Apple TV Remote Redesign
Duration: 10 weeks
Role: Designer
Tools: Figma, Rhino, Keyshot
Collaborators: Jett
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Project Overview: I redesigned a 4th generation Apple TV remote based on the disaffordances, challenges, and scripting that the remote assumed users to have and be able to do.​
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Project Context: This project was completed during Fall 2022 as a part of my undergraduate coursework in user-centered design.
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Background
The Apple TV Remote is a device introduced by Apple in October 2005. It was first introduced as an Apple Remote for the intent to control the Front Row media center on the iMac G5. With the development of the Apple TV later on, the Apple Remote became the main control system for the Apple TV system. The remote is paired with an Apple TV box that configures your TV to be compatible with the app. The Apple TV app is a “line of media player software programs developed for viewing television shows and films.”
In 2015, Apple released the Apple TV HD which allows users to watch shows, movies, live sports, through Apple services. This fourth generation remote changed its design completely compared to the second and third generation. It offered an all black design to match the Apple TV box, and was the first time the remote offered a trackpad feature. The top of the remote was the trackpad which allowed users to move between options (up/down, left/right) but also had a responsive button allowing users to select an option. The middle of the remote had 5 features: a menu button, TV/control center button (allows users to go back to the home screen), Siri button, volume up and down, and a play/pause button. The remote is composed of various materials such as recycled aluminum, gold, plastic, and tin. And the remote is 1.5 x 4.88 x 0.25" and weighs approximately 1.59 ounces. My analysis and redesign proposal is based on the fourth generation model.
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Dissafordances
Costanza-Chock defines disaffordances as “match[ing] perceptual cues with actions that will be blocked or constrained.” Because artifacts cannot have a universalizing configuration of use that fits for everyone, it creates a disaffordance for some. For the Apple TV remote, the design behind it disaffords a number of users. Firstly, due to the all black design of the remote, the visual contrast in it disaffords users who have visual impairments such as those with glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration. Those who lack high visual acuity now cannot use the artifact, or either have to change the way they operate the remote (i.e use voice assisted technology such as Siri) in order to access its functions. Additionally, the remote disaffords non-Apple users from accessing all its functions. For example, such features such as screen mirroring are only operable for users who have compatible Apple technology (iPhones, iPads, Macs). Thus for users who lack this, they cannot afford to use this feature.​
Scripting
The Apple TV remote is full of biases and preferences made by designers, which in turn create scripts for the remote. These scripts “prescribes what users have to do (or not do) to produce the envisioned functioning of the technological artifact” (van Oost). The Apple TV remote script assumes that users are able-bodied with strong finger dexterity and nimble-ness that can navigate the small and closely located buttons. The designers created the remote with the assumption that everyone, regardless of hand size or finger mobility skills would be able to operate the remote. Based on the ergonomics of the remote body, it assumes the user can navigate the buttons solely with their thumbs as the rest of their hand grips the remote. However, due to the proximity of the buttons, it limits the control the user might have when selecting a button. Thus for individuals who might not follow this script of smaller hand/finger sizes, users might have to handle the remote in a different manner in order to use it. Additionally, based on the narrow design of the remote body, the general ergonomics of the remote is not designed to fit comfortably in the human hand. Thus, this script assumes that the user has a smaller hand size that can hold the remote comfortably, and still move their thumb in a manner that can reach the buttons and trackpad to operate the remote. ​
Redesign Proposal
Our redesign is a very similar scale to the original, to allow for easy, handheld use. Its dimensions are 3x6x0.25”, causing it to have a similar scale to most modern mobile phones. It prominently features a large, rectangular touchpad with rounded corners that is used like the touchpad on your laptop. However, it does differ in one significant way, which is its multi directional functionality. You are able to press down on all edges of the touchpad, as well as utilize the four directional buttons seated directly on the perimeter of the touchpad. Two volume control buttons are interlocked into the same component, with a slight notch in the center to note the two-button functionality. This is located on the right side of the device, directly above a similar, single-component button that powers on and off the TV. Directly below the touchpad, there are two large buttons – one that controls the microphone for voice control, and one that will pause and unpause the video that you are watching. Towards the bottom, there is a microphone, as well as a USB-C charging port. The top of the remote features an IR transmitter for communication with the TV as well as an indication light that would activate every time a button is pressed for better communication with the user that a button has been activated. The edges around the entire device are slightly rounded to allow for a softer grip. The remote is largely comprised of a thin casing of brushed aluminum, allowing it to be light, but sturdy in case of a drop or accidental contact with another element.
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This redesign is centered around the rescripting of what a remote should look like and be. The existing Apple TV remote is already much more minimal than your classical TV remote, but is also not something that you would immediately be able to use based upon your existing knowledge of TV remotes. We have chosen to recenter the script around an object that almost everyone that owns a TV will also own – a smartphone. With the power and volume being of the exact same form and style as the vast majority of smartphones on the market, it is almost certain that a new user would be able to use those two controls intuitively. The touchpad is situated in a similar place to where a smartphone touchscreen would be, making us confident that the vast majority of users would be able to use it successfully. The two buttons were made a larger size than that of the Apple TV remote and are placed further apart, allowing users with larger fingers to be able to manipulate them more easily without the fear of pressing an unintentional button. Overall, we believe that this redesign would help the remote be more intuitive to new users, while not disadvantageous to existing ones due to the alignment with the smartphone, as an almost universal technology.
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Disaffordance Changes:
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Increased visual contrast
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Simplified buttons
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Easily understood touchpoints
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Scripting Changes:
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This remote has been designed to be more similar to a smartphone, which have much less physical variation that the multitude of TV remotes available. This allows users to follow along more easily with a more familiar design.
