Gadget interface fatigue: a malady brought on by an increasing number of remotes, keypads, menus, URLs, passwords, and such in the home, and trying to remember the various ways to control them. Results in overwhelmed and frustrated users.
Let?s face it: Users want a way to interact with their digital homes that is more natural, that does not require memorization, and that does not interrupt what they are doing even if it is just relaxing on the couch or lying in bed.
Personica solves the problem of "gadget interface fatigue.
How do you diagnose Gadget Fatigue?
How often do you listen to music? How much time does it take your family members to find the right address? How long does it take you to find the weather for the weekend? In addition to time, how much of a psychological barrier is there to access these services and content?
Listen to your favorite album = approximately 35 seconds + 7 keys
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10 seconds - Walk up to the stereo
2 keys - Turn the stereo on
15 seconds - Find the CD (among the clutter)
10 seconds - Open the cover and insert the CD
5 keys - Fiddle with 4-5 keys to get the right CD to play
Making a telephone call = 50 seconds + 11 keys
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20 seconds Find the telephone (which is charged)
30 seconds Locate the address book
11 keys Dial the number
Check the weather on the Internet = 35 seconds + 5 keys
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30 seconds Walk up to the computer
5 seconds Wake up the computer
5 keys/mouse Locate and get to web site
The complexity/usability crisis is reaching epidemic levels
"...technology remains far too hard for most folks to use and most people can only utilize a tiny fraction of the power at their disposal. Yet companies continue to concentrate on adding features to overstuffed products rather than making the products more usable."
Stephen H. Wildstrom
Technology & You: "Lessons from a Dizzying Decade in Tech," BusinessWeek, June 14, 2004
"...30 percent of home-networking products are returned because consumers cannot get them to work ... We must start making things easier for consumers or we will never see the real promise of the digital revolution come to life."
Gerard Kleisterlee
CEO, Royal Philips Electronics
Speech at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, 2004
"Clearly we're doing something wrong. Instead of making machines easier to use, we're piling on more [features]. It just can't continue; people can't accept it."
Nicholas Negroponte
Founder and Chairman, MIT Media Lab
Wired magazine, May 11, 2004
"Consumer electronics products are becoming more and more complex to operate. Are consumers able to keep up? What are manufacturers (looking across several product categories) doing to ease the learning curve? What is the role of the retail sales force in educating consumers? Are manuals obsolete? Have we reached the point where most consumers rely on online resources, such as forum groups, to answer their questions?"
Abstract of Panel on "Managing Complexity"
at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, 2004
What ingredient is missing to make a Digital Home a reality?
Broadband, low-cost networking devices, and rich media/Internet content are three of the four critical ingredients to enable today's Digital Home. The missing ingredient is EASE OF USE. Personica is a supplier of a revolutionary technology PersonifiedAssistant a life-like friendly interface for the home which simplifies and enhances the user experience in a gadget-driven interface fatigued home.
What is the problem with home telephony?
Home telephony has changed very little over the past 75 years. Most of the features except making a call are difficult to use. Specifically:
- Poor user experience
Many buttons, functions unused - No easy access to information
Quick access to weather, sports scores, alarm, movies, etc., which is easy to use
and does not require IVR/prompting - Cannot add new features for revenue
Dial by name
Voice/instant messaging
Push to talk; talk to talk - No ring tones
Difficult to add new ring tones and customize them to incoming caller; requires
PC knowledge - Phone address book
Need to remember the number; difficult to add new names and numbers - Caller ID
Need to be close to the phone; cannot harvest caller ID's - Features of answering machine are limited
Difficult to access remotely (password, complex menu) - Intercom unused
Difficult to use - Strong competition
Telephone communication is a commodity product
Competition from cell phones, Internet, and email, which have strong multi-media
features
Technology Questions
What is Gadget Fatigue?
How do you diagnose Gadget Fatigue?
The complexity/usability crisis is reaching epidemic levels
What is the problem with home telephony?
What ingredient is missing to make a Digital Home a reality ?