A Study on the Layout and Feedback of EPG Menus

• Main Authors: Huei-Chi Yang, 楊繐綺
• Other Authors: Li-Chieh Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/07171687949452688646

碩士 === 大同大學 === 工業設計學系(所) === 96 === With the development of technology and economy, people increasingly want to have a new and convenient recreational life. Besides traditional TV programs, there is a newer visual enjoyment of digital TV. In the electronic program guide (EPG), the presentation of information which users want to get and clear information categorization and easy search will certainly attract more users among plenty of program guides. This research tried to investigate the effect of the menu layout and feedback of EPG of digital TV on users’ operation performance. In order to enhance the operation performance of EPG and user’ preference in using it, the purposes of this research were to investigate how to design the interface and layout of a EPG and the effect the EPG layout on users’ information search behavior model; furthermore, this research tried to figure out the association between the EPG layout and the information search behavior model through further analysis in order to provide designers with references in their design which enable them to effectively master the design principle of the interface layout and operation interface of EPG and then improve the efficiency and quality of the layout design of EPG. In the first-stage experiment, testees did the searching task of “feedback” of EPG. Then this research analyzed the data, and after sorting the researcher asked them to write the basis and viewpoint for their sorting assisted by the open-ended questionnaires. In the second-stage experiment, this research conducted a “layout” experiment on the time spent on searching, the switch cooperation of channel and program, and preference of overall layout. The “programs are listed according to channel” was divided into “vertical listing” and “horizontal listing.” This research obtained some conclusions. For the part of “feedback” of EPG, when using too many colors to categorize the program users spent more time on searching, therefore the identification of color lump was better when users browsed EPG. For the part of “layout,” users spent less time on searching when the channel was horizontally listed because in “horizontal listing,” the channel was put at the top of the layout, and program list and introduction were put on the lower part, which led to an obvious relationship of the primary and the secondary and enabled users to do searching fast in accordance with the moving course of human’s eyeball. On the contrary, the channel was at the lower left part in the layout thus users must see the program list in the lower left side and then turn to the top to do searching which did not fit in with the moving course of human’s eyeball. Therefore, its scores on the subjective and objective questionnaires were lower. As a whole, as far as EPG is concerned, color lump is a more appropriate “feedback” and “programs are listed horizontally according to channel” is a more appropriate “layout.”