Technology is pretty cool these days, it’s amazing the things it can do. However, being the innovator that I am, I am always looking for a little more. What can we add, what can we modify, how far can this really grow? In this innovative industry, designers need some time to explore how to design more creative and original interfaces. Which brings me to a little gadget you’re probably all too familiar with. From the early days of TiVo onwards… DVRs have been around for a while. But how much has technology really changed or advanced? Do you ever find yourself thinking, “I wish my DVR could…”? Well, I wish my DVR could get to know me. I mean really getting to know myself, well enough to anticipate what I’ll want to watch, when I’ll want to watch it, and what I’ve decided I’m sick of. In my opinion, these interactions have a lot of potential to make the user experience easier, more fun and much more beneficial for the viewer.
To get started, you need to lay a solid foundation by making sure you have a strong user interface, as the user interface is the component that people see and interact with. This is where we design how everything is presented and how everything looks to users. So what exactly would you be exposing if you could? What do I want my DVR to do? And how will this work?
Well, all of this only works if the DVR knows who I am. So it needs to be built in such a way that the DVR asks, “Who’s watching?” To do this, you must create a profile of the people who use the DVR. The user should be prompted to enter the names of the people who live in the house and use the DVR. Why will this work? People are creatures of habit. Mom can watch DVR during the day, one of the kids in the afternoon, dad watches DVR at night, teens watch DVR late at night, etc. For the sake of a successful user interface, this profile menu should be clean, straightforward, and easily accessible.
This will not be an instant effect and at first the DVR may have no idea who to try to default to. But eventually, over time, it will learn your patterns. (Slight variations in patterns shouldn’t change everything overnight, ie someone gets sick and watches DVR all day doesn’t mean everything has changed.) Once my DVR gets to know me a bit, here are some of the things I wish it would do next. I think each of these options has great potential to improve the user experience:
1) Record series premieres: This is especially relevant for genres and related genres that I have indicated I enjoy on my profile. I want my DVR to tell me it’s been recorded and let me indicate if I’m interested in watching it. Then remind me to check it out after a few days. If I’m interested in it and haven’t seen it yet, automatically record additional shows that air in the series.
2) Premieres of the new season: This, again, relates to genres that I have already indicated that I enjoy. Again, I want the DVR to tell me that it has recorded it and let me indicate if I’m interested in watching it. Then again, remind me to check it out after a few days. If I’m interested in it, even if I haven’t seen it yet, I’ll automatically continue to shoot additional shows in the series. I wish you would also ask me about previous seasons to help me catch up before watching a season premiere.
3) Connect me to previous seasons: This would include providing a way that you can start a show from the beginning using Netflix, Hulu, etc. to start from the beginning of the series or pick up where I left off in a show. I want my DVR to give me a quick way to indicate that I’ve already watched an episode or a full season so I can quickly skip to the next episode. At the end of a show in a series, the DVR should give me the option to start the next show automatically.
4) Automatically record “Event Shows”: Now that my DVR knows who I am, it should be able to anticipate what live award shows, major sporting events, etc. that would interest me I want my DVR to keep me up to date on the things that people will be talking about tomorrow.
5) Being smarter about things I’d like to see: Let me rate and review the shows I have watched. That way it knows what shows I like and can suggest other shows I’d like to watch based on the information compared to similar things others have submitted. Other people might like show X and show Y, and I liked show X, so maybe I’ll like show Y. Let me pick the genres I enjoy. (outlined genres) and determine the genres I enjoy by the shows I watch and rate (inferred genera). Use this data to determine shows I might like in the future.
6) Allow me to record programs that I see advertised in commercials: I wish the DVR would give me the option to record a show I’ve never seen when the show is in a commercial. It would be nice to have an option to record that specific episode (for testing) or to record the series. Now I know you’re thinking that the entire transmission medium would have to change to support this kind of technology; but wouldn’t it be interesting to be able to use a “Soundhound” type technology to listen to what program is being shown and then give me the option to record it? This way you don’t have to reinvent the proverbial television transmission mechanism.
7) Use commercials for interaction: Once you’ve built “Soundhound”-like technology into the DVR and can hear what’s being shown, you can now make interactive commercials and ask a few questions, interact on social media, learn more about the person you’re watching, and use it to determine which commercials are being watched and which ones are being skipped or ignored because someone left the room. Okay, call me crazy, but advertisers could now find a way to give users credit on their TV provider’s bill for commercials they actually watch and then rate in real time. Wow, you can feel the paradigm shift…
Netflix decided to release “Netflix Profiles” in an effort to improve the user experience similar to some suggestions I made. They are creating profiles for specific users so that all TV/Movie suggestions are individualized rather than combined as one big group. Barney will not be recommended to you when trying to find a sci-fi movie. Improving this concept even further, you can introduce profiles for a combination of people. (Ex: you and your spouse or you and one of your children) You can combine up to 5 users. Profiles are customizable (profile picture) and it can be synced with Facebook so you can get suggestions based on what your friends see. (Nice job Netflix, way to be creative.)
The thing about technology is that it is constantly changing, adapting, growing and improving. And you? What would you like your DVR to do for you? How advanced do you think this technology can get?