Interactive TV Seen As Hard To Use
Interactive TV is perceived as difficult to use by consumers, according to new research from the ITC. A survey has found that interactive television was rated fourth most difficult to use of 19 products, only beaten by flying an aeroplane, using a sewing machine and riding a motorbike. Using a computer was seen as the fifth most difficult, then using a digital television and using a video recorder. Analogue television, meanwhile, was rated alongside radios, kettles and hairdryers as one of the easiest products to use.
Michelle Childs, head of policy research at the Consumers’ Association, said: “Consumer experience [of digital TV] is of a technology that is difficult to control and fails to deliver on the industry hype. The challenge to industry is to design technology that meets the needs and the expectations of consumers, otherwise digital TV will not realise its potential.”
Interactive programming and advertising is still in its early stages, but has already seen some success with interactive features added to sports coverage. Recently, an interactive version of the ratings winning ITV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was launched (see ITV2 To Launch Interactive Millionaire). However, some believe that more innovative programming is needed to draw people into using the functionality digital interactivity offers (see Programme Makers Must Drive iTV Uptake). The ITC’s research suggests that perhaps an even greater priority should be making sure the technology is right to begin with.
Patricia Hodgson, the ITC’s chief executive, warned: “If we want a digital set in every home, then we must make equipment that people can use with ease. If we don’t offer services and equipment that viewers perceive to be easy to use then viewers will not use them, not matter how enhanced the functionality might be.”
This piece of research, carried out by Goldsmiths College, will be followed by further projects sponsored by the ITC, Design Council and Consumer’s Association over the coming year, to gather views on the digital products and services consumers find easier to use.
ITC: 020 7306 7743 www.itc.org.uk
Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive