Methods, Evidence, Action? The Case of Digital Television. Dr Jeremy Klein, Head of Public Sector, Generics Group.

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1 Methods, Evidence, Action? The Case of Dr Jeremy Klein, Head of Public Sector, Generics Group EQUAL Conference, 21 January 2004

2 The Case of 1. Context 2. Methods 3. Evidence 4. Action? 2

3 The Case of 1. Context 2. Methods 3. Evidence 4. Action? 3

4 Context Chris Smith announced that Government could be ready to switch off analogue TV between 2006 and 2010 Pace of the transition to Digital TV (DTV) set partly by Government and partly by consumer uptake of digital services Much technical work being undertaken by the DTI/DCMS Project but some danger of the human side being lost Hence our project The Human Aspects of DTV 4

5 The Human Aspects of DTV Project One year project - February 2003 to March 2004 Three reports were to be researched and published: Inclusive design ( Understanding the human side of DTV ( elevision.pdf) Managing the change process (In progress) Our team: Led by The Generics Group, Cambridge Market research conducted by Ipsos Specialist inclusive design input from John Clarkson and Simeon Keates of the Engineering Design Centre at the University of Cambridge 5

6 Terms of Reference for the Inclusive Design report This part of the study will produce a report which will help the objective to encourage and enable the take-up of digital services by viewers with differing needs. Primarily focusing on the issues of inclusive design and usability, it will also identify how appropriate provision of services for people with disabilities can be made. 6

7 We were mainly concerned with Freeview set top boxes 7

8 The politics Rumblings about DTV and accessibility Government needs to be seen to take the issue seriously, but has few teeth It is relying on manufacturers to roll out DTV rapidly, but manufacturers are concentrating on cost reduction and serving the early adopters who tend to be tolerant of usability deficiencies Retailers, meanwhile, are caught trying to give sufficient support for products which are priced as plug and play but are anything but plug and play in use 8

9 Prior to our project The Easy TV Project had indicated usability problems with DTV A lot of committee discussion revolved around anecdotal evidence of difficulties My 80 year old mum There had been pockets of research on disabilities. In particular, RNIB and RNID were involved in access technologies 9

10 There was a consensus to: Roll-up the usability problems faced by people with disabilities and the elderly with the general problem of poor usability for all Concentrate on edge cases : people who were just excluded from being able to use DTV equipment 10

11 The Case of 1. Context 2. Methods 3. Evidence 4. Action? 11

12 Methods 4000 viewers 3 Set Top Boxes 13 elderly or disabled users Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials 12

13 QUEST Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials 4000 people on a regular TV-related panel Self-completion questionnaire Our questionnaire covered many aspects of DTV We included questions on the problems that were believed to exist in relation to set top boxes 13

14 Equipment audit Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials John Clarkson and Simeon Keates analysed three set top boxes for their levels of exclusion The first stage was qualitative - a detailed assessment of the product from the point of purchase The second stage was exclusion analysis. The method relies on decomposing the sensory, dexterity and cognitive demands of the equipment and then working out the proportion of the population without sufficient levels of capability in specified age ranges Base demographic data from the ONS 1996/7 Disability Follow-up Survey 14

Observational trials Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials With John Clarkson and Simeon Keates we observed the challenges and mistakes when trying to undertake

15 Observational trials Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials With John Clarkson and Simeon Keates we observed the challenges and mistakes when trying to undertake pre-defined tasks such as get me to News 24 and find the page with the weather for this region. Individual sessions with 13 elderly and disabled users Conducted both at our laboratories and at a Cambridge day care centre 15

16 The Case of 1. Context 2. Methods 3. Evidence 4. Action? 16

17 Set-up problems Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials Needing to run wiring through the home (satellite and cable only) Difficulties in knowing how to connect up the video recorder Likely users Current users Complications in connecting up all the equipment so that it works Needing to install a new aerial Problems receiving a Digital TV signal 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Percentage of sample pereceiving each issue as a problem Source: Generics / Ipsos Quest survey 17

18 Usability problems Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials Difficult for older people to use Complicated to record Digital channels Difficult for people with special needs to use Concern about having to use multiple remote controls Digital Text being more complicated to use than Teletext Likely to use Current users Problems understanding and using a more complicated remote control Complicated to access advanced services such as TV e- mail Confusing to use interactive features Difficulties controlling which channels my children can watch Confusing to use Digital TV, even for simple TV viewing 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Percentage of sample pereceiving each issue as a problem Source: Generics / Ipsos Quest survey 18

19 Example sources of exclusion Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials Cover to the battery compartment was far too stiff QUIT button could be mistaken for the ON/OFF switch. QUIT seems to be an unnecessarily emotive label to use The labelling of the ON/OFF power button was poor, with little to suggest its important functionality. Activating subtitles. It was necessary to press the MENU button, use the / buttons to navigate to SET UP, press OK, navigate to Languages, press OK, use the / arrow buttons, to select the appropriate language and then use QUIT to exit. Source: Clarkson & Keates 19

20 Example exclusion analysis Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials Self-installation assuming aerial OK High-level activities Medium-level activities Unpack STB Follow instructions Plan cable connections (what goes where) Move components to get access to cable slots Disconnect cables to be moved Place STB near AV components Connect cables in correct order Replace AV components to usual position cut through outer packaging, open box, pick up contents, put down contents, find and recognise instructions open and hold instructions, read instructions, understand instructions match box contents to instructions, identify AV components (e.g. VCR, TV, amplifier, speakers) and cables, plan signal flow, identify cables to be moved grip components, pull forward identify cables, grip and pull them pick up and carry STB, put it down identify cables, identify cable sockets, pick up cables, connect them grip components, push back Estimate of number of people in Great Britain excluded from installation of STB Age motion sensory cognitive Total bands,000s %,000s %,000s %,000s % Source: Clarkson & Keates 20

21 Resulting exclusion data Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials 75+ Analogue (9.0%) Digital (24.7%) 16+ Analogue (2.7%) Digital (7.1%) Number of People Excluded (millions) Source: Clarkson & Keates 21

22 Finding out what s on and selecting a channel Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials 3 Task Frequency Level of Mass Importance Population Sight Hearing Dexterity Cognitive Using channel +/- 1 High buttons Typing in specific 2 channel number High Entering the EPG Understanding navigation method Pressing ^/v buttons to access desired channel Pressing OK button Overall Med Med Med Med High High High High High High High High ( ) 22

23 Observed difficulties Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials The distribution of causes of difficulty Analogue TV Digital TV STB Activity Users having difficulty Motion problems Sensory problems Cognitive problems Number of problems Switching on Changing to a specified channel Channel-hopping Changing volume Using teletext Using subtitles Connecting up the STBs 4 (out of 6) Switching on the television Switching on the STB Changing DTV channels Changing volume Changing to a high channel number Changing channel via the EPG Teletext Subtitles button (STB1) Subtitles menu (STB2) BBCi Switching off Source: Clarkson & Keates 23

24 Further problems identified Viewer Questionnaire (QUEST) Equipment audit Observational trials Timeout Short/long distance vision One click or two? A number of problems related to poor interaction design Subtitles accessed through three levels of menus on one box 24

25 The Case of 1. Context 2. Methods 3. Evidence 4. Action? 25

26 TV is always exclusionary to some extent but Digital TV is always more exclusionary than Analogue TV Stage Exclusion Analogue Digital Purchase, installation and set-up 14% 15.1% Basic use 2.7% 7.1% Advanced use 5.1% 8.7% Source: Clarkson & Keates 26

27 Why DTV is exclusionary for basic use DTV is more reliant on remote controls and on-screen menus, even for basic use This leads to several problems: Cognitive challenge: you have to be able to understand the screens, instructions and how you are expected to interact Requires much more interaction: difficult for visually impaired and people with dexterity problems Requires constant re-focusing between screen and remote control: sometimes entails change of spectacles Invokes an interaction paradigm drawn from personal computers - not always intuitive or familiar in the context of TV 27

28 Our recommendations covered: Improving awareness and understanding of DTV Improving the purchase process Improving instructions for installation and use Improving equipment functionality and performance Improving system interaction design and interaction design for broadcast content Improving remote control design Address STB-specific problems Providing one-to-one support 28

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