My Favorite Remote

Final Project for Human-Computer Interaction Seminar CS 147

Stanford University, Fall 2002

 

Design Brief:

Our project is to design a prototype of an interface for an entertainment application whose target audience is senior citizens.

Project Team:

Andrea Kulkarni, Gloria I. Miller, Ruhi Vasanwala

Two Scenarios of Use:

  • Gladys, an 88 year old independent senior, with minor vision impairment likes to watch certain TV shows. Her granddaughter, Marion, notices that Gladys has trouble finding her favorite shows. As a gift, "tech savvy" Marion decides to buy her a new style remote that promises to make favorite show selection simple and easy. During a visit, Marion "interviews" (fills out the profile card that starts the process of buying the remote) Gladys about her favorite programs.

    Marion mails the profile card and a check ($18.95) to My Favorite Remote, Inc. Two weeks later, Gladys receives a package in the mail. To her surprise, she has received a new remote that promises to make easy for her to find her favorite shows.
    All she has to do is turn it on ...

See Gladys use her new remote

  • Charlie, just turned 78 last month and suffers from macular degeneration (major vision impairment). He cannot use the typical remote to select TV channels. He ends up watching (listening) to whatever is on, or calls his caregiver to find his favorite shows which is frustrating for both. His friend, Fred, suggests that Charile ask for a new remote he recently heard advertised that is easy to use and has big buttons. He calls the phone number that Fred gives him and the friendly customer service representative takes down his favorite show information. After 10 minutes Charlie is done with the process of ordering his new remote. One week later, Charlie turns on his new remote ...

    Charlie experiences the same ease of use as does Gladys. Due to his visual impairment, he really likes the large buttons, the small number of buttons for navigation and the audio support feature.

 

My Favorite Remote Features