HCI research & interactive television: a beautiful friendship?

Lyn PembertonInteractive Technologies Research Group

University of Brighton

• Relative paucity of iTV HCI research• Reasons?• What should we be doing? What can

we contribute? Beyond conventional usability/accessibility approaches

• What we need to aspire to - Jordan’s Four Pleasures model of product design

StructureStructure

HCI/ITV communityHCI/ITV community

• UsableITV discussion group - 600 members

• UsableITV journals• Some web sites, e.g. ELTRUN• Some conferences - EuroITV,

FutureTV workshops• Several centres of research in

Universities

ITV vs mobileITV vs mobile

There is very little compared to, say, mobile devices. 1 full iTV paper in CHI, HCI & UIST over last 4 years (mobile = 30). Not to mention UbiComp, MobileHCI, Mobiquitous,etc etc

Why so little activity?Why so little activity?

• Not “made in USA”

Why so little activity?Why so little activity?

• TV is becoming less “respectable” - iTV coincidental with reality TV and proliferation of digital channels

• “…most participants seem to regard much programming as trivial and lightweight, driven by the need for large ratings or simple profit”

Platforms & Channels survey BSC/BBC/ITC 2001, p. 23

• Applies to researchers & funders as well as viewing public

Why so little activity?Why so little activity?

• The force of the commercial imperative - needs of advertisers and service providers dominate over any usability or accessibility concerns, e.g. branding, distracting advertising content, cheap handsets

• Commercial confidentiality & timescales - we feel we can have little influence on current developments.

Why so little activity?Why so little activity?

• The user centred philosophy of designing/evaluating with users/viewers is alien to creatives

• UCID and marketing don’t understand each other’s worlds either

What to do? Current systemsWhat to do? Current systems

• Create events/places where open discussion is possible

• Do the usability & accessibility studies anyway, make them public and present them in digestible format (patterns?)

Beyond usability to whole package

Beyond usability to whole package

• Handset design • Screen design & controls/calls to action• Navigation• Help• Training• Advertising• Maybe someone in Eastenders should

press their red button from time to time…

Liz Cleaver, Controller of the BBC’s Interactive Factual and Learning DivisionA propos Murdoch Uni placements

“we still have a lot to learn about how and why audiences interact with factual content. Applying an academic discipline to the processes and psychology that motivate interactivity will be extremely valuable for future projects.”

Academic input?

Beyond usability for current systems

Beyond usability for current systems

• Propose theoretically grounded approaches - interactivity, learning, information retrieval, trust

• Explore radically different paradigms e.g. dialogue, narrative, speech, gesture, two way visual interaction

• Embrace media studies/sociological approaches, cultural probes, household studies, media diaries, applied ethnographies

Beyond usability to pleasureBeyond usability to pleasure

• “If it’s not broken - don’t fix it”.• TV isn’t broken - it’s often brilliant• Interactive TV must be more than

accessible and usable - it has to be great• Stretch frame of reference beyond

accessibility & usability to encompass product design issues - affective, social, aesthetic, lifestyle aspects of iTV

The Four PleasuresThe Four Pleasures

Patrick W. Jordan. 2000.

Designing Pleasurable Products: an Introduction to the New Human Factors.

Taylor and Francis, London

Hierarchy of Consumer NeedsHierarchy of Consumer Needs

Pleasure

Usability

Functionalitycf. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs

Jordan distinguishes four types of product related pleasures, i.e. the practical, emotional and aesthetic benefits associated with products:

• Physio-pleasure

• Psycho-pleasure

• Socio-pleasure• Ideo-pleasure

Physio-pleasurePhysio-pleasure

To do with the body and sensory organs - touch, taste, smell, hearing

• shape of a telephone handset

• texture of pen, toothbrush, new clothes

• smell of new car

Psycho-pleasurePsycho-pleasure

To do with people’s cognitive and emotional reactions

• a really engaging video game

• a brilliant piece of software that lets you do something very complex very easily, e.g. the early spreadsheet effect

Socio-pleasureSocio-pleasure

To do with your connection to other people - friends, relatives, colleagues, unknown others. Also social identity.

• people may come round to see you to play on your new GameCube or gather round to look at your new phone

• clothing mark you out as member of socio-economic group

Ideo-pleasureIdeo-pleasure

To do with people’s values -

• a pair of “vegetarian” shoes

• carrying the Guardian rather than the Sun

• looking at your beautiful wall mounted plasma screen TV when you come home every day

Ideo-pleasure aspects of iTV?Ideo-pleasure aspects of iTV?

?

SummarySummary

• Working on usability and accessibility issues of current systems is not enough

• Sub-usability issues - functionality, content, speed

• Supra-usability issues - the 4 pleasures