The success of any consumer electronic device depends to a large extent on the appeal of the user interface (UI) and how easy the device is to use. Studies show that good cosmetic design can encourage users to explore the full range of features and often engenders the perception that a product is easier to use. So if the benefits of a great looking, easy-to-use UI are so clear, why are so many products still falling short of customer expectations? The solution lies in taking a fresh new approach a consumer electronic device UI plays. By identifying common UI functionality and implementing it in a reusable and customizable way, we can make it far easier for embedded engineers to deliver visually engaging and easy-to-use consumer electronic products.
Embedded Systems White Paper
Inflexion Platform UI
A New Approach to User Interface Creation for Consumer Electronic Devices
April 2008
AbstractThe success of any consumer electronic device depends to a large extent on the appeal of the user interface (UI) and how easy the device is to use. Studies show that good cosmetic design can encourage users to explore the full range of features and often engenders the perception that a product is easier to use. So if the benefits of a great looking, easy-to-use UI are so clear, why are so many products still falling short of customer expectations? The solution lies in taking a fresh new approach a consumer electronic device UI plays. By identifying common UI functionality and implementing it in a reusable and customizable way, we can make it far easier for embedded engineers to deliver visually engaging and easy-to-use consumer electronic products.
Author: Geoff Kendall Product Marketing Manager, Inflexion Platformgeoff_kendall@mentor.com
Mentor Graphics Corporation 8005 SW Boeckman Road Wilsonville, OR 97070 USA
www.mentor.com/embeddedThe Problem with Today's A Fresh New Look at the Role a CONSUMER ELECTRONIC DEVICES Consumer DEVICE UI PLAYSNo question the UI in electronic devices today is TV set-top boxes, media players, and mobile phones playing a larger role in the success of that device. may be very different in terms of form factor and Get the UI wrong and your product will have little function, but in terms of user interaction they have a lot chance of surviving. And it isn't enough to deliver a in common. In fact, for all such devices, much of the UI that is merely functional; it has to look good, UI's work is reduced to performing just two conceptual too. Studies show that a good cosmetic design can steps, one after the other:encourage users to explore the full range of features and often, can engender the perception that a Step 1: Present the user with a set of options to choose between;product is easier to use which can make consumers more tolerant of product deficiencies. Step 2: Wait for an option to be chosen, and respond with an appropriate action. So why, if the benefits of a great looking and easy-to-use UI are so obvious, many products continue to fall Common design situations that fit the interactive short of customer expectations? model discussed above include:
The answer is that changing an embedded device UI is . Mobile Phonenot easy. Even something as simple as migrating to a Looking for an entry in the address book, new screen size can cause major development clicking it and then choosing "Call" from the popup menu that appears; previewing and headaches. To do something more ambitious - such as playing ring tones.create a slick look and feel that takes full advantage of a new graphics processor - is often not even an option. . Media Player Browsing and selecting MP3 files by artist, title, What's more, the problem gets worse as new product etc; navigating folders on a memory card to view photos.features are introduced. Time-to-market pressure means that enhancements are often just "bolted on" to the UI, . TV Set-Top Boxrather than being integrated in a more intuitive manner. Scrolling through channel listings and setting The result is a market awash with products whose list of reminders for particular programs; selecting a features might look good on paper, but whose user particular channel to watch.experience ultimately fails to satisfy. Though these examples cover a diverse range of
The solution to this problem lies in taking a fresh look at functions and form factors, what is happening at an
the role that a consumer electronic device UI plays. By interactive level is very similar. In each scenario, the
identifying common UI functionality and implementing it user is being presented with (and asked to choose
in a reusable, customizable way, we can make it far easier between) a number of options, which ultimately leads
for embedded engineers to deliver visually engaging and to a particular action being performed (e.g. a phone
easy-to-use products. call is initiated; an MP3 file is played).
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