Convopage
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Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Don’t put might on will.
99 replies and sub-replies as of Jul 19 2017
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Don’t mix the “MIGHT need” controls right in with the “definitely WILL need” controls.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Yes, you need a keyboard to watch TV these days, but not as often as a pause button or a volume control.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
All those little buttons the same tiny size, the same tiny shape, with the same tiny 6-point legends on them in dark gray on silver.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
There’s no way to tell the difference between the “PAUSE” and “ABORT” buttons without looking and reading.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Don’t put the ejector seat button next to the radio button. It’s very easy—even likely—to mistakenly cancel instead of adjust.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Most frequently used commands are better issued one-handed, in the dark, without looking. Optimize the device for that mode of use.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Hide the ON/OFF button where it can’t be pressed accidentally.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Don’t mix functions. That’s better for manufacturing, but not for the user. Game play is not TV viewing is not video searching.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Don’t design the control to look pleasant and symmetrical. The control is not going to be looked at. Design it to optimize frequent use.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
What is the remote’s most frequent use? If it’s three things, then you need three remotes. (don’t freak out…)
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
The stupidest way to deliver three remotes is with three fucking remotes. Isn’t there a way to put 3 remotes into a single handheld?
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Of course there is! Just put the seldom used controls on the back, the ejector seat levers (mode, power, etc) behind a door.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Put controls used frequently, like volume, pause, rewind-10-seconds, on very large buttons with recognizable touch characteristics.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
When the controlled device starts up with a manual action instead of from the remote, make the remote beep and flash so it can be located.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
The size of the Apple remote is appropriate. It’s shape is terrible. It’s tactile feedback is terrible. It’s buttonology is average.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
The Apple remote gives very few tactile cues about how it’s positioned, what it is doing, and what its buttons mean.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
And all of those gray, 6-point, sans serif, cryptic, buzzwordy legends on tiny buttons…WTF?
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Interaction design is not the same thing as industrial design. They go together, true, but ID **FOLLOWS** IxD, not the other way round.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
There’s not a gamer in the world who wants a lot of extraneous buttons on their game controller.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Maybe gamers say it’s better to have a keyboard on their controller than to not have a keyboard at all, but that isn’t good design.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
And don’t give me that Siri crap. Unless you are doing dead simple stuff you’ve done a hundred times before, Siri is harder than a keyboard.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
I simply do not believe that any actual interaction design was performed on this remote.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
I’m sure there was lots of research, but it all stayed in one building while the “designers” who created the remote lived in another.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
I’m sure lots of good recommendations were made, but designers don’t MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS. They design, and their designs get built.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Of course there is iteration, pivoting, and other disciplines contributing, but hey, it’s not like this is Sony’s first remote.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
They’ve been making the same basic mistakes in remote control design for 40 years. There is no excuse.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Actually, Sony does have an excuse: Their competitors are just as bad, no 3rd parties play, and we keep buying their TVs.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
But there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for people who call themselves UX designers to imagine reasons why this remote is okay.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
The reason why remote controls are badly designed is the same reason why our public transit is badly designed: It crosses boundaries.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Lots of significant travel is interurban, yet there are no government agencies that go between cities. No agency, no transit.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Many of the problems with remotes stem from the need to operate multiple devices from multiple vendors in unpredictable configurations.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Each manufacturer wants to optimize performance for their own machines, but not for their competitors. Foolish, self-destructive behavior.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Clearly, what is needed is an open protocol for controlling audio-visual devices.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
But a protocol is software, and the devices are made by hardware cos. Hardware cos are congenitally incapable of designing good software.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
That word, “congenital,” is not an insulting adjective. Their inability to design sw is in their genes, in their priorities & organization.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Fear keeps hardware companies away from software, and they have every right to be afraid.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
If AV companies subscribed to an open protocol, third parties would steal the market away from them.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Then consumers would buy branded remotes and generic monitors, amplifiers, and speakers.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Because as Jef Raskin once said, “The interface is the product."
Steve Cavers
@stevecavers
This has been the greatest UX rant I've seen on Twitter. Thanks,
@MrAlanCooper
! :D
Walt Ritscher
@waltritscher
Please write this thread as an article/post so that can be widely read and not disappear into Twitter Oblivion.
#applause
skry
@skry
I momentified this masterful lesson. Thank you.
twitter.com/i/moments/8873…
… Now I want to rant about how to design a captured tweet stream.
Remote control interaction design: a primer
Mr Alan Cooper, a world expert in user experience, explains what's wrong with today's remote controls and how they should be designed to be usable.
twitter.com
Joseph Lord
@jl_hfl
There is a protocol for control communication between AV devices known as HDMI CEC. There are variations in completeness of implementations.
Audrey Bryson
@brysonsbest
So what you're saying is that as a UX designer in AV industry I should: A) Get out while I still can B) Fight the good fight C) ???
Lisa deBettencourt
@ldebett
I designed remotes in early 2000’s and I always battled cost. Usable remote meant custom button pad = $$ = no bueno. It was soul crushing.
Pastor Deke Gozinia
@DetroitQSpider
I worked installing home theaters about the same time and Philips Pronto remotes were an easy upsell. Course that depends on the programmer
Lisa deBettencourt
@ldebett
There was another popular one that debuted at the same time too - had a big display. Can't remember the name but it was a bit of a beast.
Pastor Deke Gozinia
@DetroitQSpider
There were a few, maybe you're thinking of Universal Remote's big touchscreen? Never sold any of those, too much of a price leap IIRC
Pastor Deke Gozinia
@DetroitQSpider
We did sell quite a few of the hard button UR remotes and they were pretty good. not as flexible but no futzing with a touchscreen
Fredrik Matheson
@movito
Ever try the old Beo4 remote from Bang & Olufsen? It was pretty decent.
Joel Bernstein
@CastIrony
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
Yet another example of Conway's Law.
Ha Phan
@hpdailyrant
Much of hardware is outsourced to a Chinese manufacturer w/cost per unit as goal. I suspect no designer ever looked at it
Jim McLeod
@SeaWuf
The current Xfinity remote positions the off button just above the start/status button. I've hit the wrong buttoon 2 often.
gguuss
@gguuss
Get em! I'd love to hear your thoughts on "smart" TVs that have to boot and have these crazy OS features getting in the way of watching TV.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Firing squad.
Joseph Lord
@jl_hfl
This is more typical Sony remote of same period as Google TV. Red basic findable by touch. Green mandatory (Europe), yellow TV features
Joseph Lord
@jl_hfl
Blue mostly for external devices over HDMI CEC but also for in some internet video features.
Joseph Lord
@jl_hfl
My biggest victory at Sony was getting the external input selection moved from obscurity to that top left to be touch findable.
Joseph Lord
@jl_hfl
It was however Google’s first TV and they mandated the existence of full keyboard etc. (I was not involved and thought it would be awful).
Joe Jancsics
@JoeJan6
Sales peeps said to engineers "we need a button... for everything!" Eventually ends up like a pizza with too many toppings, gross.
João Jotta
@joaojotta
That's what happens when companies switch directions. Still I bet it's better than a computer with only one port.
Mike Sax
@mikesax
IMHO, it’s the opposite: voice works really well for uncommon commands and search. Grammar is the best navigator through tons of choices.
ryan
@Beepboopzzt
Siri doesn't work anyway. Consistently crashes and leaves me on the TV app. Don't even get me started on THAT thing.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
That wasn't a game controller. Pretty sure it was for their first Android TV.
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
Sure looks like it has game controller functionality built into it. Those top two thumb controls…?
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
It imitates game controllers, but isn't one. It's a kitchen-sink controller for a kitchen-sink device.
Sony NSG-MR1 Remote Control for Google TV
Home Audio & Theater
amazon.com
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
This is a game controller.
DualShock 4 Wireless Controller for PlayStation 4 - Jet Black
Video Games
amazon.com
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
They learned in future iterations that watching TV and playing games are different things.
bit.ly/2u3g4FH
Alan Cooper
@MrAlanCooper
And that was (one of) my point(s). If it controls games, it has to be assessed from a gamer’s pov, and as such it fails.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
I get it. PlayStation (part of Sony) designs some of the most amazing gaming hardware on the planet. Sony Electronics was aping its sibling.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
They didn't understand gamers at all, they just wanted to have the just-buy-one-for-everything-you-do device, and made a total mess.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
Things went the other way once gamers were playing each other online... Last gen PlayStation made this mid-cycle:
PS3 Wireless Keypad
Video Games
amazon.com
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
That's an add-on for the DualShock 3, for gamers who needed to write text to other gamers, back before voice chat was ubiquitous in games.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
There's *still* a need to enter text, but more for searches, passwords, etc. But they're still learning there too:
Use Dualshock 4 Motion Keyboard Typing - PS4 | How To + Comparison
Hit that R3 button and give it a try! Check out my gaming channel - youtube.com/ZeeReviewZPlus
youtube.com
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
There are also specialized interfaces that work very well for auto-complete on a large list, using only the D-pad.
Playstation Store - Searching and Removing Items from Cart
Playstation Store Searching and Removing Items from Cart
youtube.com
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
This isn't to detract from your original point... The Sony remote for that Google TV was objectively awful.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
But both Sony and Google have "got religion" about IxD in the time since; you can see it in their modern products. Give 'em credit for it!
Dan Hon
@hondanhon
*interjects* I think I have a deck with a photo of that remote on a slide
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
It's truly awful. You can almost feel the committee of Sony and Google and Logitech people writing the spec.
jim✌️
@jim_unwin
Would also suggest that buyers are attracted to lots of buttons as an indicator of lots of features / power / value.
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
By the way, they use this UI in other software products (not just the PS Store) eg PlayStation Vue. Expect to see a lot of copying!
Dan Hon
@hondanhon
(Also interjection I quite like the touch-pad text entry on PS4 dual shock because it isn't great but shows promise)
Dan Hon
@hondanhon
There's one for Xbox as well
Bret Mogilefsky
@bmogilefsky
Yup.
Xbox One Chatpad + Chat Headset (plugs directly into Chatpad)
Video Games
amazon.com
David Millsaps
@eyevariety
If you have an iPhone on the network it asks you to use it to type as soon as you are prompted. All tv boxes have bad keyboard experience
David Millsaps
@eyevariety
Also you can just ask Siri to do whatever you want
David Millsaps
@eyevariety
But I agree about tactile. Big miss
Saurav Shrestha
@realsshrestha
I got used to the Apple Remote but found out that Apple TV can actually support my TV’s default remote!
Jenna Pederson
@jennapederson
This is why I have a rubber band on one end.
ryan
@Beepboopzzt
The fidelity of the touch control is too touchy. No response: huge gap Right response: tiny gap Over response: huge gap I hates it.
ryan
@Beepboopzzt
The app on the phone you'd expect to have BETTER fidelity but the right response is even WORSE than the remote.
jon 🚀
@arcatype
I despise the Apple remote, for different reasons, but equally egregious ones
ryan
@Beepboopzzt
I constantly try to use the touch Apple TV remote upside down without realizing it. No quick back either. Very frustrating.
Jowl Grrfield
@joelgarfield
I put pink duct tape on the "bottom" half of the Apple TV remote so I know where to grab. Never had to hack an Apple product like that bfore
ryan
@Beepboopzzt
What a great idea
Jowl Grrfield
@joelgarfield
You must be talking about the remote for Apple TV. (I hate that remote.)
dave hoffer
@mcrate_s
Apple is not like the remotes I grew up. Those were built for channel surfing where I find the apple remote a kind of set it and forget it
Micah
@micahsb
With lube on the fingers. You could simulate that part though with melted chocolate.