TWC 'Soft Remote'

The premise of TWC “Soft Remote” is that customers might enjoy using a mobile device to navigate, discover, and “flick” content to they’re television, rather than consume it on their small hand held device. During usability testing we discovered that customers were more successful at completing tasks given to them with a simplified remote control. The current capabilities of most remotes in the marketplace actually inhibited they’re ability to use the service rather than help with discovery

Nearly every customer interviewed viewed the typical remote as an obstacle rather than something that they might actually enjoy using. We also observed test cases where if given a simplified remote the rate of successful test scenarios actually increased. So first principle in designing a software remote control was simplification. Followed closely by a reduction of features that most customers didn't say they used

UX Design

We took care in designing a companion for Time Warner’s legacy platforms. Much of the UX revolved around the ever changing spectrum, and sheer amount of content available at any given time. The customers desire to reduce that content, and eventually to find something to watch. We also did a series of designs that revolved around how a mobile device might “travel” from room to room and allow the user to move content from they’re phones or tablets

Prototypes

Once I had roughed out the initial design, I presented the concept to the UX Team and we began to flush out a variety of options that showed promise. Here are three that we eventually tested and presented to executive leadership within the company. The second option was eventually refined by the team as we expanded the scope. The final look and feel was reworked for an improved feel. ( Shown Below )