Hillcrest Labs may just change the way we watch TV.  As cable and satellite providers redefine television by increasing programming choices and integrating with home networks and the Internet, users are left to shoe-horn these new offerings into their old concepts of how TV works.  Hillcrest Labs’ Loop Pointer and interactive navigation system break the TV mold altogether and establish a new schema for interacting with in-home entertainment.  Driven by user research and grounded in user needs, Hillcrest’s design dovetails with Centralis’ experience with designing for TV – it’s critical to provide a clear, fun experience for driving engagement and promoting acceptance of new offerings.zwmf2v7qyt

At last week’s Usability Professionals’ Association conference, Hillcrest’s Negar Moshiri described the process her company used to develop a new TV remote and on-screen display to accommodate the wider range of choices available for viewing.  The system shifts user interaction away from complicated remote controls and onto the TV itself, where the user’s attention is focused anyway.  Using the “Loop Pointer”, a stylized device that resembles a computer mouse more than a remote, the user points at the screen to browse a compelling visual display of viewing choices, including live TV, video on demand, personal photos, games and other content.  A layered design enables users to access details about programs (i.e. text) only when desired.  The pointer leverages a web standard we all know and love – the Back button – to help users investigate options and pick what they want to watch. 

Moshiri’s design team created its vision by studying the TV viewing experience in a series of user research initiatives.  The concept was derived from observing people watching TV in their homes, struggling to navigate complex menus using 50+ button remotes.  Following this initial research, a series of pointer prototypes was evaluated for efficiency using an ingenuous “whack-a-mole” game that recorded the response times and error rates of users from age 5 to age 65+.  From a marketing perspective, Hillcrest used mall-intercept market research to explore the value proposition of the system with end-users. 

Centralis’ own research findings from usability testing with Video on Demand systems support Moshiri’s conclusions: that users will access more content, more frequently with an easier to navigate television interface.  In our past work on five major market television interfaces, users could not easily understand the full scope of content available, could not find programming within the system and could not purchase on-demand programming using the remote.  In the face of a complex interaction, many users stuck with the old stand-by – live TV – despite the availability of many choices that better met their needs.  This is a missed opportunity for content providers operating in a competitive marketplace – a better design can drive revenue and provide a foundation for strong brand loyalty. 

Hillcrest has paved the way for increased consumption of today’s broader array of viewing choices by designing an interaction that makes TV what it should be – entertainment.  We look forward to seeing this technology adopted by content providers and embraced by users.