As well as the physical characteristics of products, a good ergonomic design takes account of how people think and interact with products. This is especially true with familiar, everyday products such as remote controls. The Sky remote control integrates physical and cognitive ergonomics principles to improve usability.

Designing such a ubiquitous product as a remote control represents a particular ergonomics challenge due to the wide variety in the potential user group – in this case, anyone from age 5 to 85.

A representative sample of these potential users gave Frazer Designers their feedback on aspects such as the shape, weight, texture and layout of the buttons.  Ergonomists from Davis Associates then complemented this information with their own task and layout analyses of the remote control functions.

Two key developments were made to the design on the basis of these data.  First, the physical form and weight distribution of the remote control was designed so that it would only ‘feel’ right in the hand when held in the correct orientation (i.e., pointing at the TV).  Second, the buttons were grouped into functional ‘zones’, ensuring that the most frequently used functions were intuitively placed.

The final design has been validated by further user trials – not to mention standing up to some 12 years of testing in the marketplace, hardly changing in its original design.

Designer: Frazer Designers

Manufacturer: BSkyB

Ergonomists: Frazer Designers with Davis Associates