The Peculiar Logic of Remote Control Design

There is no better whipping boy for design than the grotesque multi-button remote controls that clutter our coffee tables, media cabinets and minds. I have a selection of six in my living room, none worse than this one from Time Warner Cable. I can't tell you how many design presentations I have begun with the remote control unit (RCU) as exhibit #1 for the increased complexity of our lives and the huge need for design to improve the state of affairs for the average consumer. So why have we made so little headway? Having worked for both Consumer Electronics and Cable companies on precisely this problem, I can attest to the many reasons why the RCU has been remarkably impervious to good design. But maybe I am just missing the peculiar logic of why the current RCU design is so good?

This idea struck me as I read a recent article in the New York Times about how the networks are embracing the DVR, once viewed as the biggest threat to their ad-supported business model. The article sites passivity, i.e. the couch potato effect, as the main reason for this embrace. Apparently TV-watching remains an essentially passive activity despite the recent proliferation of DVR's (~30% of households). Recent Nielsen studies have shown that even if you give the average American a fast forward button in the palm of their hand, they are too lazy to skip ahead. How comforting.

As I read the article I started to think that there might be another culprit. Perhaps the conventional RCU design is finally paying off? Maybe all of those legacy buttons that no one ever uses (the various 'Picture in Picture' controls and the colorful A,B,C interactive TV buttons) are part of a deliberate design strategy? Maybe they are there precisely to add to the cognitive load – the accumulated effect being that valuable functions, like fast forwarding, are much harder to learn. Maybe Time Warner's Remote Control design strategy is finally paying off?

As frog's Vice President of Creative, Robert Fabricant leads efforts to expand the impact of design into new markets and industries. An expert in design for social innovation, Robert is lead partner in Project Masiluleke, an initiative that harnesses the power of mobile technology to combat HIV and AIDS in South Africa. He is an adjunct professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts in New York.