EXPERT APPRAISAL OF THE SKY PLUS (Sky +) SYSTEM

Sky plus (Sky +) is the latest in personal video recorder technology used for watching
satellite TV which gives the user the ability to record TV programs, pause live TV
and rewind or fast forward through programs being watched. It is a fairly new
technology which was developed after the previous Sky system which only gave the
user the ability to watch what was showing at the particular time. The system
performs these functions using an internal hard drive inside the Sky+ box.

For the purpose of this essay, I will be giving an expert appraisal of the system
based on my experience of using it and my knowledge of human factors. I shall be
addressing the usability issues associated with the product such as the good and
bad aspects of using the system.

Below is a task list for the Sky + system:

• Change volume

• Change channel

• Seeing what is on with the TV Guide

• Finding a specific channel

• Setting reminders for programmes

• Recording

o Linking series

• Pausing and rewinding live TV

• Playing back recordings

• Fast forward, rewinding and pausing viewings

• Watching TV with subtitles or audio description

References would be made to the different tasks throughout the analysis process.
What is usability?

Usability can be defined in a number of ways depending on the context. In the

context of the ergonomics of human-system interaction, the International Standards
(ISO) defined usability as the extent to which a product can be used to achieve
specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of
use [1]. The ISO also explained usability in the context product quality as the
capability of the software product to be understood, learned, used and attractive to
the user, when used under specific conditions [2]. Effectiveness is a measure of how
well users attain goals when using the system while efficiency refers to how much
time and effort is required for the user to be able to use the product to carry out
tasks in order to attain these goals.

Both definitions apply to the usability of the Sky + system because the system
requires human-system interaction in achieving user goals which in this case will be
the ability to watch TV programs with ease when they please. And the system also
has to be easy to understand, learn and used as it is a product that is likely to be
used on a daily basis.

There are a number of factors to consider when analyzing the usability of a system.
I will be using the factors described by P. W. Jordan [3] and those described by J.
Nielsen [4] as guidelines to analyze the Sky + system.

Jordan Guidelines:

Guessability is the ease at which a first time user can use the system. I believe the
Sky + system is very guessable as it uses common conventions that are used in
systems with similar functionalities. For example, the buttons used for performing
the rewind, fast forward, pause and play actions are similar to those used in the
conventional media players.

Learnability of a system is a measure of how long it will take for users to use the
system to reach a competent level of performance. With the Sky + system, it very
easy to learn how to perform basic tasks, however, more complicated tasks which
could be very useful to the user may not be as learnable. For example, it is very
easy for the user to learn that the record button records the current program being
viewed or record a program from the TV guide. However, it might take longer for
the user to learn that it is possible to add a “series link” function which enables the
user to automatically record a program which shows weekly without having to use
the record button to record the program weekly. This could be because there is no
series link button on the remote control therefore that functionality is less apparent
to the user when compared to the more obvious record button.

Experienced user potential is a factor which describes how well an experienced user
can use the system. I believe the Sky + system was well designed to accommodate
both experienced and new users. For example when navigating the menu systems,
the menu systems are listed and each option has a corresponding number. A new
user would impulsively use the up and down button to scroll down the menu option
to choose the option they require, however an experienced user knows that they
can select an option just by pressing the number corresponding to the option they
want on the remote control. This saves the experienced user time and avoids the
frustration of having to scroll through a list of options.

Reusability refers to the ease with which the system can be used after a long period
of absence. I believe the Sky + system is very easy to use after long period of
absence because all the functionalities required are on the remote control which
make it easy for users to remember what they need to do to carry out different
tasks. However, more complicated task such as changing settings or trying to
navigate through the menu system to find certain options may be slightly more
difficult to remember.

Nielsen Guidelines:

There are a number of overlaps between the factors described by Jordan and
Nielsen such as the concepts of learnability, experienced user potential and
reusability/memorability. Other factors described by Nielsen include the following:

The system should make its status visible to the user by providing the user with
appropriate information and feedback on what is happening. I believe this is not
well done in the Sky + system because the system uses a lot of symbols to inform
the user of what is happening which might by slightly difficult for a new user for a
new user to understand. For example, when a reminder is set for a program it just
displays the symbol of a clock next to the program without telling the user that the
reminder has been set.

The system should have a match to the real word by using phrases and ideas which
are familiar to the user. In most cases this is done well in the Sky + system using
words such as “select” to allow a user to select an option. However, there are some
phrases which might be less obvious to users such as the word “backup” which is
used to cancel actions.

It is more important for the system to prevent errors from happening rather than
providing good error messages. In the Sky + system some errors are well prevented
e.g. not letting users record two shows showing at the same time. However, it
doesn’t address the issue of recording overlapping shows very well, it will allow the
user to record both shows despite the overlap but will display and error message to
inform the user that part of the recording failed because of the overlap. This error
could have easily been prevented by right Human Factors input.

The system should be based on recognition rather than recall. The Sky + system
was well designed to allow users carry out most tasks based on recognition and
allowing experienced users to carry out the same tasks based on recall. For
example, a new user does not have to remember all the channels they watch as
they can easily find the channel from the TV Guide and select, at the same time,
experienced users have the ability to go straight to the channel by entering the
channel number from the remote control.

The system should be very good at helping users recognize and recover from errors.
The main error that occurs in the Sky + system is usually due to signal failure which
prevents the user from viewing channels. The error message is usually well
documented and informs the user of what is happening and what can be done to
recover from it.

Help and documentation should be easy to navigate and search through. The Sky +
manual is very concise and focused on user’s task. It is also very well designed and
easy to understand. There is also a section called troubleshooting which gives the
users step-by-step instructions on how to solve common problems.
Universal Design:

Universal design is defined as the process of creating products which are usable by
people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest
possible range of situations [5]. The main user variables which are considered
include age, education, income, culture and disabilities. I will be using the stated
variables to access if the Sky + system was designed to be useable by a wide range
of people.

Age: The system is easy enough to allow basic tasks such as channel changing to
be carried out by both younger and older people. It contains functions such as
parental control which allows parents to monitor the viewings of younger users.
However, more complicated tasks such as recording and viewing recorded channels
and navigating the menu options might be more difficult for older and younger
people.

Education: The Sky + system assumes that anyone using the system can read as all
the instructions and messages are in text with no graphical representations to help
less educated users make use of the system.

Income: The Sky + system is flexible enough to allow a wide range of users with
different incomes use it. It does this by providing flexibility in the number of
channels available to users giving users with less income the ability to choose only
the packages they want or can afford.

Disabilities: I don’t think the Sky + system was designed to accommodate a wide
range of user disabilities. In some cases there are no options for users with certain
disabilities to use the system, e.g. there is no way a user with dexterity impairment
can use the system as all the tasks are carried out using the hands to control the
remote. In other cases, options are provided for users with disabilities but the
options are not effective enough, for example there is an audio description option
on the system but the system does not consider how a blind person living alone can
navigate to reach this option or even choose the channel which they want to view.
Some disability options work really well such as the subtitle function which is
provided for users with hearing impairments.

Display:

The display of a system is a very important factor which affects the usability of the
system. There are a number of factors to consider when analyzing the display of a
system, these include legibility, contrast, use of colours and dialogue styles.

I believe the Sky + display is very good, texts are very legible and it is consistent
with the use of colours. The display pattern is usually white text on a blue
background which provides a very good contrast. The only problem is that there are
colour coded buttons (red, yellow, green and blue) which are used in selecting
options either while viewing or navigating the menu system. If a user is colour-blind,
it will be difficult for them to make choices because they won’t know what button
they are meant to press to select their desired option.

The dialogue styles used in the Sky + system are mainly menus which provides user
with a set of options for them to make a choice from, function keys in which
commands are given to the system by pressing special keys or a combination of
keys and lastly direct manipulation in which the user performs actions on a visible
object, in this case the remote control [6]

Conclusion:

There are a number of other factors that can be considered when analyzing an
interactive television system such as the Sky + system. These include the distance
of the TV from the users which will vary in different households and has to be
considered when designing aspects such as text sizes. The amount of information
put on the interface should also be kept to a minimum to prevent the attention
conflict when the user is switching between trying to use the remote control and
watching the TV.
Considering there is no such thing as a perfect design or an average user, I believe
the design of the Sky + system is satisfactory and has room for a number of
improvements.

References

[1] ISO 9241 -Ergonomics of human-system interaction (part 11 -guidance on

Usability) -1998

[2]ISO/IEC FDIS 9126-Software Engineering -Product Quality (part 1 -Quality model)

-2000

[3]Jordan, P. (1998) - An introduction to usability.

[4]Nielsen, J. (1993)-Usability engineering.

[5]Lehto, Mark R., and James R. Buck (2008)-Introduction to Human Factors and
Ergonomics for Engineers.

[6]Wickens, C.D., Lee, J. D., Liu, Y., & Gordon Becker, S. E. (2004)-An Introduction to
Human Factors Engineering.