Digital TV Platform

Project: Design user interface (on-screen display and remote control) for U.S. digital TVs and worldwide analog TVs

Client: Philips Consumer Electronics

Dates: Feb 1998 - Dec 2000

My role: Manager, User Interface Group

 

Designing the user interface for the Philips high-end TV platform involved several challenges:

  • The animated "puck and ball" concept had been developed by Philips Design but never applied to an actual product.
  • The U.S. Digital TV standard existed only as specifications at this time.
  • The UI had to work for both Hi-Def and normal resolution displays.
  • The UI had to accommodate differing TV resolutions, functions and features in the U.S., Europe, and East Asia.
 
The interface also had to accommodate both a conventional remote control and the touch-screen universal "Pronto" remote. The Pronto was appealing (it was also sold as a separate product), but the need for viewers to take their eyes off the TV to view scrolling screens on the remote LCD required a re-design to minimize distractions.