Evaluating interactive multimedia products for the home

Multimedia information systems, supplied on CD-ROM, are fast becoming a popular consumer product. A huge and growing range of titles is available from high street computer, electrical goods and book shops. In an attempt to provide a compact set of evaluation criteria for these products, established methods in the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-assisted learning (CAL) and information retrieval are considered. The needs and desires of the home user are substantially different from those of the work place or education user. Observations from product use, and an interview study with home multimedia users, suggests that factors such as aesthetics, levels of interactivity and information content may be crucially important in user satisfaction. Factors such as interface clarity and consistency may be less important than in work place systems.