Simple is Better: Smart TV Interface is Equally as Important as its Features
By David Tobia
June 25, 2012
June 25, 2012
As CE devices continue to integrate new features, developers want to make the complexity visible. “But all the features in the world don’t mean a thing if you can’t present them in a welcoming, intuitive way,” argues Sam Grobart in The New York Times.- Grobart cites Samsung’s Smart TVs as an example of a product line with impressive functionality, but often frustrating design. The TVs essentially mimic smartphone designs with floating applications over a background, but while smartphone users can click to launch applications, the approach does not work as well on a television as it creates what Grobart describes as “a new source of confusion right on my screen.”
- Grobart suggests part of the problem may stem from a need to boast impressive functionality. “I can see how this layout came to be,” he writes. “First, a TV like this can do a lot of things, so wouldn’t you want everyone to know all the great things it did? You don’t want to hide your capabilities, so you give many of them pride of place on that opening screen.”
- Whereas smartphones thrive using touch-based systems, “an interface that is based on touch and proximity may not play as well on a TV. Seeing all these options in front of me on a 60-inch screen was almost overwhelming, not simplifying,” he explains.
- Grobart closes with some advice for manufacturers: “If you are going to cram a device full of features, figure out a way to organize things so your users don’t pass out from frustration. The interface is every bit as important as the features. Maybe even more important, actually.”
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