which is a quantitative evaluation methods that masters consumer satisfaction, Satoshi Nakagawa made further amendments in "universal design principles" including 55 evaluation items. Now it is further developed, namely, the USS method (User Scene Sequence) [3] to be used to carry PPP evaluation, making it much closer to sense of reality.

C. the Development of Universal Design in Hand-held Remote Control Now the projector's the size and the degree of

intelligence are different, but the common function are similar. It is including the switch, menu, adjust, size, focus, input, laser pointers and so on, and some specific shortcut keys or favorite keys. In general, the products are more simplified than before, but still complicated.

Previous designers mostly made their researches on the principles of formal aesthetics, or the specific concerns such as the shape, size, dimensions and other parameters of the remote control, or whether it was compatible with the grip type, the resistance of the operation, feedback, layout, etc. Dong Jianhua analyzed that how the daily remote control interface design could achieve effective, safe and prevent incorrect operation in ‘The Design of Human-Machine Interface in the Commodity Design’ (2008)[4]. Chen Jianwei and Cai Qiming proposed multi-channel interface trends in ‘The latest progress of human-computer interface design’ (2000) [5]. Currently, there is few people who study remote control from the perspective of universal design assessments.

III. TEST METHOD

A. Test Object and the Tested Object This test hopes to grasp the user evaluation of existing

products clearly through observation, interview or questionnaire and other methods. Thus, they can base on these datas during new product designing. And through the performance evaluation criteria which caused by the principles of universal design to test the assessment of the remote-control unit, finally to find the entry point for the design.

Figure 1. Test object

This time, the tested objects are EPSON, SONY and SANYO projectors’ remote controls (Fig. 1). They all can operate on the corresponding projector. They have certain differences among their appearances and designs of key distribution and have certain representativeness in the performance of universal design. Test is primarily through

observation, interviews, and combining interface association test and the quantitative scale of sensory evaluation, to find their deficiency in universal design. This test is measured by 20 people, 8 males, 12 females, and the proportion of male to female is 4:6. This is basically a relative balanced state. In addition, due to the practical operation and observation, it needs a relatively long test period.

B. Universal Design Assessment Projects According to the Ronald L. Mace's principles of

universal design and the PPP principles of the 2005 version, and the actual situation of the tested products, we carry out the appropriate arrangement and correction on duplicated or inappropriate items. Thus, the indicators of this test will be more clearly. And this also can prevent users from misunderstanding and confusion in the process of testing and analyzing. These performance indexes, will simplify and integrate different testing projects and methods according to the actual situation at several stages. And the final test results obtained will objectively reflect the user's satisfaction degree of the remote-control unit in universal design at many aspects.

C. Test Procedure During the test, as the testers didn’t use these remote

devices before, therefore, to give consideration to the using comparation between products in different using periods, we divide the whole test into 3 phases, and each phase has been setup corresponding evaluation items to identify the potential incompatibility. There is no strict time limit at any stage.

1) Unfamiliar phase: Get the remote control used by testers, record the way they observe and make sure to control the time they will spend. Then do association tests on the interface table, record the understanding for the interface functions, and understand the easiness and the comfort ability of the interface through the 5 class scale.

2) Familiar phase: Freely operation, observe whether the understanding is accordance with the actual functions; operate appointed item, observe the respondent speed and the interference of the different functions; make some sudden circumstances, evaluate the tolerance ability for errors; use unfamiliar functions; test the usage under different situations, to see the comfortability and the fitness through different using modes.

3) Comparation in using: Aim at the comparation among several remote controls using, fill in the sense evaluation form to compare the advantages and disadvantages in every remote control at every aspects.

IV. TEST RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

A. Strange Phase As can be seen from Table , although the buttons of

EPSON ‘s remote control are less and all the functions get together in one place, but because of the interface with good instructions, we already have a clear idea of the primary function before we use it. SANYO’s remote control

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separated some buttons with different function but the same shape (such as the volume increases or decreases, the focus before and after) in different place, so that made the user hardly to understand the function of each button.

TABLE I. THE CORRECT NUMBER OF BUTTON COGNITION

Min. Max. Avg. SD Num. Accuracy SANYO 3.00 15.00 7.1111 3.44400 19 36.84% SONY 6.00 14.00 10.4444 2.35112 20 52.22%

EPSON 8.00 16.00 9.7778 2.53859 16 61.11% Streamlined interface makes the button’s usage modes

easy to understand. Users can quickly adapt it and normally use it. As the buttons of remote control as EPSON's less than the SONY’s, but the suggestion is a little more, so users can quickly master the operation pattern and build confidence, to prevent the user from creating a sense of fear.

The difference about which we expect is, though it based on the ergonomic shape, SANYO's remote control have the lowest score in comfort. From the standard deviation, SONY’s remote control which with a minimalist design, gives different impressions to the test subjects, it shows its limited range in adaptability. EPSON’s remote control gives people a good feeling to get started, and different people feel little difference. However, the overall average scores were at level 3 and below, indicating these remote controls afford a normal handle feeling , having a greater space to improve.

TABLE II. COMFORT IN HANDLE

Min. Max. Avg. SD SANYO 1.00 4.00 2.5556 1.01379 SONY 1.00 4.00 2.7778 1.30171

EPSON 2.00 4.00 3.0000 .70711

B. Familiar Stage At this stage of the test, the test subjects are already

through the free operation stage and they have been able to operate freely. Move to the specify operation experiments, while observing and recording the use of comfort, battery replacement, grip mode, specify operation , error functions, labor-saving operation and so on. The results are as follows:

After the actual operation, test subjects’ feeling of comfort about each remote control is still not changed, EPSON’s and SONY’s still precede SANYO’s remote control. Which is unexpected is that everyone feels more comfortable to operate in left hand than the right one, probably because the keys of EPSON’s and SONY’s remote control are setting a little right, thumb of left hand can stretch out when operating them.

In the battery replacement area, SONY's is very subtly, but the prompt is not enough, people which don’t know how to open it will never open it, and which know how to open can open it quickly. Because of SANYO’s ergonomic shape, there’re many curved surfaces on it, makes the opening and closing certain difficulties. Battery cover’s design of EPSON's is acceptable, though nothing special, but you can easily open.

In the correctness of the grip area, SANYO and SONY’s compared with EPSON’s remote control, they have some limitations. Usually an increase in grip mode is usually

causes misuse more than the fixed operation mode, and with the fixed operation mode the accuracy will be higher. From the field observation, EPSON’s more grip mode did not bring misuse problems. But the SANYO and SONY’s remote control appear some issues which had not anticipated: though SANYO’s remote control has an ergonomic shape and it provide a relatively fixed grip mode, it still can’t effectively take into account the press of various buttons; Shape directivity of SONY’s remote control was not sufficiently clear, while without a visual judgments is easy to hold it up side down.

In the specify operation experiments, generally it has operational errors in static picture, no picture / mute, enlarge the designated areas these three operations. We found If you need to use several key to finish one operation, generally it will not successful in the first try, and needs at least 1 minute to find the right operation; if can’t find the right operation, then it will take a long time, even have to give a hint. In addition, still images, no images / mute these two operations was mainly due to the keys marked in English, so the test subjects can’t correctly understand and causes the misuse. Therefore, if the key interface with the purpose of using some graphic tips, it should be able to break the language barrier, to enhance the universal effects.

In labor-saving operation area, all people agreed with the portability of SONY’s, but it seems too thin, too light to take control in the hands, so the evaluation of its feel is slightly behind EPSON’s remote control. And we have to push hard in operating it, so there will be some strenuous in long-playing use. Though buttons of EPSON’s remote is soft, it doesn’t have enough sense of real press, and buttons are too tight, sometimes it will increase the possibility of error.

C. Contrast Stage After the test subjects used the three remote controls for

several times, they have a more comprehensive impression of their performance. Through Likert scale to learn about their comfort, convenience, clarity, flexibility, accuracy, consistency, fault tolerance, rate in 7 areas and 23 categories about the satisfaction. Through mean value, summary, each remote control has a evaluation result as follows (* marked the highest score).

In comfort area, EPSON’s remote control has the highest scores in button, weight, grip firmly these three aspects, namely, 3.22, 4.22, 4.56. That means EPSON’s remote control is more general and obvious, but this also means it good in universal, more people recognized it, and can adapt multi-use habits (Tab. ).

TABLE III. COMFORT AREA

Comfort

Button Shape Weight Grip firmly

EPSON 3.22* 3.33 4.22* 4.56* SONY 3.00 3.44* 3.44 2.78

SANYO 3.00 2.89 2.22 3.22 In the convenience area, SONY’s remote control is

undoubtedly superior. Because of its small and thin, clear and intuitive interface design, it’s get a perfect score on

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portability category. EPSON’s remote control next of it, have a score of 3.89.

In the interface clarity area, specifically in the "clarity of operating Tips ", "easy to understand" categories EPSON’s and SONY’s remote control has a similar performance and score. Seeing from the compare of operation tips, EPSON’s remote control has a score of 3.89, ahead of SONY’s and SANYO’s, because the operation tips display on the interface of EPSON’s more than SONY’s, test subjects were able to operate under the guidance of the tips to complete a certain operation.

Flexibility ensures the freedom of the users and the products can be used by most people, so it's a very important aspect of the universal design. In the flexibility evaluation, EPSON’s remote control has the highest score, in "have no usage barriers", "use at will" , "can adapt to a variety of grip modes" , "can operate by instinct" these four category it get the scores of 3.56, 3.56, 3.67, 2.89. But SANYO’s remote control has the lowest score, respectively 2.89, 3.11, 2.89, 3.22. This indicated that the more practical design was able to dig out the universal in flexible use of the product (Tab.

).

TABLE IV. FLEXIBILITY AREA

Flexibility Have no

usage barriers

Use at will

Can adapt to a variety of grip modes

Can operate by

instinct EPSON 3.56* 3.56* 3.67* 2.89 SONY 3.00 3.44 2.67 3.44*

SANYO 2.89 3.11 2.89 3.22 In accuracy area, SANYO’s remote control has the best

performance in the "prevention of misuse" and " label is easy to understand" category, the scores were 3.44, 4.44, the reason is SANYO’s remote control separated all the function keys in different places, reduced the interference between the keys and the emergence of misuse, but also at the expense of the corresponding portability and ease of use. EPSON’s remote control gets a higher score both in the press and the feedback, indicating soften keys are affirmative by the test subjects.

Consistency is a very important part of the universal design. In this comparison, EPSON’s remote control has a similar key alignment and function set as common TV remote controls, so it gets a good evaluation, a score of 3.56 in "have fixed operation mode" category. And in the “similar with common operations" category it get a score of 3.78, but also because of its "one button with multi-function" setting is relatively too complex, the overall score is not so high Tab.

.

TABLE V. CONSISTENCY AREA

Consistency Have fixed

operation mode Similar with

common operations EPSON 3.56* 3.78* SONY 3.44 3.67

SANYO 3.33 3.44

EPSON’s remote control remote performance well on the fault-tolerant area, get a score of 3.89 in the "misuse will not lead to serious consequences" category. And get a score of 3.78 in "easy to recover from errors", such as SANYO’s. In fact, EPSON’s operation guide and prompt is more specific, so the chances of misuse are relatively small. Even when misuse, we can quickly found how to recover from based on the tips of interface, that is very convenient for users, will not lead to serious error for the different understanding levels

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Seeing from the test, although these three remote controls

get different evaluation of each other, but the EPSON’s remote control leading the other two on most evaluation projects. We can see it has a better performance in the major universal areas, however, from the actual use and scores of evaluation of the projector remote control, we know there are still some problems existing on universal design to arouse the designers’ attention, and to improve in follow-up designs:

Button interface is hard to understand. The interface is overly dependent on the users’ experience, more complex interface makes the user to generated a sense of fear before the operation, and increase the possibility of misuse.

Uneven distribution between buttons and operation steps. There’s some kind of mutual relationship between them, in general, have more buttons in the interface will increase the difficulty in understanding, but when in the actual operation it can reduce many combine operations. If we can balance these two factors, there will be a great advance of the products’ usability.

Button size, spacing, push mode is also not ideal. It is not comfortable to grip. Although we are

individual person, have different feelings in “fit to different hand” category, but the goal of the universal design is to minimize these differences, made every user equality use and operation flexibly.

Only through identifying problems and making improvements, we can dig the product's potential in universal, making it to be accepted by most people. Therefore, the follow-up test will be further design the prototype of various solutions according to the proving of disorientation and user evaluation, to introspect in all aspects of it.

REFERENCES [1] Fixy.com.tw , “recommend” universal design guidelines of Taipei

living space, http://www.fixy.com.tw/node/914. [2] Satoshi Nakagawa, Universal Design Solution[M], Taiwan: DrMaster

Press Co., Ltd., pp.162-163, 2008. [3] Satoshi Nakagawa, Universal Design Solution[M], Taiwan: DrMaster

Press Co., Ltd., pp.194-195, 2008. [4] Dong jianhua, interface design in the commodity design[D], Tongji

University, 2006. [5] Cai qiming, The latest progress HMI design[D], CHINESE

ERGONOMICS, issue1, 2000.

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