Usability comments / discussion

[NigelSenior]

Folks,
a few comments for discussion here. Personally I found myself falling into the lolly shop worker problem here - I want it all - which in the end really means a browser on the BW.

After some thought though I realized from a usability perspective this would not work - browsers are for PC's not PVR's. That is it takes me as long to fire up the BW as a PC and the human interface on the PVR (keyboard) is too clumsy.

A lot of gadgets / widgets lend themselves well to the "always turned on mode" - if my device is running and always available at the tap of a key then looking up the weather is quick Some people I know leave a PC on 24/7 but my wife would kill me. But thats not the BW.

So where is the BW useful - when you want some information while your watching e.g.

Weather for tomorrow at the end of the night
Weather radar while watching programs - feel that front come in
Program information for timers (IMDB)

Generally I think this points to information that fits the BW context namely

Wiz related - config, BW news etc
Program related - timers, guide
Watching TV - News

If we attempt to go beyond this kind of scope we run the risk of build a lot of good but useless stuff.

Hope this stimulates some discussion.

cheers

Nigel

[IanSav]

Hi Nigel,

The problem on deciding on content for WizTV is that many users will have different requirements for content. While some topics will be of a general interest I can see that at some point WizTV will need to grow a facility that allows users to configure, or at least select, topics and information that will most suit themselves and then limit WizTV to those nominated categories.

Regards,
Ian.

[Raid]

Nigel

I couldn't agree more.

The one thing that we (users) don't have is an understanding of is what can or can not be done. When I suggested the Weather Radar I was not thinking about a browser interface, but something that would cycle through images, some basic and simple. Frankly, I expected a lot of heat from my suggestion.

I think many users were not just expecting a PC browser but Streaming Video, Vodcasts or some way of receiving subscription based content.

There is always a risk with any new product or feature that it will be overhyped, not by its creators here, but by people?s imagination. What will this button do!

I would really like to hear from the platform creators, so that they could give us some parameters to work within.

T