Jun 25 2008
Hifi equipment - what happened to usability?
Great, you have bought a new hifi system, and have carefully checked that your new buy is simple and easy to use. In the store you have tested several systems and you are confident this is the best buy. When you get home with your new purchase and want to install the installation the troubles start. In which holes do you have the plug all the cables?
Usability frontend vs backend
The usability of sound systems got a lot more attention in the last years. The systems become more and more friendly to operate, but it seems the backend is ignored in this improvement. It is still hard to intuitively setup your system without consulting your manual or calling the helpdesk.
It is clear that all brands use the red and white color to distinguish the left and right speaker and this is probably universally known among people. But apart from the use of colors not a lot effort is put in creating hierarchies. Yes, the types of connections are grouped (mapped) together, but the user has to conclude this by reading the ‘text’ that says ‘dvd’ or ‘digita in’. So far we have not encountered a single system that uses icons at the back or different color regions (e.g. green for all DVD connections or blue for radio). When will we see the first audio system with a usable backend?
Some examples of existing systems.
Marantz SR8002
Denon_AVC-A11XV
Sony STR-DG520
Onkyo A-93551
Yamaha_RXV663
Harman Kardon AVR430
