Designing User Interface Guidelines for Time-Shift Programming on a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)

Abstract

Advances in technology may create additional problems for the user. The average consumer encounters difficulty when programming electronic products which require a series of steps to operate. The user-interfaces of these products vary not only among different types of products, but also within the individual market itself. There are presently no interface guidelines in existence to assist designers in developing easy to use electronic programmable products.

This research proposes user interface guidelines to improve the current poor interface designs of the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR). Improving the interfaces of electronic products results in less frustration for users. This study demonstrates the advantages of incorporating human factors design criteria into the interface of electronic programmable devices. Research and testing performed on existing VCRs identified problems and the need to minimize them.

The results of the research were used to develop and implement a new interface using HyperPAD^TM, a prototyping tool for the IBM/PC. HyperPAD^TM was also used to simulate an existing VCR. A data collection program captured the users' keystrokes and errors, and simplified the analysis of the raw data. Test results for the new VCR interface demonstrated a 50% reduction in the number of incorrect recordings and a 50% reduction in the time required to set the clock and program the VCR.