Evaluation of a prototype remote control for digital broadcasting receivers by using semantic differential method

We prototyped an easy-to-use user interface for digital broadcasting receivers whose features are a small number of buttons on the remote control and a consistently operable GUI menu. Two design strategies -- to lower psychological barrier in the initial stage of usage, and to avoid looking down at a remote control -- were adopted on the basis of the usability tests that we conducted. To evaluate the prototype, we conducted experiments using the semantic differential method. Two major components - "functionality" and "appearance"-- were extracted from the results of the principal component analysis. We found that there were significant differences in the each component score between the prototype user interface and a conventional one that had many buttons. The results indicate the effectiveness of our design methodology to develop an easy-to-use user interface.