HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

Assignment #1 - TV Remote and TV Observing Everyday Interactions (TV Remote and Your TV) Individual Assignment: 20% Due Date: February 17, 2020 The purpose of this assignment is to give you further practice in observing how other people interact with an everyday device, trying to perform a well-defined task, and to reflect on why some devices are simple to use, and others are hard to use. For this assignment, observe your classmates or two to three willing persons using a TV remote to access the main control, and configure the settings. Write down the steps involved (like a simplified task analysis), and then inspect the interface and the interaction for anything that would pose a problem for the user in completing the tasks. You should focus on the human capabilities of the user such as perceptual abilities (or disabilities); cognitive or mental processing, including memory; and physical movements or responses. How does the physical device, the screen, the buttons, the int

Running head: HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION
Human Computer Interaction
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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Observational Methods:...................................................................................................................3
Observations:...................................................................................................................................4
Heuristic Approach to Explain the Problem:...................................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................6
References:......................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction:
Technology has developed considerably in the past few decades and continues to grow
further. We are most familiar with certain technologies and one of them is the television. With
the invention of this technology, there has been huge change in the perspective of the lifestyle,
education and other social aspects. For this assignment we have considered 2017 Samsung Q7 55
inch Television (Lazar, Feng & Hochheiser, 2017).
Figure 1: Samsung Q7 55inch television with all port box.
Source: Google Image
The television is kept in the living room of the and the remote is used from the sofa
placed 7 feet away from the Television set. The remote is used for the purpose of the purpose of
controlling the functionalities of the smart television along with the other smart home
functionalities. The Smart television is also capable of connecting to the Wi-Fi and can be used
as a computing device. The user can make use of the Bluetooth keyboard for the purpose of
typing, apart from this, there is an on-screen-key board for the purpose of typing (Hansen et al,
2020).

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A smart remote is often used by the user for accessing the Television, however,
smartphones can be used as a remote as well. The user can use the technology for the purpose of
live streaming as well. For the purpose of the assignment, we have taken permission from the
user such that we can record his activities.
Figure 2: Interacting with the Smart TV
Source: Google Image
Observational Methods:
The User who is observed is a professional gamer along with an Information technology
professional.
For the purpose of the observation we have placed a camera in his living room with his
permission for 24 hours. We have asked the user to perform his day to activities on the TV which
includes the gaming sessions, work and entertainment.
While he was performing the activities certain observations were taken which is
discussed in the section below.

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Observations:
We have seen that the User is connected with the system throughout the day. The
observations achieved with the camera are listed according to the tasks. The user chose gamming
as the task to complete the action.
Gaming session: While gaming, the initially the system was working fine. All of a
sudden it stopped working, and the Television shut down. This continually happened for the next
three to four times this the time after which the used decided to shut the television. He restarted
the application but the issue kept on occurring. It is observed that the TV was not responding to
the remote or the smart phone. However this problem persisted.
Figure 3: Gaming on the Smart TV
Source: Google Image
Heuristic Approach to Explain the Problem:
This is an approach for the purpose of the usability engineering with the help of users for
the identification of problem related to the device which are used by them. The effectiveness of
the process can be improved by this method (Shneiderman et al., 2016). The heuristic approach
is explained with the help of the following example.

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The task was easy to perform as throughout the day we are glued to the technologies and
the ease of understanding problem is much more due to this (Zhong & Yang, 2020). Any lag in
the performance of the system is easily understood and analysing becomes much easier.
Figure 4: Abrupt Shutting down of the System
Source: Google Image
A Samsung Q7 55 inch Television is put to the evaluation by a tester. The person is set to
determine the operations different functioning of the TV. After using, the TV was running
smooth for the Netflix, and normal television show however, while the user started gaming, the
television started to malfunction by shutting down repeatedly (Ehrenbrink, 2020). The Efficiency
of the television was disrupted. According to the usability heuristics, “The Interface should be
flexible transforming itself between a novice user and an advanced user. One frequents this
option while installing a new software that asks if the user wants to go ahead with default
installation or custom installation.” A software must be flexible enough to interchange between
different functioning. This marks the efficiency of the system. The remote fails to detect the

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television as well at certain time. As a facility of the Samsung Q7 television, the system is
compatible to the smartphones as well, but the system fails to respond there too. This is a failure
according to the Norman’s Usability Heuristics which states that a device should be consistent
and maintain certain standards. According to this, the television should work and perform
equally for all the functionality that is available in the device.
Conclusion:
Hence it can be concluded that with the development of the technology the interaction of
the user with the technology has increased as well. For the smart television Samsung Q7 55
inch, there are multiple features which glues the user to the system. If any part of the system, that
is monitor, key boards (physical and virtual) or the remote malfunctions, the entire service is
hampered. Without efficiency, the technology is most likely to fail. Thus after understanding the
places where the users are facing difficulties the system can be developed accordingly.

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References:
Ehrenbrink, P. (2020). Smart TV Study—System Errors. In The Role of Psychological
Reactance in Human–Computer Interaction (pp. 93-104). Springer, Cham.
Hansen, P., Morrison, G. M., Zaman, A., & Liu, X. (2020). Smart technology needs smarter
management: Disentangling the dynamics of digitalism in the governance of shared solar
energy in Australia. Energy Research & Social Science, 60, 101322.
Lazar, J., Feng, J. H., & Hochheiser, H. (2017). Research methods in human-computer
interaction. Morgan Kaufmann.
Shneiderman, B., Plaisant, C., Cohen, M., Jacobs, S., Elmqvist, N., & Diakopoulos, N.
(2016). Designing the user interface: strategies for effective human-computer interaction.
Pearson.
Zhong, B., & Yang, F. (2020). From Entertainment Device to IoT Terminal: Smart TV Helps
Define the Future Living in Smart Home. In Handbook of Research on Managerial
Practices and Disruptive Innovation in Asia (pp. 128-146). IGI Global.