Series link is very useful though
Jan. 10th, 2010 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysI'm used to the bloatware phenomenon. I know that as software makers add features they make their product slower and harder to use. Not just the software on computers either. I used a hire car a while ago and wanted some background music while I got lost in south Auckland. The user interface on the sound system was essentially incomprehensible to a quick inspection. I'm sure I would have worked it out eventually but I was too busy getting myself un-lost.
So I understand the problem. Yet even so I find myself astonished by how badly the user interface on the MySky system is implemented. I had the old Sky decoder, but as a result of my recent rationalisation of providers, I was able to upgrade to the new PVR for next to nothing. The new hard disk recording function work very well, but everything else is harder to use. I mean quite literally everything. Everything takes more keystrokes on the remote and those functions which were equivalent to the old unit are less friendly - and slower. Even the remote itself is uncomfortable to use. As far as I can see, it is designed to be used two-handed - certainly one handed is very awkward.
It is the same manufacturer, so you can't blame Sky for changing to some lower cost vendor. I really wonder if the concept of usability testing has just disappeared.
So I understand the problem. Yet even so I find myself astonished by how badly the user interface on the MySky system is implemented. I had the old Sky decoder, but as a result of my recent rationalisation of providers, I was able to upgrade to the new PVR for next to nothing. The new hard disk recording function work very well, but everything else is harder to use. I mean quite literally everything. Everything takes more keystrokes on the remote and those functions which were equivalent to the old unit are less friendly - and slower. Even the remote itself is uncomfortable to use. As far as I can see, it is designed to be used two-handed - certainly one handed is very awkward.
It is the same manufacturer, so you can't blame Sky for changing to some lower cost vendor. I really wonder if the concept of usability testing has just disappeared.