Extracted Content: Theresa Curnutte: Okay, welcome to the second meeting of this group. Um I'll briefly go through the uh notes of the of the last meeting uh just done in in note form and I haven't attributed anything to individuals, because we're working strictly as a team here and uh n nobody's working
  Cynthia Sieracki: Sorry.
  Theresa Curnutte: equally, so uh. Um we we s we saw that the the problems with existing remote controls were the uh b a boring shape and boring colour. Um and and we we saw that the what we needed to to to make sure the device um controls several items, that switching was easy, that you shouldn't need to point the thing at uh anything in particular, um that it need to be contoured to make it interesting, that the keys might be concave, simply because that hasn't been done before that we know of. Um should have interchangeable fascias so people can personalise it, um illuminated so that people can see it in dark rooms. Um and that people might want it as as in addition to their existing remote controls. Um and that it sh it should just always work, whenever you uh um mm uh use it. And that it shouldn't be too small, mm that it it gets lost. Um.
  Theresa Curnutte: Now uh uh I'll shortly ask for for three three presentations. Uh before I do that, however, I will go through some new project requirements that um the the management have placed on us and uh will be challenging in terms of what we discussed at the first meeting. Um the uh the ma the management has had it's own thoughts on this and uh the they don't necessarily agree with with what we uh we thought. Um and and then we'll as a result of that we will then talk through the the functions that we see the the device um actually b carrying out, and we have uh forty minutes to do this in and I uh
  Theresa Curnutte: Anyway. Okay. Now, the n the new requirements are um the the management team see that um teletext is no longer of any importance given the uh the rise of the internet. Um and and they want it only to cover televisions. Um now, what is not q quite clear from their directive is whether they mean th they don't want it to cover teletext or whether they don't want it to cover, you know, videos, D_V_D_s, um satellite boxes, which uh I mean we saw as being fundamental to the uh to the exercise. The um the actual wording of the directive is that it should cover television only. Um and on that basis um I I think we we need to bear that in mind, um but possibly uh keep at the backs of our minds that the reality that people even when they uh no longer they don't look at teletext anymore, they certainly do look at other things. Um the device has to incorporate the company logo and colours. Um the the logo uh being at b the bottom of the screen there, the the the two R_s in grey against uh a yellow background. Um now this doesn't necessarily mean that we have to give up some of our ideas about making it attractive to the t to the market. But uh do do introduce some some constraints as to how we might do that. Um it also has to be simple, which to some extent goes along w with the first one, and that we've already said that it must be simple 'cause that's what people want anyway. Um but they also want it to be simple to get it to the market quickly, which um mm uh is is is their choice, but uh um we we need to talk that through. Um okay, so uh after the meeting it'll be summarised and uh um notes sent out and uh etcetera. Okay, so we'll first of all mm have individual reports from everybody. Um again I there is no order of precedence here um so I I I'll leave it up to you to who who who thinks they would like to go go first?
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh I don't mind.
  Theresa Curnutte: P fine.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh can I the cable?
  Theresa Curnutte: Oh sorry, you can indeed.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Cheers.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: I got a how do I start there?
  Theresa Curnutte: Oh, if you click on the um uh the one that that looks like a projection screen, no the one to the right of that.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: That one.
  Theresa Curnutte: That one.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Cool. Well these are functionality requirements from the our our guys down in the the research lab. Took hundred people and covered all the aspects of what um is needed by people and what they want to see. Um everything kinda and how individual functions are how how how often they're used how much their and stuff. And general opinions about current current remotes. See that, as we kinda noticed, seventy five percent of people find their remote controls ugly. So some kind of a new style should be incorporated that's less ugly. Uh along with um looking less ugly, if it looks better, eighty percent of people said they'd spend more money on it. Which is a a plus for us, if we can make it look better, it'd be uh more cost effective and we can put the price up. Current remote controls do not match the operating behaviour of the user. I can empl I kinda take that to mean as um they they don't uh they, yeah, they only use they only work for the television or yeah like as in in my flat I've got six remote controls for a stereo system, a digital box, a D_V_D_ player, a video player and T_V_. If it was uh I mean th my behaviour is to use multiple things at the same time and multiple remotes aren't really matched well to my behaviour. Uh again, seventy five percent is seventy five percent of users say they zap a lot. I took to mean that they just they use it a lot, they use it regularly rather than standing up and manually change channels or volume. And uh yeah, uh I think the big issue is fifty percent users only use ten percent of the buttons, 'cause uh wh if we got a remote that like well we'll have some buttons taken off by the lack of teletext, but uh oh and we're going to see uh on the uh that some of the functions like audio settings aren't h hardly ever used and used very aren't considered relevant by the user. So I think maybe fewer buttons, which also make the design look sleeker, I dunno. Uh um yeah and uh frustrations of like people losing remote control. I dunno
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: maybe some kind of system of you press a button on the T_V_ or maybe that's b it would have to incorporate, but like some kind of system where you can f use something else to find the remote control. Maybe like it'll beep or something. And um, yep, the uh time taken to learn new remote controls is Uh don't want to make it too complicated, easy to use for uh new like first time users and stuff. And uh repetitive strain injury, I suppose we should make it more comfortable and make ma possibly even use have to make it, yeah, fewer buttons, like I was saying about the whole mice the mouse idea of it feels more comfortable. Maybe don't even
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: have to hold it as such.
  Theresa Curnutte: Gosh, must be some telly addicts out there if they get R_S_I_ from their television remote, is all I can say.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: But uh yeah. It also asked um if we would if people would pay more for speech recognition and younger people say they would. And uh there was another section on our on the report for uh L_C_D_ displays, but the data wasn't there, so. I
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm. Right.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: don't actually know what the results for that were,
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: so. May be incrementally emitting, but yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah, I must say that um the uh I c can't remember what um f you know phone service I was using the other day, but that had sorta speech recognition which worked uh remarkably well, so that is indeed a uh um
  Jaleesa Tucholski: And
  Theresa Curnutte: a thought
  Jaleesa Tucholski: uh
  Theresa Curnutte: and it it cuts out uh
  Jaleesa Tucholski: it would cut out the R_S_I_
  Theresa Curnutte: I was was
  Jaleesa Tucholski: as
  Theresa Curnutte: gonna
  Jaleesa Tucholski: well
  Theresa Curnutte: say, you
  Jaleesa Tucholski: if
  Theresa Curnutte: can't
  Jaleesa Tucholski: you
  Theresa Curnutte: get a lot of R_S_I_, j just get jaw ache. Okay, sorry.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah, um oh yeah, so possibly the speech recognition is possibly something could add into the design. Oh, I've got some other things I couldn't fit onto this presentation. Um. You see this okay? Almost no? It's sorry it's a bit. I'll read out to you. Uh functionality, uh like people's opinions on functionality, the relevance to the remote and how often they're used. So um like the power. Using the using the d swi the power switch to switch on T_V_ is a high relevance of nine, but it's not frequently used. You see what I mean? Whereas
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: channel selection, which is very high relevance
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: is used the most. So m we can maybe even start to cut down on or I was possibly even thinking of a design that maybe some of the buttons are hidden from everyday use. Maybe like uh a folding ledge or something. So that we can maybe
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: go into the channel settings and the audio settings, which are low relevance and rarely used. And keep the v volume selection and channel selection very easily
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: It could
  Theresa Curnutte: I mean
  Cynthia Sieracki: be oh uh was gonna say uh like the phones that they use? Have you seen
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: the new mo mobile phones that
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: flip out and they have the
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: like texting, and then the numbers on one side, so you could have
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: the most used buttons on top and
  Theresa Curnutte: Hmm,
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: flip
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah,
  Cynthia Sieracki: it out
  Jaleesa Tucholski: like the one
  Cynthia Sieracki: or
  Jaleesa Tucholski: that
  Cynthia Sieracki: something.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: like slides back
  Theresa Curnutte: Uh.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: and the buttons are concealed
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Should
  Jaleesa Tucholski: underneath.
  Theresa Curnutte: we
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: actually bite the bullet here? If people really don't use those buttons to any extent at all um
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Just remove them completely?
  Theresa Curnutte: remove them altogether.
  Cynthia Sieracki: That might be the
  Theresa Curnutte: I wonder whether we could get the remote control with no buttons at all if we went for voice recognition, given that um the Um now the the age structure we were looking at um I mean w we had usage by age structure, what we didn't have was what proportion of people using remotes were in those particular age groups. Now
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: do we know whether they Forty no sorry for forty five to fifty five age group, uh to put myself right in the middle of it, um u use remote controls to a great extent. Yes we
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Um no this is for
  Theresa Curnutte: That would 've
  Jaleesa Tucholski: pay
  Theresa Curnutte: speech
  Jaleesa Tucholski: more for
  Theresa Curnutte: recogn
  Jaleesa Tucholski: speech recognition.
  Theresa Curnutte: right. So, we're looking at um well again, we don't know the relative proportion the relative numbers in the age groups.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah, that's true.
  Theresa Curnutte: If we wanted something different, truly different, then the buttonless
  Valerie Berkley: P
  Theresa Curnutte: remote control
  Valerie Berkley: Well the only
  Theresa Curnutte: w would
  Valerie Berkley: problem
  Theresa Curnutte: be it.
  Valerie Berkley: I can think of with that is if you've got a lot of people that don't wanna be bothered learning how to use new rem remote controls. If you just kind of take away everything that they're used to knowing, that's gonna be quite a change.
  Theresa Curnutte: But if you just
  Valerie Berkley: It
  Theresa Curnutte: lift
  Valerie Berkley: might
  Theresa Curnutte: it up and say, channel one or
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Or even
  Theresa Curnutte: B_B_C_
  Jaleesa Tucholski: I mean you could even just have it left on. You
  Cynthia Sieracki: Maybe
  Jaleesa Tucholski: could just
  Cynthia Sieracki: i
  Jaleesa Tucholski: put it down once on top your T_V_ and never have to
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, have a big kind of like the satellite box or the cable box and then it doesn't matter where in the room you are, you won't
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: lose
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: it.
  Theresa Curnutte: It c well it I can I can see technical problems
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: with that in terms
  Cynthia Sieracki: No.
  Theresa Curnutte: of the, you know, the sound from the television, because if somebody actually on the television says
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: uh
  Jaleesa Tucholski: B_B_C_
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: one.
  Theresa Curnutte: uh, you know, I_T_V_ and you're watching B_B_C_ then
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: then it might um change itself, so it probably needs to be um
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, that's true.
  Theresa Curnutte: possibly actually need a button on it just
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: to activate it. Or or something just to identify that you've lifted it up and it's use. And and then
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: just say, oh I don't know, a thought and and then uh I mean that that would certainly be uh truly different. Um 'cause uh you know audio settings, nought point eight percent. I mean if they weren't there,
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm-mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: would people miss them?
  Valerie Berkley: But look at the importance of them. The volume settings.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Relevance of two out of ten, yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Vol volume,
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: yes um
  Valerie Berkley: They're not used often
  Theresa Curnutte: th
  Valerie Berkley: but they quite important when they're
  Theresa Curnutte: w
  Valerie Berkley: used.
  Theresa Curnutte: we need to s identify
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: things that people actually need and and it's a function of frequency and relevance. And um I would say ignoring ig ignoring power for the moment, um the channel and volume
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: and th w w given given that we've been told to ignore teletext.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Uh channel and volume are the only ones that
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Stand
  Theresa Curnutte: uh
  Jaleesa Tucholski: out.
  Theresa Curnutte: would appear to be essential. Um. So we if we can design something that that looks interesting, know, or looks different, um incorporates the the logo and and the colours and um we can still have our interchangeable fascias even if it's the yellow and grey, um and uh I dunno, buttons or or buttons as an option.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh I just had a thought actually, sorry to interrupt.
  Theresa Curnutte: Do,
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh
  Theresa Curnutte: please.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: you were saying about um it could technical problems of like uh someone on the television saying a channel
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: number and it changed we could maybe have like an activation word. 'Cause I've seen
  Theresa Curnutte: You
  Jaleesa Tucholski: I've
  Theresa Curnutte: cer
  Jaleesa Tucholski: seen this used
  Theresa Curnutte: certainly
  Jaleesa Tucholski: on computers
  Theresa Curnutte: could.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: before, where you just you address the
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: remote, you address the computer, and then
  Theresa Curnutte: Depe
  Jaleesa Tucholski: give it
  Theresa Curnutte: uh
  Jaleesa Tucholski: a command.
  Theresa Curnutte: i depends whether um if we want to make this so simple that anybody can walk into the room and lift it up and say
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh I see. Oh yeah, I see.
  Theresa Curnutte: B_B_C_ one. Um okay, I mean you could print actually print it on the uh
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm-hmm,
  Theresa Curnutte: device
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: itself. Um.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: I mean I'm just thinking of the point of view of peop you could still like lose this remote.
  Theresa Curnutte: S th this I th that's always gonna be a problem
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: I think. Um and I I I s so I suppose one um could make it so desirable that if people lose it they immediately go out and buy another one. Anyway, sorry, carry on. Do you want to just carry on with
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh no I I interrupted
  Theresa Curnutte: or no
  Jaleesa Tucholski: you, sorry.
  Theresa Curnutte: no, no uh b I was in the middle of
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: in the middle of your report there.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Um well, I was just kinda wrapping up there. Yeah, I was thinking
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm okay.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: um, yeah, maybe such things are relevant. We could make things much more f I think the the eighty percent of people would spend more on uh a remote uh that looks better, combined with uh decrease the or take out the limited functio functions that we don't really use much. alright take out teletext, but as for channel settings and stuff it might it might um turn people somewhe peop some people that want the whole functionality away. But, since if we're marketing a more kind of fashionable approach
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: then it'd it would be fashion and fashion over practicality.
  Theresa Curnutte: S s we could we could make it dual function voice recognition and still
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh, we
  Theresa Curnutte: have
  Jaleesa Tucholski: could, yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: buttons on it
  Jaleesa Tucholski: We c
  Theresa Curnutte: um
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah, we could even
  Theresa Curnutte: 'cause we're
  Jaleesa Tucholski: have it as like a yeah the buttons control this and the voice functions control the f things that you would do all the time, so.
  Theresa Curnutte: Certainly could.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: So uh
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah,
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah, if we could
  Theresa Curnutte: yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: uh power on and channel selection and and volume selection, wouldn't have to really
  Theresa Curnutte: The I mean the the advantage of doing away the buttons altogether is it makes the thing cheaper.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah and probably it would look better as well.
  Theresa Curnutte: No, it cou certainly opens up the possibility for making it uh, you know, visually very distinctive.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Um
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: 'cause you know, it does not have to be a oblong box.
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Lined with numbered buttons
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm, yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: and
  Theresa Curnutte: Okay, who sorry, have you have you finished
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh yeah,
  Theresa Curnutte: there Andy?
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah,
  Theresa Curnutte: Yep,
  Jaleesa Tucholski: that's
  Theresa Curnutte: yep.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: everything.
  Theresa Curnutte: Um given that we've already had a extensive discussion uh.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Okay well, I can
  Valerie Berkley: Hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: do mine.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Do you want the cable?
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, let's see if I can make this work. Um.
  Valerie Berkley: Oh, you have to hit like function and F_ something.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: F_ eight.
  Valerie Berkley: F_ eight.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Is it doing
  Valerie Berkley: Dunno.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh, give it about twenty seconds, or so.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: Ah,
  Valerie Berkley: Oh yeah,
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh
  Theresa Curnutte: there
  Cynthia Sieracki: okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: we
  Valerie Berkley: it's going.
  Theresa Curnutte: go.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Okay, so this is just about the technical functions.
  Theresa Curnutte: Alright.
  Cynthia Sieracki: So the method, I looked online for examples of other similar products and then just kind of was trying to brainstorm some possible design ideas and um identify what the necessary things are, what people are what you really wanna have a remote control do. Um and then there are two different kinds that I found. There's a user centred one and an engineering centred one which I will have pictures of and
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: then we kinda have to decide which one this should be. So these are the two different ones. This one um this is the user centred, it has uh quite a few mm uh um fewer buttons and then this is the engineering centred, which has a lot more buttons,
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: and probably this is one that people complain about, about having too many buttons that you don't use. So basically, what a remote control is is you it's to send messages to the television set, you know, turn on, off, switch the channels and the volume and things such as that. And so for this product it's gonna be television only, and then it has to have the uh logos for the company and the colours. And so, for my personal preferences, I think this one is easier to use and has quite a you know, fewer buttons. Um we want something that sends messages easily to the television and I was kind of wondering about this example that they have. It looks kind of narrow at the top, and I was thinking maybe if it were wider
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm,
  Cynthia Sieracki: at the top,
  Theresa Curnutte: yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: then that would be easier. Um and so we have to decide what's gonna make our product different. E the unique style, maybe have it light up so it's visible in the dark, um the changeable face-plates, and the lighting up and visible I was when we were talking about havi losing it, maybe to have a button on the television that you press and it maybe if it makes a noise or lights up or something like that, so it's easier to find if someone has hidden under the couch or something like that. So that's my presentation. Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Okay, can I um I'm actually gonna use the um it's gonna cause great technical problems over here. I'm actually gonna use the
  Cynthia Sieracki: F they probably clip
  Valerie Berkley: Oh yeah, they might be
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Valerie Berkley: movable.
  Cynthia Sieracki: to
  Valerie Berkley: Oh
  Cynthia Sieracki: you.
  Valerie Berkley: yeah, they're all they're not connected to anything on the table, you just leave 'em on and walk around with 'em.
  Theresa Curnutte: Yes, rather than the uh the the traditional in fact, um I won't even go that far. Um something like this shape, you know, sort of something that you can that's sort of a more vertical shape, um that you you sort of hold in your hand, um, well I'm trying to think uh uh uh l uh l such as I mean um something you hold up like that, possibly with a couple of buttons like that, but with the
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: the entire top with the, you know, the uh the infrared or whatever source. Uh so that you know, it's flying
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: off in all directions, so that uh um uh again the n need to look at the the the technicalities of um actually achieving that in terms of whether the, you know, the power requirements of the uh such a source, um you know, compromise the our our need for uh you know, it it being um mm permanently uh you know, available. Uh whether whether different technology um I mean th all all these remotes are presumably infrared, and like they have been for a long time. Uh we we possibly need to be looking at at at something different, um you know, short range, not like the old uh radio remote controls where you'd change next door's telly when you change yours. Um but uh uh I think basically i if we're going for i if minimum number of buttons is our priority, then we should, as I say, r know, really bite the bullets and and reduce the buttons to absolute minimum, you know, possibly with backup channel and volume buttons and on off. Um and nothing else. Um so that it can al it could uh almost end up like that, but again, except that um you know the risk of losing it. Um anyway okay um so Kate,
  Valerie Berkley: Yes,
  Theresa Curnutte: wh what
  Valerie Berkley: mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: are your uh your
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh.
  Theresa Curnutte: thoughts on this?
  Valerie Berkley: Which one does this plug into?
  Cynthia Sieracki: Hmm I think it's all there.
  Valerie Berkley: That one.
  Cynthia Sieracki: H
  Valerie Berkley: I can't did you could you see it on you screen when it
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh yeah. That's kind of strange.
  Valerie Berkley: That's not cool. Oh well. Anyways. Um alright, yeah, so um I'll just do my presentation on the working design uh. Oh there we go. Okay um just at the m yeah the whole sort of method of how the remote control works. Uh the basic function of the remote control is to send messages to another sh system, the the T_V_ or the D_V_D_ player or whatever. Um and it does this uh by well, you need to start off you need an energy source and this energy source will feed into an integrated circuit chip and the circuit chip is the part that actually composes the different messages uh within the remote um which will then be sent to the uh the television, the D_V_D_ to tell that what to do. Um and you need a user interface, which controls the chip and thus the messages and uh the user interface is that's basically just you kn the s sorta design of the actual remote which you hold in your hands and what buttons will be on it. Um Oh shoot. Okay. Uh just general findings. Uh what we need uh technically speaking for the remote control is some sort of energy source, uh some sort of user interface, which I think we've mostly been talking about the user interface and the design of that. Um a circuit chip within that to uh control and send the messages and um a sender and receiver. And um oops. Uh-huh. This is just sort of a little schematic diagram of what we're looking for. Uh this
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Hmm.
  Valerie Berkley: just kinda represents the energy source which feeds into the circuit chip uh which maybe then we could have that feed into a switch which would send signals f to um a subcomponent and on to a light bulb between so it'll light up once we start once you start pressing buttons. Um also send signals to the um infrared bulb, which will be the part that actually what? Sends signals to the the television. And then you've got your happy little T_V_ watcher there. And so my personal preferences I I just think we need sorta big uh energy source that won't die out, uh perhaps some sort of rechargeable battery or a battery dock you could place it in, so it'd constantly be charged, so you wouldn't have to uh be worrying about it running out of batteries and not changing channels for you. Uh a wide range uh sender-receiver, so that you can hit the buttons from basically anywhere in the room, and the channel'll still be changed. Uh also definitely a user-friendly interface um and I think we've all sort of mentioned adding a a locating device on it, so when it does get stuck under the couch cushions, as they inevitably do, you can find them easily. And that's pretty much it.
  Theresa Curnutte: Okay. Uh it seems seems to Jaleesa Tucholski there are a number of fundamental decisions to make
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: before we um I think your point about the the big energy source is uh
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: a very valid one. Um I don't suppose we've got any statistics on the the life expectancy of uh remote controls, particularly sort of independent ones. Um given you know, the number of things you buy these days, which you know, have a a a lithium whatever battery in, that's uh, you know never needs replacing. Um perhaps we should have the the disposable remote control, uh um you know, one some sort of typical usage. You know, the the the battery will last know, five, ten years. By which time I mean when all's said and done, the digital television will be taking over
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: in that time scale.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm-hmm.
  Theresa Curnutte: Um uh uh p perhaps we should, know, reduce the uh, you know, the sort of moving parts even more by not even having a battery compartment and uh
  Valerie Berkley: Just having one that's guaranteed to last five to ten years?
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah, and
  Valerie Berkley: Oh,
  Theresa Curnutte: if if anybody
  Valerie Berkley: cool.
  Theresa Curnutte: manages to run it down, we'll we'll give 'em a new one.
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah, fair enough.
  Theresa Curnutte: Um it's, you know, it's what it saves in cost and you know there there's a well, it's actually a marketing gimmick. I mean it's hardly a gimmick, it's uh it's totally practical. Uh so I th think you know the idea of a rechargeable one is um uh unless you're really high tech and it sort of just recharges itself if it's n by, you know, magnetic waves or whatever, if
  Jaleesa Tucholski: It could
  Theresa Curnutte: if
  Jaleesa Tucholski: have
  Theresa Curnutte: it
  Jaleesa Tucholski: like uh know like a cordless phone in your house it s got like a base that
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: sits
  Valerie Berkley: Mm,
  Jaleesa Tucholski: there all
  Valerie Berkley: mm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: the time.
  Theresa Curnutte: Are are people really gonna use it though?
  Jaleesa Tucholski: I
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, people
  Theresa Curnutte: Um.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: suppose,
  Cynthia Sieracki: are pro
  Valerie Berkley: Mm
  Jaleesa Tucholski: yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: I
  Valerie Berkley: yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: would think that people might forget I mean
  Theresa Curnutte: I
  Cynthia Sieracki: people
  Theresa Curnutte: I th
  Cynthia Sieracki: forget
  Theresa Curnutte: I think
  Cynthia Sieracki: to put their cordless phones back on there,
  Valerie Berkley: Mm-mm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: so.
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah, it's
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: um I mean I know that somei times my my wife goes out in the morning and says oh I should have put the phone on
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: to charge and then then she's had those for so long that if she hasn't worked that out by now. Um.
  Valerie Berkley: 'Cause I only remember to charge my cell phone uh when battery dies. And that's pretty
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Valerie Berkley: much
  Theresa Curnutte: When it yeah, wh
  Valerie Berkley: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: when it's died is a problem.
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah, when it turns itself
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah,
  Valerie Berkley: off, that's
  Theresa Curnutte: yeah,
  Valerie Berkley: when I plug it in,
  Theresa Curnutte: yeah,
  Valerie Berkley: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: so uh um what so wh what what do we think about the um the the permanent mm battery?
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah, think that's
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Uh. That
  Valerie Berkley: a good
  Cynthia Sieracki: No.
  Valerie Berkley: idea.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: sounds pretty good, yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Is the uh you know, we we
  Cynthia Sieracki: Um.
  Theresa Curnutte: we are really going for the ultimate in ex uh external simplicity
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: here. Um you know, cut cost within the manufacturing and uh you know, if we have a high tech interior, then then that that sh may well be cost effective.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Do they make batteries that last that long?
  Theresa Curnutte: I mean th th certainly. Um I can't think of anything off the s top of my head, but there are certainly things that you buy. I mean calculators for example.
  Valerie Berkley: They usually have the little light uh source, I dunno
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, they
  Valerie Berkley: what
  Cynthia Sieracki: have
  Valerie Berkley: the
  Cynthia Sieracki: that
  Valerie Berkley: heck
  Cynthia Sieracki: little
  Valerie Berkley: they're called,
  Cynthia Sieracki: solar
  Valerie Berkley: the but yeah, the little cells that
  Theresa Curnutte: Som well some do, I mean th th but
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: there are battery ones that um
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm-hmm.
  Theresa Curnutte: are
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: you know, sort of permanently sealed.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: In in fact I'd
  Valerie Berkley: Most of them, don't they have sort of a combination of the two, like when there is light, they'll work off the light, and if
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah,
  Valerie Berkley: there isn't, they'll
  Theresa Curnutte: uh uh
  Valerie Berkley: kick into this battery, so we can maybe do something like that whereas there is a battery, but if there's enough light, then it's using the light, so that it's not actually draining the battery all the time,
  Cynthia Sieracki: Mm.
  Valerie Berkley: but you will have the battery there for
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah,
  Valerie Berkley: when
  Theresa Curnutte: I
  Valerie Berkley: you need
  Theresa Curnutte: I mean
  Valerie Berkley: it.
  Theresa Curnutte: th th this needs going t into the technology
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: a bit. I mean the the actual time that a remote control is actually operating
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: I would think is i is is probably, you know, no more than minutes in its entire life.
  Valerie Berkley: Oh,
  Theresa Curnutte: Um.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah, some people are
  Theresa Curnutte: If, but I say
  Valerie Berkley: clicking,
  Theresa Curnutte: if if people are getting
  Valerie Berkley: yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: R_S_I_ from it then
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah,
  Theresa Curnutte: uh then
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Valerie Berkley: then they're
  Theresa Curnutte: uh
  Valerie Berkley: clicking
  Theresa Curnutte: then
  Valerie Berkley: a lot,
  Theresa Curnutte: then
  Valerie Berkley: yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: perhaps we're looking
  Jaleesa Tucholski: W
  Theresa Curnutte: at the wrong market
  Jaleesa Tucholski: like
  Theresa Curnutte: n
  Jaleesa Tucholski: like this um this uh market research thing says number of times per hour that it's used, channel selection a hundred and sixty eight times per
  Theresa Curnutte: Right.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: hour.
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Per hour? Wow.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: That's a lot.
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: Oh, I must admit I hadn't um I'd I'd missed that. That does sound excessive.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: But then again, if you think it of the amount of, you know amount of use it's like
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: That's it's less
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: than a second,
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: um.
  Theresa Curnutte: Well that's right, and and I I don't I don't even know whether the I don't even know whether the s the signal lasts as long as
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: you actually keep the button pressed, or whether it's just a
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: sorta tenth of a second, no matter how long you press it for, I don't know I don't actually know.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Though
  Theresa Curnutte: Um.
  Cynthia Sieracki: I think with digital T_V_, like I know on my cable box, you're not supposed to do that because the channel can't keep up with it if
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: you just
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: press it like that, so you're supposed to use the menu and go through the
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm-hmm.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Mm-hmm.
  Cynthia Sieracki: different channels that way instead of
  Theresa Curnutte: Mm. Right, so I've got a message to say five minutes, I dunno how long ago that appeared. Um
  Cynthia Sieracki: Uh-oh.
  Theresa Curnutte: 'cause we're we're getting um right, so I'd I need to sum up very quickly here um. We're looking at extreme simplicity. We're looking at a radically different shape. Possibly no buttons at all um, but if you can incorporate um channel change and volume buttons um in into the design, then then that's fine. Um in the I mean the the role of the of the um the user interface des designer becomes b you know more important here, because, you know, shape is no longer an a uh um a serious constraint. But we clearly only need th the main buttons, although, uh if clearly only need the main functions. Um I don't see why we shouldn't go for voice recognition um and the the only buttons that I think we need are channel control, volume control and on off. Um it needs to incorporate the corporate logo, uh the the grey and yellow colour scheme and there's no reason why we can't introduce um interchangeable uh covers. Um uh d so does that accurately summarise what we've discussed?
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Valerie Berkley: Yep. Hmm.
  Theresa Curnutte: Right.
  Cynthia Sieracki: Um
  Theresa Curnutte: So uh
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh I just have one question.
  Theresa Curnutte: Yeah.
  Cynthia Sieracki: So are we doing just the television or are we doing
  Theresa Curnutte: We are doing just the television.
  Cynthia Sieracki: so not D_V_D_
  Theresa Curnutte: No.
  Cynthia Sieracki: players, we okay, okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: I think that's quite clear from the the information
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: that we've been given, no?
  Cynthia Sieracki: Okay.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Yeah, like in the email of television only. In fact they're in the constraints email that I got.
  Theresa Curnutte: Right.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Didn't you mention the teletext, just television
  Theresa Curnutte: Oh yeah
  Jaleesa Tucholski: only?
  Theresa Curnutte: well
  Valerie Berkley: Mm.
  Theresa Curnutte: th that's
  Cynthia Sieracki: Yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: one I s that's one I sent you, which which was my interpretation
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: of uh
  Valerie Berkley: Yeah.
  Jaleesa Tucholski: Oh yeah.
  Theresa Curnutte: of the
  Cynthia Sieracki: Oh
  Theresa Curnutte: uh
  Cynthia Sieracki: okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: what came down
  Valerie Berkley: Okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: from from head office. Um That's that that that that's their uh their view. Okay, so uh we can all give some thought to that uh for for the next meeting, thank you
  Cynthia Sieracki: Okay.
  Theresa Curnutte: very much indeed.
  Valerie Berkley: Cool.
Updated Content: Theresa Curnutte opens the meeting by going through notes from the last meeting, recapping the topics covered. He tells them some new project requirements given by management. Jaleesa Tucholski presents, talking about user functionality requirements taken from research of 100 people. They discuss the possibility of making a remote that hides less frequently used buttons, one that uses voices recognition to eliminate buttons altogether, or one that combines the two functions. The interface specialist presents, showing examples of two different products- one that is user-centered and another that is engineering-centered and giving personal preference to the simpler one because it is easier to use and has fewer buttons. Next Valerie Berkley presents, explaining how a remote control works and giving personal preference to a remote which has a large energy source such as a rechargable battery or battery dock. The group discusses using a battery that will last 5-10 years or a solar combined with a battery. They briefly review their discussions and close the meeting.