Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
Case Study - TiVo™
Carrie A. Sitz, Tamerat Aligaz, Petr Chadraba, Kim Lewandowski - DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445 - Professor Daniel Mittleman
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Inquiry Analysis Team
Carrie Sitz – Human-Computer Interaction, DePaul CTI
csitz@depaul.edu
Tamerat Aligaz – Human-Computer Interaction, DePaul CTI
taligaz@students.depaul.edu
Petr Chadraba – Human-Computer Interaction, DePaul CTI
pchadraba@depaul.edu
Kim Lewandowski – Human-Computer Interaction, DePaul CTI
klewandowski@students.depaul.edu
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Report Contents
Introduction
Stakeholders
TiVo User Profile
Interview Analysis
Focus Group Analysis
Survey Analysis
Final Recommendations
Appendix A – Recommendations Matrix
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Introduction
TiVo Inc. is a provider of technology and services for digital video recorders (DVRs). The
company has developed a subscription-based television service (the “TiVo service”) that allows
consumers to record, watch, and control television. The TiVo service also offers the television
industry a platform for advertisers, content delivery, and audience research. The TiVo service
requires a TiVo-enabled DVR or set-top box. These may be purchased at major consumer
electronics retailers throughout the United States or through the company’s Web site. Many
currently available TiVo-enabled DVRs are broadband-enabled and offer customers the ability to
enjoy digital music and photos.
Key elements of the TiVo strategy revolve around continued investment in technology, research
and development, and innovation; partnering with service providers; extending and protecting
their intellectual property; continued promotion and leverage of the TiVo brand; and improving
profitability, market-share, and financial strength. TiVo Inc.’s financial strength and ability to
adapt to the current market and economic conditions are dependent in part on its generation of
cash flow, effective management of working capital, funding commitments, and other obligations,
as well as the growth of its business.
The DVR market is rapidly evolving and expected to face significant competition. Moreover, the
market for in-home entertainment is intensely competitive and subject to rapid technological
change. As a result of this intense competition, TiVo Inc. believes that the principal competitive
factors in the DVR market are brand recognition and awareness, functionality, ease of use,
availability, and pricing. This study will specifically focus on functionality and ease of use with
the goal of uncovering what is working and what isn’t working for TiVo’s first-generation product
in order to draft some requirements and recommendations for a second-generation TiVo product.
TiVo Two will be a next-generation home television recording and playback technology offering
the existing services of recording, pausing, and rewinding live television, as well as slow-motion
playback. It will include all of the features of the current generation TiVo products, as well as an
enhanced AI engine that anticipates what the user would probably want to watch (based on past
viewing habits) and records those shows for the user. Another significant difference between
TiVo and TiVo Two will be an increased amount of available hard-disk space.
TiVo Two’s interface will be integrated with the user’s television screen, similar to TiVo’s firstgeneration product line. The user will interact with TiVo Two using a remote control and receive
feedback via his or her television screen, similar to TiVo’s first-generation product line. The
development of TiVo Two will allow for a complete revisiting of the existing first-generation
product line to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the system in order to draft
requirements for TiVo Two. Our goals were to profile, interview, and survey existing users of the
TiVo technology to determine requirements for TiVo Two. The following document outlines the
research methods and strategies that we employed in doing so. It also includes the
comprehensive databased results of this research, as well as our final recommendations for TiVo
Two. All of our final recommendations are based on our databased results.
Our research methods included a series of user interviews, a user-based focus group, and a Webbased survey. Our series interviews of current TiVo users revealed insights into what these
target users like and dislike about the existing TiVo interface, as well as features they would like
to see added to and/or omitted from the TiVo system. The topics covered in our focus group
were based the research gathered in the interviews. The objective of our focus group was to
determine how our target users’ current TiVo usage activities may motivate the opinions revealed
during the interviews. We also extracted feedback concerning the types of feature modifications
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
and completely new features that current TiVo users would like to see in an upgrade to the TiVo
system. In our Web-based survey, the goal was to clarify the user feedback acquired during our
interviews and focus group and to refine the feature specifications that were derived from this
feedback. In particular, through the survey we learned more about usage patterns and about
TiVo users’ feelings about what features they would find most helpful and be most likely to use.
In the following, you will find an overview of each of our research methods and the data that was
gathered through each of these methods. At the end of this document, you will find our specific
recommendations, which were based on the data we derived through our research.
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HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Stakeholders
Following is a preliminary list of the stakeholders in the development of TiVo Two. Certainly, the
project’s success will ultimately depend on user adoption of the new system; however, there are
many other groups of people that hold a stake in this project’s success.
1) Users (current TiVo and potential TiVo Two users): Users could enjoy a more
satisfactory and easy usage experience through an enhanced interface.
2) Owners of TiVo, Inc.: Their revenue is dependant upon the success/failure of the
release of TiVo Two.
3) Skip Commershel (VP of Development): His job and reputation could be dependant
upon the success/failure of the release of TiVo Two.
4) Product Developers: These people must build TiVo Two according to the established
requirements.
5) TiVo Marketing and Public Relations Staff: These people are required to promote
TiVo Two new product features. They (and the company as a whole) will benefit from
any increased customer base resulting from TiVo Two’s enhancements.
6) Vendors/Merchants Selling the TiVo Product: Their revenue is partially dependant
upon the success/failure of the release of TiVo Two.
7) Service Technicians and Customer Support Staff: They will be required to maintain
the functionality of the enhanced TiVo Two for all users.
8) Advertisers: They will be concerned with the TiVo Two’s viewership and the visibility of
their marketing efforts within the system.
9) Television Stations and Cable Companies: These organizations make their
programming data available to the TiVo Two system for download by customers. They
have existing relationships with advertisers and sponsors that should be honored by the
TiVo Two system.
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DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
TiVo User Profile
(Employed in selecting interview, focus group, and survey participants)
Sex: Male or Female
Age: Youth to Middle-Aged (10 to 50 years of age)
Race/Ethnicity: Any
Language Spoken: Primarily English
Income: Any
Education: Any Level
Family Status: Any
Television Experience: Beginner to Expert Level; Must have previously used a television with
remote control
Television Usage: Watches television at least 5 hours per week
DVR (e.g., TiVo) Experience: Beginner to Expert Level
Computer Experience: Beginner to Expert Level
Internet Experience: Beginner to Expert Level
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DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Interview Analysis
Intent and Implementation
Our team interviewed four individuals about their experiences using the current TiVo system. All
of the individuals were existing users of the system who fit our established User Profile. All
interviews were conducted face-to-face, and the duration of each interview was 20 to 30
minutes. Each of us followed a script that we had prepared for our interviews. After welcoming
and thanking our interviewees for their participation, we informed them that the interview would
be recorded (via note-taking) and that all responses would be kept confidential. Each of us
strived to keep our interviews conversational.
The main goal of our interviews was to determine requirements for TiVo Two’s interface by
gathering information on how existing TiVo customers use the system, what they like and dislike
about the current system, and what they would or wouldn’t like in an upgrade to the system.
The questions and responses were organized according to the following categories: aesthetic,
economic, cultural, technological, temporal, environmental, security, learnability, feedback/error
prevention/error recovery, and user control/freedom and consistency. All of the data we
collected from our interviews was qualitative, so we put each interviewee’s respective responses
into a matrix representing our primary research areas for ease of analysis.
Results Data
Based on our results, we can say that the users whom we interviewed are happy overall with
their purchases of the TiVo system. While each interviewee did identify different aspects of the
TiVo system that he or she enjoyed or would like to see improved, they all agreed that TiVo
saves them time and gives them the freedom to watch their favorite shows at their convenience.
Concerning specifics of the physical interface, all of the interviewees shared the same view
regarding the physical design of the TiVo set-top box. They all commented that it was too big
and that they felt the TiVo box should be slimmer. Concerning TiVo’s remote control, three out
of four of our interviewees had opinions on how to improve it. They suggested rearranging some
of the buttons and having buttons where the icons do not rub off.
Concerning TiVo’s features, there was consensus among the interviewees that it is new and
improved features, not cost, that would drive their interest in purchasing an upgrade to the
current TiVo system. As far as current features go, our interviews cited the Record and
Commercial-Skip features as their most used. In addition, regarding the feature whereby TiVo
makes programming recommendations to the user, our interviewees’ responses were mixed on
whether or not they would like to be automatically notified of these recommendations. One
interview suggested the option to enable/disable this feature at will.
We also posed the option of having an individual user account/folder for storing record shows.
Three out of four interviews exhibited at least some interest in this option. Further, we asked if
they find it helpful to have their recorded shows organized into categories. Most of our
interviews indicated that they do not. However, when asked whether they would be interested in
custom-creating categories for their recorded shows, at least half of our interviewees indicated
that this would interest them. Our interviewees also seemed split on whether they would like to
organize their recorded shows by day of the week, but there was a 100% favorable response
that they would like to organize recorded episodes of the same show chronologically (oldest to
newest and vice versa).
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HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Regarding TiVo’s screen interface, most of our interviews sit between 5 and 15 feet from the
screen. One interviewee felt the text size on the screen was too big, while another thought it
was too small. The lack of consensus about the text size lends itself to the idea of having the
text size be customizable to fit a user’s particular needs or preferences.
We also asked a question to discern what kind of help guide would be most useful to our
interviewees: on-screen, printed, CD-ROM, or DVD. All four of our interviewees indicated that an
on-screen help guide would be their preference.
Additionally, we asked our interviewees whether they would like a continual indicator of how
much hard-drive space they have remaining for recording shows. All four of them said that they
would want this. However, when asked where they would like to see this indicator located, the
responses were extremely varied. For this reason, we decided to focus on this question more
pointedly in our subsequent focus group and survey.
All of the aforementioned results gave us a great start to understanding how people use the
current TiVo system and what they like or do not like about the interface. In our subsequent
focus group, and then survey, we dug deeper into these areas to build a more concrete
understanding of the needs and desires of TiVo’s users.
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Focus Group Analysis
Intent and Implementation
The intent of our focus group was to shape a clearer understanding of the wants and needs of
TiVo’s target audience. In our interviews, we learned what TiVo users like and dislike about the
existing TiVo interface, as well as what features they would like to see added to or omitted from
the TiVo system. During our focus group, we learned how TiVo users’ current usage activities
motivate these opinions about the types of feature modifications and new features that they
would like to see in an upgrade to the TiVo system.
We conducted our focus group in a private meeting room at the Chicago Public Library’s
Edgewater branch. In advance of the session, we had prepared our questions and written a
script for our moderator to use when leading the session. We set up a video camera and an
audio recorder to tape the proceedings for our later use in analyzing the results. We also
provided refreshments for our four attendees, as well as pens and paper for them to make use of
throughout the session. After a brief introduction and the signing of consent forms by our
attendees, the moderator began the focus group. We also had two observers taking notes, as
well as an assistant moderator who communicated with the moderator, wrote participant
thoughts and suggestions on a dry-erase board, and passed out materials throughout the
session. In the end, our focus group yielded a large amount of valuable data and responses.
The primary challenge that we had faced in organizing the session was by far getting enough of
our recruits to attend the session. On the day of the focus group, we had a difficult time finding
replacements for our original recruits at the last minute. We learned that one of the keys to
conducting a successful focus group is to over-recruit to compensate for any unexpected drop in
the number of attendees.
The results that we obtained from the focus group were primarily qualitative. We transcribed the
audiotape of our session and poured through the group’s responses to find areas of general
agreement on what features and modifications our attendees revealed that they would most like
to see in an upgraded version of TiVo based on how they currently use the system. We also had
posed a number of additional Likert scale questions, which yielded some quantitative data for us.
These questions asked about the importance of certain features to our attendees. Both of these
forms of data combined clarified our understanding of TiVo’s target audience, how they use the
TiVo system, and how their manners of usage drive their like and dislikes and their ideas for
changing the system.
Results Data
TOPIC ONE – TiVo Features
Based on the Feature Prioritization Exercise performed during our focus group as well as verbal
comments from each attendee on his or her favorite features, the following emerged as the most
important among TiVo’s current features: Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Replay, Slow-Motion
Playback, and Record. In addition, half of our attendees pinpointed the “Save to VCR” feature as
being the least important to them. One reason offered was that TiVo is typically purchased to
eliminate the need to record TV programming through a VCR.
Among the potential new TiVo features posed to our focus-group attendees, “individual user
accounts” and the “chronological organization of program episodes” received the highest
approval. In addition, the concept of accessing your e-mail or the Internet through TiVo met
universal disapproval.
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DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
TOPIC TWO – TiVo Remote Control
Overall, there was a general satisfaction with TiVo’s remote control among the attendees. One
attendee commented, and the others agreed, that the remote control seems distinctive enough
to be easily identified as the “TiVo” remote. Some changes were suggested to improve the
remote control, but they were extremely varied. For this reason, we focused heavily on this
aspect of TiVo in our subsequent survey in order to clarify how, if at all, the TiVo remote control
should be improved in the next version of the system.
TOPIC THREE – TiVo Set-Top Box
There was consensus among the focus-group attendees was that TiVo’s set-top box is too
“bulky”. In general, they felt that it could be slimmer, especially given that its functionality does
not actually require such a large box. There was also some agreement concerning the
suggestion that basic functional buttons (e.g., play, record, etc.), similar to those on the TiVo
remote control, be added to the set-top box as an alternate way to interact with the system.
TOPIC FOUR – TiVo Hard-Drive Indicator and AI Engine
Hard-Drive Indicator (Storage-Space Indicator)
The focus-group attendees rated the importance of having more storage space within TiVo as
very high. On a Likert Scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very important,” the average response was
a 4.25/4.5 (one attendee waffled between a rating of 4 and 5). Next, they all indicated that they
would find a hard-drive indicator, alerting them of their remaining storage capacity, as something
that would be useful to them. As for where this indicator should be placed, there was consensus
that it should be located on the TiVo screen, although the responses were not a clear enough to
determine exactly where that indicator should be placed. For this reason, this particular topic
was also focused upon heavily in our subsequent survey of TiVo users. It was mentioned by one
attendee that if more storage space were made available, the organization of recorded programs
(such as user account folders and customized categories) would likely become more important to
users.
AI Engine (TiVo’s System for Making Program Recommendations)
When asked to rate TiVo’s recommendations-making feature, the attendees indicated that,
overall, it was not very important to them. On a Likert Scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very
important,” the averaged response was a 2.5. Of note, however, the break down of the
responses was 3, 1, 3, and 3. This shows that only one respondent truly rated the feature as not
important. The other three were merely lukewarm about the feature. When asked for
suggestions on how TiVo could better present recommendations to them, there were no concrete
ideas for improvement offered. Again, it is because of this lack of clarity that we also focused
strongly on this particular as well in our subsequent survey.
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DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Survey Analysis
Intent and Implementation
The intent of our Web-based survey was to further our understanding of current TiVo users’
needs and wants concerning TiVo Two. Our survey was formed based on the feedback we had
received during our interviews and focus group. After processing the data that was acquired
during the interviews and focus group, we designed our survey to expand upon pre-existing
knowledge while shedding new light on previously revealed user requirements. The survey
questions addressed the popularity of current features, possible improvements upon current
features, as well as potential new features.
To begin, a paper-based pilot survey was administered to 12 participants. This pilot survey
contained a wide range of questions dealing concerning programming recommendations, the
organization of recorded programs, user accounts, customization abilities, and a help guide/TiVo
support, the physical design of the remote control, and the implementation of a storage-capacity
indicator. Based upon feedback received during this pilot session, we trimmed the survey down
to 32 questions and administered the final version in an on-line format.
Our survey was created using DePaul ITD’s QuickData2 software. At the close of the survey, the
software provided us with an Excel spreadsheet of data from which to do our calculations and
analyses. The survey also allowed us to check for errors as well as missing data within the
spreadsheet.
Our survey was administered to 31 participants, all current or previous TiVo users, over the
course of one week. Participants were recruited by word of mouth, via a posting on the craigslist
TV Forum, and through e-mails directed at known TiVo users.
The greatest challenge we faced in conducting our survey was recruiting participants. Much like
the focus group, we had to ask twice the target number of participants in order to achieve that
target number. Members of craigslist were rather skeptical of our motives, so we received less
than a handful of responses from their TV Forum. In addition, due to the on-line nature of our
survey, it was difficult to confirm participation from those we had asked—i.e., many people
committed to taking the survey for us; however, we could not confirm whether they actually had
done so. Further, unlike a paper survey, we were not able to confirm participation by having the
survey filled out in front of us.
The final results were tabulated in an Excel spreadsheet and converted to graphs and charts for
interpretation, providing us with quantitative data with which to finalize our recommendations.
Listed below are our recommendations and the data behind these recommendations. Ultimately,
the survey furthered our understanding of current TiVo users’ needs and wants, helping to paint
a clearer picture of how to improve upon the current TiVo system.
Results Data
Based on the data collected from the first five survey questions, TiVo should keep the
programming recommendations feature as part of the TiVo system but make some changes to
better meet the needs of the users, including the following:
•
•
•
•
Keep the recommendations feature
Add an enable/disable option to the recommendations feature
Add a hot button to the TiVo remote that takes the user to the recommendations
Add a special/dedicated recommendations page to the TiVo interface
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Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
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HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Question
1. Do you currently use TiVo’s
recommendations feature?
2. Please rate how helpful you feel TiVo’s
recommendations are for you.
3. If given the choice, would you keep the
recommendation-making feature in your TiVo
system?
4. Would you find it useful to be able to
enable/disable the recommendations feature
at will?
5. Which of the following do you feel is the
best way for TiVo to show you its
recommendations?
Result
Yes: 45%
No: 55%
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.16
Yes: 56%
No: 44%
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 3.48
Automatic pop-up of recommendations on
screen when turning on TiVo: 3 responses
When pushing a “Recommendations” button
on the remote control: 13 responses
Display of recommendations on the main
menu (TiVo Central): 3 responses
Display of recommendations on the “Now
Playing” page: 1 responses
Display of recommendations on the “Record”
page: 0 responses
Display of recommendations on a
specific “Recommendations” screen: 11
responses
Based on the data collected from Questions 6–11, TiVo should consider improving the
organization options for recorded programming since not many users are presently using this
feature. However, the majority of the survey participants indicated that it is important to them to
be able to organize their recorded programming.
•
•
•
•
Improve options for organization of recorded programming
Add an option to custom-create categories and genres for recorded shows
Add an option that organize shows by days of the week
Add an option that organizes shows chronologically by episode
Question
6. Do you currently organize the shows you’ve
recorded through TiVo in any particular order?
7. If you do currently organize the shows that
TiVo records for you, how do you typically
organize them?
Result
Yes: 39%
No: 61%
•
Chronologically by date recorded
•
In alphabetical order by name
•
By category/genre (e.g., comedy,
drama)
•
By episode (grouping together of
episodes of the same show
8. Please rate the importance of being able to
organize your recorded shows.
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.87
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Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
9. How interested would you be in organizing
your recorded shows by day of the week?
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.48
10. How interested would you be in ordering
all episodes of a recorded show chronologically
(actually seeing the air dates)?
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 3.23
11. How interested would you be in the ability
to custom-create your own categories and
genres for your recorded shows?
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.87
Based on the data collected from Questions 12–14, TiVo should consider adding an individual
account option for those that are interested. The data indicated that our participants have mixed
feelings about this feature but that some are very interested.
•
•
•
Add the option for users to create individual accounts/folders that store their shows
Add the option for users to password-protect these accounts so they can remain private
Add the option for users to share their accounts/folders with others using the same the
TiVo system
Question
12. How interested would you be in having
your own individual user account/folder for
storing your recorded shows?
13. How interested would you be in having
this user account/folder be private (passwordprotected)?
14. How likely would you be to share your
individual folder with others using the same
TiVo system?
Result
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.81
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.45
4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.35
Based on the data collected from Questions 15–16, TiVo should consider adding some options for
customizing both the text size and the look of the TiVo interface. The data indicates that our
participants have mixed feelings about this feature but that some (more than one-third) are ‘very’
or ‘quite interested’.
•
•
Add option to customize the text size on the TiVo interface
Add option to customize interface look (color, background, etc.)
Question
15. How important do you think the ability to
customize the text size on the TiVo screen is?
16. How interested would you be in having the
ability to customize the look of the TiVo screen
(for example, changing the background color)?
Result
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.45
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.55
Based on the data collected from Questions 17–18, TiVo should consider adding an on-screen
help guide, since only two of the survey participants indicated that it is ‘not likely at all’ that they
would use this feature. Although the majority of the participants indicated that they are
‘somewhat likely’ to take advantage of this feature, we feel that this is indication enough to
implement the feature in the next version of TiVo.
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Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
•
•
Add an on-screen help guide feature to TiVo with a dedicated interface or screen
Add a hot button on the remote that takes the user directly to the help-guide screen
Question
17. How likely would you be to use an onscreen help guide?
18. Which of the following do you feel is the
best location for an on-screen help guide?
Result
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 2.52
Display of help guide option on the main menu
(TiVo Central): 6 responses
Display of help guide on a specific “Help
Guide” screen: 8 responses
Display of help guide option in all TiVo
screens: 1 responses
Pop-up display of help guide when
pushing a “Help” button on the remote
control: 16 responses
Based on the data collected from Questions 19–24, TiVo should consider keeping the remote as
it is now. However, data from the earlier help-guide and recommendations questions indicated
that a few new buttons should be added to the remote. It is our recommendation that TiVo keep
the remote as similar as possible to the existing remote but run some prototype usability testing
to determine the best location to place the hot buttons for the help-guide screen and the
recommendations screen.
•
•
•
•
•
The remote is satisfactory as it is, and the location of the play, pause, and record buttons
should not be moved
Add a hot button to access the help-guide from the remote
Add a hot button to access TiVo recommendations from the remote
Add a hot button to access the storage-level indicator from the remote (see next
questions)
Run prototype usability testing to determine the best location for the new hot buttons
Question
19. Are you satisfied with the location of the
“Record” button on the TiVo remote control?
20. If you are "Somewhat satisfied" or "Not
satisfied at all" with the location of the
"Record" button on the TiVo remote control,
where would you like to see it located?
21. Are you satisfied with the location of the
“Play” button on the TiVo remote control?
22. If you are "Somewhat satisfied" or "Not
satisfied at all" with the location of the "Play"
button on the TiVo remote control, where
would you like to see it located?
23. Are you satisfied with the location of the
“Pause” button on the TiVo remote control?
Result
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 3.13
[Note: There were very few write-in
responses.]
•
Move the Record button to top of
remote
•
Make the Record button bigger
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Average rating: 3.23
[Note: There were very few write-in
responses.]
•
Switch the Play and the Pause
buttons
•
Make the Play button as big as the
Pause button
(4 = Very; 3 = Quite; 2 = Somewhat;
1 = Not at all)
Page 15 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Average rating: 3.29
24. If you are "Somewhat satisfied" or "Not
satisfied at all" with the location of the "Pause"
button on the TiVo remote control, where
would you like to see it located?
[Note: There were very few write-in
responses.]
•
Switch the Pause and the Play
buttons
Based on the data collected from Questions 25–26, we can offer two recommendations
concerning the storage indicator. The first recommendation is that the remote incorporate
another hot button that brings the user straight to a screen indicating the storage level on the
main menu. The second recommendation is that the new TiVo box incorporates an indicator
directly on the set-top box in plain sight that gives a visual cue for the user as to how much
storage they have available without him or her having to do anything.
•
•
•
•
Create a storage-level indicator program (determined from past research data, i.e.,
interviews and focus group)
Add a storage-level indicator to the TiVo set-top box that is visible to the user and could
serve as a quick reference to assess storage availability
Add a storage-level indicator screen to the main menu of the TiVo interface
Add a hot button to the remote that allows quick access to the storage-level indicator
screen
Question
25. If TiVo had an indicator to display how
much storage space was left for recording
shows, where do you feel this indicator would
be best located?
Result
On the main menu (TiVo Central): 12
responses
On the "Record" screen: 6 responses
On a special "Storage-Level Indicator" screen:
5 responses
26. If TiVo had an indicator to display how
much storage was left for recording shows,
which manner of alert do you feel would be
the most helpful in indicating storage-level
status?
On the TiVo box: 8 responses
Alert noise is sounded when storage is low: 4
responses
Indicator always appears on the screen when
TiVo is turned on: 9 responses
Indicator only appears when “Storage-Level
Indicator” button is pressed on the remote
control: 14 responses
Indicator is always visible on the TiVo box: 4
responses
In conclusion, our survey responses successfully refined the insights we acquired during our
interviews and focus group. These insights concern current TiVo users’ attitudes toward
programming recommendations, the organization of recorded programs, user accounts,
customization abilities, TiVo support (via a help guide), the physical design of the remote control,
and the implementation of a storage-capacity indicator. This survey served as the final phase of
feedback iteration and has built upon our knowledge of what TiVo users want from their TiVo
systems, while also strengthening our understanding of their overall needs.
Page 16 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Final Recommendations
The following recommendations are based on the data collected in each of the inquiry methods
implemented: interviews, focus group, and survey. By building on the data collected in the series
of interviews that were conducted, we were able to concentrate our focus group topics on the
issues of major concern. In analyzing our focus group transcript, we were able to concentrate
our survey questions on the issues that continued to be of major concern. Our final
recommendations are, in almost all cases, based on the quantitative data collected in our survey
results, which were clearly supported by both the interviews’ and focus group’s qualitative data.
The final recommendations fall under the seven topics that we covered in the survey: TiVo’s
programming recommendations feature, organization of recorded program, individual user
accounts/folders, interface customization, an on-screen help guide, the remote control, physical
set-top box, and the storage-level indicator. The following are the specific recommendations that
should be considered in the prototyping of TiVo Two. Additional research (low-fidelity and highfidelity prototype usability testing) will be required concerning these recommendations to
determine the best possible specific implementation.
PROGRAMMING RECOMMEDATIONS
• Keep the recommendations feature
• Add an enable/disable option to the recommendations feature
• Add a hot button to the TiVo remote that takes the user to the recommendations
• Add a special/dedicated recommendations screen to the TiVo interface
ORGANIZATION OF RECORDED PROGRAMS
• Improve options for the organization of recorded programming
• Add an option to custom-create categories and genres for recorded shows
• Add an option that organizes shows by days of the week
• Add an option that organizes shows chronologically by episode
INDIVIDUAL USER ACCOUNTS/FOLDERS
• Add the option for users to create individual accounts/folders that store their shows
• Add the option for users to password-protect these accounts so they can remain private
• Add the option for users to share their accounts/folders with others using the same TiVo
system
INTERFACE CUSTOMIZATION
• Add the option to customize the text size on the TiVo interface
• Add the option to customize interface look (color, background, etc.)
ON-SCREEN HELP GUIDE
• Add an on-screen help guide feature to the TiVo with a dedicated interface screen
• Add a hot button on the remote that takes the user directly to the help-guide screen
REMOTE CONTROL
• The remote is satisfactory as it is, and the location of the play, pause, and record buttons
should not be moved
• Add a hot button to access the help-guide from the remote
• Add a hot button to access TiVo recommendations from the remote
• Add a hot button to access the storage-level indicator from the remote
• Run a prototype usability testing to determine the best location for the new hot buttons
Page 17 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
PHYSICAL SET-TOP BOX
• Make the set-top box physically slimmer
STORAGE-LEVEL INDICATOR
• Create a storage-level indicator program
• Add a storage level indicator to the TiVo set-top box that is visible to the user and could
serve as a quick reference to access storage availability
• Add a storage-level indicator screen to the main menu of the TiVo interface
• Add a hot-button to the remote that allows quick access to the storage-level indicator
screen
Page 18 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
Appendix A - Recommendations Matrix
Recommendation
Matrix Category
Keep the recommendations feature
Add an enable/disable option to the
recommendations feature
Add a hot button to the TiVo remote
that takes the user to the
recommendations screen
Add a dedicated recommendations
screen to the TiVo interface
Improve options for organization of
recorded programming
Add an option to custom-create
categories and genres for recorded
shows
Add an option that organizes shows
by days of the week
Add an option that organizes shows
chronologically by episode
Add the option for users to create
individual accounts/folders that
store their shows
Add the option for users to
password-protect these accounts so
that they can remain private
Add the option for users to share
their accounts/folders with others
using the same TiVo system
Add the option to customize the text
size of the TiVo interface
Add the option to customize the
interface look (color, background,
etc.)
Add an on-screen help guide feature
to TiVo with a dedicated interface
screen
Add a hot button on the remote that
takes the user directly to the helpguide screen
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom
User Control and
Freedom
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Learnability
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Learnability/
Consistency
User Control and
Freedom
User Control and
Freedom
User Control and
Freedom
User Control and
Freedom
User Control and
Freedom/
Security
User Control and
Freedom/
Security
User Control and
Freedom/
Security
Environmental/
Aesthetics
Aesthetics/
User Control and
Freedom
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Learnability/
Consistency/Error
Prevention and
Recovery
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Learnability/
Error Prevention
and Recovery
Interview
Supported
Focus Group
Supported
Survey
Supported
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Page 19 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
X
X
DePaul University, CTI, Winter 2005
HCI 445: Sitz, Aligaz, Chadraba, Lewandowski
Contextual Inquiry Case Study - TiVoTM
The remote is satisfactory as it is,
and the location of the play, pause,
and record buttons should not be
moved
Run a prototype usability test to
determine the best location for the
new hot buttons
Make the set-top box physically
slimmer
Create a storage-level indicator
program
Add a storage indicator to the TiVo
set-top box that is visible to the user
and could serve as a quick reference
to access storage availability
Add a storage-level indicator screen
to the main menu of the TiVo
interface
Add a hot button to the remote that
allows quick access to the storagelevel indicator screen
Technological/
Consistency
X
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/Aesthetic
X
X
Aesthetic
X
X
Technological/
Feedback
X
X
Technological/
Feedback
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Feedback/
Learnability/
Consistency
Technological/
User Control and
Freedom/
Learnability
Page 20 of 20
Contextual Inquiry & Analysis – Final Recommendations
X
X
X
X
X