IMAT 5209 - Interactive System Usability Evaluation: Human Factors

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human factors in interactive system design, focusing on the usability evaluation of television remote controls. It begins by describing the interactive system and its users, followed by use cases illustrating user interaction. The evaluation methodology centers on the tuning process, highlighting the importance of understanding remote control button functions and the transmission of infrared signals. The report details the evaluation process, including feedback from customers on test samples, addressing issues such as sensitivity, button functionality, and design preferences. It emphasizes the significance of incorporating customer feedback to improve the design and functionality of remote controls, ensuring they meet user expectations. The document concludes by underscoring the importance of addressing customer concerns to enhance product satisfaction and organizational growth. Desklib offers this document to assist students in their studies, providing valuable insights into usability evaluation and system design principles.

Running head: HUMAN FACTORS IN SYSTEM DESIGN
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Human Factors in System Design
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Part One: The interactive system and its users
There are many interactive systems in the world today which play a great role in
simplifying different activities in different fields of life. Some of the most common interactive
systems which we interact with in our daily lives include some software applications such as the
CASE tools or games or the e-commerce websites or the photo-editing websites, the electronic
devices such as the remote controls of for televisions, DVDs, digital cameras, car radios, among
other electronic gadgets, the control panels for some appliances such as the home-heating
systems and the microwave ovens, among other interactive systems. In this paper, we shall
discuss the remote controls for televisions which are among the most common interactive
systems in use in the world today. With the ever-rising and advancing technology, different types
of digital televisions have been invented and these televisions are controlled by use of some
interactive remote control systems (Rakib, 2012). With the remote controls, the users can interact
and control their televisions without necessarily using the buttons installed on the televisions to
control their operations. The remote controls have made the televisions very interactive and easy
to use and control and allow the users to control the televisions even when the televisions are
quite a distance from them (within a range of about 20 meters provided there are no physical
barriers between the users and the televisions) (Vatavu, 2012, pp.45-48). Therefore, the remote
controls are very important interactive control systems which enhance the control of the complex
digital televisions in a great way.
Part Two: The use cases
In systems design, use cases define the specific actions or steps followed to achieve a
successful interaction between the users and the interactive systems (Bittner, 2012). For

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successful control of the televisions using the remote control systems, there has to be a
transmission of some infrared radiations from the remote to the infrared light detector in the
television. So, the main step followed by the users to control the operation of their televisions is
pressing the remote controls which allow a beam of infrared radiations to travel from the LED on
the remote to the infrared light detector of the television at the speed of light, and upon reaching
the infrared detector, the detector picks up and makes the television to respond to the command
given by pressing of the remote (Sweatt et al., 2015). In this description, we are not considering
the analog televisions which can’t be controlled by remote controls easily.
Part Three: The evaluation methodology
As already stated, with the ever-rising and advancing technology, the use different types
of digital televisions has also been increasing at an alarming rate. Due to the complexity of most
of the digital televisions, the manufacturers prefer to install the control buttons on the televisions
and also give some remote controls where the users can use either the buttons or the remote
controls depending on their preferences and their capabilities. In this paper, we are more
concerned about the remote controls and so we’ll focus on the evaluation procedures which are
used to confirm the working of the remote controls. To evaluate the performance of the remote
control, we’ll consider the tuning process which is one of the major tasks which are done by the
remote controls. For controlling the operations of the televisions effectively, the users need to
understand the functions of all the buttons in the remote controls and how to apply different
commands to their televisions using the buttons (Jacoby et al., 2011). The tuning process allows
the users to switch from one channel to another and to switch from one operation mode to
another. The tuning process is normally done using the tuning button on the remote controls. The

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main goal which the users try to achieve by using the tuning function is to change from one
channel or one mode to another channel or mode of their interest.
As we know, a remote control has many different buttons where each button has a
different specific function to perform. On pressing each of the buttons, some infrared radiation is
produced by the LED in the remote where it travels to the infrared detector in the television to do
the requested function. Now that all the infrared radiations are similar, there must be a way to
distinguish all the many buttons and their instructions or commands to the infrared light detector
in the television. On pressing of the buttons on the remote, the remote generates a systematic
series of some on/off infrared pulses which signal some binary codes where the binary codes are
different for different commands. The binary codes represent information or instructions given in
form of zeros (0’s) and ones (1’s) which the computers and the digital televisions understand and
use them to perform the requested operations (Liong et al., 2015, pp.3-5). In this case, when the
users press the tuning button with the aim of tuning the televisions or changing the channels from
one channel to another, the instruction is changed into some binary codes which are transmitted
by the infrared radiations to the infrared detector in the television, and the infrared detector
responds by making the television to change from one channel to the other.
Due to the complexity of some digital televisions, some of the remote controls are also
very complex to use and so the buyers or the users of the televisions have to be given some
manuals with all the instructions to follow to know how to operate the televisions (Young and
Wisniewski, 2011). In the designing and manufacturing of the remote controls, the
manufacturers make some test subjects of the remote controls which they test within their
industries and may give some of the test subjects (samples) of the remote controls to their

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customers for them to confirm whether the manufactured remote controls are good and meet
their expectations. After the customers’ feedback, the manufacturers incorporate the customers’
requirements in their design to make sure they’ll produce remote controls which will be highly
interactive, friendly and meeting all the other requirements requested by the customers. It’s after
considering all the demands of the customers and incorporating them in their designs that the
manufacturers release the final versions of the remote controls which meet the customers’
demands (Davis et al., 2012, pp.145-156). The guidelines and the instructions of using the
remote controls outline the functions of all the buttons and how the users should use them to
achieve their desired results.
Part Four: The evaluation
After designing and releasing the test subjects or the samples (the remote control
samples) to the customers to test their performance, the customers use the test subjects or the
samples which can be seen as the trial samples and make all the necessary comments,
compliments, and suggestions on what should be added, removed, or adjusted to make them
better. While testing the remote controls, the users may face many challenges some of which we
witnessed during the evaluation process. Most of the major problems of the test subjects or the
test remote controls result from the fact that the remote controls are not yet fully developed and
so they tend to be very ineffective in controlling the digital televisions (Masanobu, Maeda, and
Watanabe, 2010). Their ineffectiveness is shown by the fact in most cases they lose sensitivity
when trying to connect to the infrared detector of the televisions which means they can’t control
the operation of the televisions effectively. Also, some of the buttons in the remote controls may

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not perform as required which may limit their efficiency and effectiveness in controlling the
operations of the televisions. Another issue which may be raised by the customers when testing
the working of the test samples may be the issue of the sizes, the colors, or the shapes of the
produced remote controls where the customers may not be fully satisfied with the sizes, the
colors, or the shapes of the produced remote controls. Also, we may have some other issues the
issues of the sizes or the colors of some buttons, among other small or big issues. It’s the role of
the manufacturing team to go through all the comments, suggestions, compliments, or complains
raised by all the customers and sit down to see how they will address all these issues for them to
produce the best remote which will consider the demands of almost all the customers. It may be
hard to fulfill the many demands of all the customers, but it’s always advisable to make sure they
consider the demands or the requirements suggested by most of the customers on the test
samples and incorporate them whenever they are preparing the final remote controls to be
released in the market. The customers are among the most important stakeholders in any
organization and for the organization to grow, the manufacturers must consider all the
suggestions of all the customers and implement the common suggestions from most customers
(Lawrence and Weber, 2014). Although it may be hard to fulfill the requirements of all the
customers, it’s always good to make sure more than three-quarters of the requirements of the
customers are met which means the highest percentage of the customers will always remain
happy and satisfied with the products or the services offered by the organizations. After testing
the test subjects of the remote controls, the customers may give their feedback of the comments,
compliments, suggestions, or complains offline or orally by visiting the manufacturers premises
to raise their issues or online where they may use the social media platforms of the
manufacturers to raise all their issues (Sashi, 2012, pp.253-272). The manufacturers should give

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the customers enough time (for about 6 months to 1 year) to test the samples of the remote
controls produced and see their effectiveness or the challenges of using them in controlling them
and raise all the issues concerning the use of the remote controls after which the manufacturers
should sit down and address all the issues raised by the customers (Cooper and Robert, 2011).
To start with the issue of losing sensitivity of the remote controls when trying to connect
to the infrared detectors of the television to control the televisions, the sensitivity of the remote
controls is always very important for them to respond fast and work as required (Bailly et al.,
2011, pp.263-270). However, low sensitivity is usually a common problem with the test subjects
of the remote controls as the small plastic LED (light-emitting diode) which is located in the
remote controls and is supposed to produce some infrared radiations to be transmitted to the
infrared detectors of the televisions to control their operations may be not functioning as required
due to different reasons such as being lose, some barriers within the remote controls, among
many other reasons. To address this issue or complain from the customers, the manufacturers
must readjust the LEDs of the remote controls and make sure they are the correct and the
required LEDs and they don’t have any hindrances which may limit or in any way affect their
operations and thus limiting the effectiveness of the remote controls in controlling the operations
of the televisions. Ensuring that the LEDs are properly fixed in the remote controls and adjusted
according to the requirements and are working according to the expectations of the
manufacturers helps to ensure that the remote controls are fully effective in controlling the
operations of the televisions.
The challenge of some buttons of the test subjects of the remote controls failing to
perform the required functions is also a major problem associated with the test subjects. The

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manufacturing of the complex remote controls to control the complex digital televisions is
usually a complex process as the remote controls normally have very many buttons (some of
which have even over 40 buttons) (Laligand et al., 2013). In many cases, we have had some
cases of the buttons of the test remote controls failing to perform their assigned duties as required
which makes it very hard to control the televisions using the remote controls. On observing these
mis-functionalities, the customers raise these issues to the manufacturers who are expected to go
through all the buttons again to make sure all the buttons are functioning as labeled on the
remote controls. Correcting the functioning of all the buttons of the remote controls to make sure
they work according to the labels given on the remote controls and according to the descriptions
given in the instructions manuals helps to make sure the users have an easy time when
controlling their televisions using the remote controls (Ellis et al., 2011).
The issue of the sizes, the colors, or the shapes of the test remote controls may be another
issue which may be raised by some of the customers. Most of the customers want to have the
remote controls of certain sizes, colors, and shapes and if the manufacturers fail to consider their
requirements, they may end up losing these customers. Therefore, the manufacturers have to
consider the demands of all the customers and make sure when preparing the final versions of the
remote controls they’ll have considered the requirements of the sizes, the colors, and the shapes
as requested and come up with the remote controls which meets the demands of most of the
customers. In fact, the demands of these customers are among the major reasons why the
manufacturers produce remote controls which have different sizes, different shapes, and different
colors. It’s always the desires of all the manufacturers to fulfill the demands of most of their
customers to improve the loyalty of the customers and even earn more new customers for them
to generate more profits from the customers (Kumar, 2010). For the manufacturers to achieve

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this, they must make sure they fulfill the demands of most of the customers however petty the
demands may appear to be. We also have some customers who are very selective and have some
petty requests to an extent that they want some buttons to be customized have certain shapes,
sizes, or colors. These requests may be very hard to be fulfilled by the manufacturers, although
the manufacturers always manufacture the remote controls with different sizes, shapes, and
different colors of buttons which helps to fulfill the demands of some of these customers even if
they can’t fulfill all the requests of all the customers as different customers would like the
buttons customized according to their own desires. From this discussion, we learn that different
customers have different demands as they always want all their demands to be met in the
production of the final versions of the remote controls, but it’s very hard to meet the demands of
all the customers and so the manufacturers try to manufacture the remote controls which meet
the demands of most of all the customers leaving a few out who very many demands can’t be
met. By so doing, the manufacturers are able to satisfy most of the customers which help to
improve their loyalty and improve the market of their remote controls (Gao et al., 2011, pp.435-
446).
After a thorough observation of the performance of the test subjects of the remote
controls and considering of all the compliments, suggestions, comments, and complaints of the
customers and implementing them in the final versions of the remote controls, the manufacturers
can now release the final versions of the remote controls to the market for the customers or the
users to purchase them. Before releasing them to the markets, the manufacturers must prepare
and document detailed manuals outlining all the functions of all the buttons on the remote
controls and how the users should use them for them to function according to the expectations of
the users. In the instruction manuals, the manufacturers must also include all the other relevant

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information about the remote controls which will be of great importance to the users. Such
information include how the users should store the remote controls, how the users can replace the
batteries of the remote controls if need be, the most common problems which the users may
incur when using the remote controls and how they can solve them, among many other important
issues related to the use of the remote controls (Baykas et al., 2012). After considering the
requirements of most of the customers and incorporating them in the final versions of the remote
controls and preparing the detailed manuals of the remote controls to accompany them in the
market, the manufacturers will have completed their evaluation and the manufacturing process
(Jordan et al., 2014).
Part Five: The findings of the evaluation
After the evaluation of the performance of the test subjects of the remote controls and
making the appropriate adjustments according to the users’ requirements in preparing the final
versions of the remote controls, the resulting final versions were very effective and suitable and
highly interactive which made their use very friendly and effective. This great usability of the
remote controls shows that the evaluation and the adjustment processes were very effective in
addressing most of the problems which affected the test subjects of the remote controls. From the
evaluation and the adjustment processes, we can make the following deductions (findings):
 Checking at the position and the functionality of the small plastic LED and
adjusting it to make sure it can produce the infrared light and work as expected
helped to solve the problem of insensitivity of the remote controls which was a

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major problem of the test subjects, and this enhanced their usability in controlling
the operations of the televisions (King, 2014).
 Checking the issue of mis-functioning of some of the buttons which was another
usability problem of the test subjects of the remote controls and making sure to
address the issue and have all the buttons working as labeled and as expected by
the customers helped to solve the usability problem of the test subjects which
made it hard for the users to know which specific button does which specific job.
After doing the necessary adjustments to ensure all the buttons functioned as
expected, the use of the remote controls became very easy and friendly to the
users (Xiao and Liu, 2013, pp.37-40).
 Considering the customers’ views and perceptions about the sizes, the colors, and
the shapes of the remote controls and producing the remote controls which meet
the demands of most of the customers in terms of sizes, shapes, and colors helped
to satisfy most of the customers and they were happy when using the remote
controls to control their digital televisions. This was of great advantage to the
manufacturers as they solved the problem of customers’ dissatisfaction which is
normally one of the major problems in businesses (Rawson, Duncan, and Jones,
2013).
The findings from the evaluation helped us to realize that there very serious challenges or
problems with the test subjects of the remote controls. From the customers’ responses and
reactions, it was evident that most of the customers were unsatisfied with their test subjects of
the remote controls and were ready to abandon the remote controls and use the manual buttons to
control the operations of their televisions unless their issues of concerns or the complaints about

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the usability of the remote controls were addressed. After addressing all the issues in the final
versions of the remote controls, the customers were now happy and satisfied while working with
the highly efficient remote controls which could be clearly shown by the high demands of the
remote controls (Hill and Brierley, 2017).
Some of the major strengths and success of the evaluation process include:
 Most of the customers’ issues were addressed while preparing the final versions
of the remote controls.
 It helped in the production of highly efficient and highly effective remote
controls.
 It helped the manufacturers to understand their customers and their different
demands better, among many other strengths and success (Stone, 2012).
Some of the major weaknesses and failures of the evaluation process include:
 It was not a 100% as it could not consider and implement the demands of all the
customers.
 There were some of the requested adjustments where the manufacturers could not
achieve effectively although they tried to their best to make the adjustments,
among other weaknesses and failures (Wei et al., 2013, pp.204-228).
We can end up our discussion by saying the design and the manufacturing process is a
very complex process and the manufacturers should always strive to make sure they meet the
demands and the requirements of their customers when producing new products or services for
them to be successful (Robert, 2013, pp.3-34).