Objective: Design an electronic device to help people do something they already do, but in a better fashion.
Time to Complete: 3 months
Personal Responsibilities: Sketching, Secondary Research, Primary Research, Usability Testing, Argument Creation, Team Facilitator
Description
The Zen Remote is an interactive remote that allows users to be to have one remote for all of their gadgets without the need to program it. Through communicating with electronic devices through RFID tags, the Zen can talk to the electronic device and bring up a relevant set of controls that friendly for the user, without the need to carry another remote dedicated for each electronic device a person may own.
Design Process
In order to be able to create a remote that would be better than the multitude of other remotes out there. we had to first look at how people normally used remotes. Our group conducted an informal survey based on how people used the remote, and most found themselves having 1-4 remotes. In addition, most responses told us that people would pick up the wrong remote when they wanted to do something with a remote and their electronics.
We also took observed how people use the remote, and tried to break down the components of each action. We found there were roughly 4 components to the action corresponding to the remote: looking at the remote, pressing buttons on the remote, watching the television, and the time spent situating oneself to get ready to use the remote. Overall, we found that there was too much time spent at looking at the remote to find the right button that corresponding to the action one wanted to execute. A summary of other requirements we helped to generate for this design can be found here (opens in new window). These actions helped us to realize there is a true problem out there that needs some design help. We were going to attempt to build a remote that not only would be truly universal, but would also be more helpful to those who have some sort of disability.
Now that we knew roughly the component steps of using a remote, we undertook the test of trying to create a set of actions on the Zen remote which inherit some of the actions people already do with remotes, but change them to be much more efficient. For example, the Zen remote wouldn’t be passive per se, it would be implicitly asking the question “What do yoiu want to do?” This would allow the operator to focus on what they would like to do, and take a minimal amount of steps to get there. We then created a series of flowcharts of how the Zen would change the actions needed to operate a remote in a better way. These flowcharts can be found here (opens in new window).
It was at this point where we went through an iterative design process to try to find a design that would solve this problem. We created personas to try and help us see the total sphere of influence the remote has on people. We also tried different ways to represent the current remote, and found out that there were parts of the current remote design (e.g. colors, tactile feedback, button shapes and sizes) we could exploit to help new operators of the Zen to be able to quickly become Zen masters. During this process, we also created a physical prototype, which consisted of foil, cardboard, and foam, in the shape of the actual remote. Our conceptual design can be found here (opens in new window).
We then handed this remote to a potential user and had her try it out, and we received some positive feedback as to what we were doing. With this in mind, here is a small walkthrough of our design:
Walkthrough
The operator of the Zen would first be brought to a screen like this one, where they could choose a device they would like to operate, or change some of the Zen’s settings.
If one bought a new device, or was scanning the device (through RFID) for the first device, the Zen would be able to communicate with the device and ask the operator if the Zen should add the new device to its library.
If the operator wanted to do something with any of their devices, they would just touch the appropriate device, and, for example, be brought to the device’s “screen”. In this view of the Zen, the operator has decided to watch a movie, and is brought to this screen, where one could put a movie in, have the Zen suggest a movie for the operator, or the operator can pick a movie of his/her choosing.
Continuing the scenario above, if the operator wanted to watch the movie “Die Harder”, the operator would put the tape or disc into the appropriate device, and the Zen would bring up the appropriate controls up for the operator, without the need to fuss around for a specific remote. The Zen would work in the same way for other activities as well, e.g. listening to music.