UCLA Remote Control System Problem Solving Mental Models & Affordances Discussion
Question Description
GUIDELINES:
It probably won an award. – Don Norman
This weeks exercise asks you to design an elegant but ultimately unusable universal remote control. The remote must control at least two systems (example: TV and DVR) but can be expanded to include lighting, thermostat, security systems, and more.
Imagine something that might be a candidate for a CES Innovation Award or another Industrial Design Award such as Red Dot, or that might receive a glowing review from Gizmodo or Engadget, but that would, upon closer inspection, turn out to provide a horrible user experience because it violates all of Don Normans recommendations for designing successful products. Specifically, it should provide:
- poor discoverability
- poor mappings
- poor conceptual model
- poor feedback
The design should be plausible. A good solution to this exercise would be a device that one could imagine being manufactured, but that would still suffer from glaring usability flaws.
Describe your design concept, accompanied by sketches if possible. Provide a brief description/marketing pitch for how your concept achieves design excellence (what positive qualities does it have?). Also, discuss how it falls short on all four of the criteria identified by Norman.
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