Results of Initial Prototype Analysis

Now that our initial prototype has been tested, and the questionnaire and task analysis is complete, we are in a position to assess the deficiencies of the product. Before we go into detail about this though, there was a glaring issue that came out of virtually every test, which we have to deal with immediately. This issue concerns the way that the user inputs text. Initially, we wanted our remote control to be the only input device that was used with netbox, and so chose to implement the mobile phone text interface into it. However, our target market found this almost impossible to use and became very frustrated when using netbox, particularly in the more text intensive applications. It quickly became clear that having just the remote control was not going to be enough, therefore we need another way to input text. We are therefore going to have another prototype stage that looks at the issue of typing text. There are two ways that we will look at:

• 1. A keyboard of some description.
• 2. A voice function that allows the user to talk into the remote control and that writing to appear on screen.

We will also look at some alternative remote control designs during this prototype stage.

The other issues that arose are detailed below, however, these issues are deemed non-critical and can be dealt with when we perform the prototype redesign.

• The shape of netbox was a problem for some people. We need to flatten netbox so that it can fit under people's television sets.
• One user commented on the colour of the box. We need to offer user's a choice between silver or black.
• User's had trouble recognising and connecting the modem. The modem has to be more clearly labelled and the instructions need to be more specific. Perhaps a graphical walk-through will be more appropriate for this task.
• Nobody used the bundled webcam, which was supposed to be a feature of netbox that would be of most value to the user. The webcam needs better documentation and needs to be an option within the menu system that people can choose.
• No-one used any peripherals, such as a memory stick or digital camera card. Do we need netbox to perform these tasks, or should we remove this functionality?
• The menu system was criticised by some people. Do we actually need an on-screen menu system, or can we integrate this into the remote control?
• The remote control buttons were too close together for many people. This issue will be addressed by the introduction of a secondary input device. We can therefore remove the textpad from the remote and have only the most basic functions, such as menu choices, along with select and navigation buttons.
• The navigation itself was an issue. We will look at several options in the next remote control prototype, including things such as a rollerball, touchpad and a nintendo wii style screen pointer.
• One user found that the text on the screen was still too small despite the improved style web look that we implemented. We need to implement a zoom control on the remote that allows the user to control the size of the text on the screen.
• User's mentioned that they would like to be able to be able to 'talk-type', that is using there voice to input text. This gave us the idea that we could implement a voip element into netbox using the remote control as a voice input device. This will be implemented into the final design.
• User's also commented that they were sometimes confused when using the different functions of netbox. We are therefore going to implement an optional on-screen helper, that can guide the user through particular tasks. This will be in the form of a virtual person who the user can click on for advice.