Because nothing in my everyday experience has a great design, I'm going to settle for decent. That's where my TV remote comes in. I think my TV remote should win some sort of prize, because it is very hard to design TV remotes, and my remote doesn't suck. It is quite usable. As you can see from the picture, there are not a lot of buttons (by comparison).
There is a power button, located at the top and in the middle, and it is bigger than the buttons around it. The text is bigger, it is the only button of that color, and it has an engraving-type thing on the button so it feels different. There are "mode" buttons next to the power button, so it is easy to change the setting. Then, there are a bunch of small kinda useless buttons that you don't really use that much, but need to be there anyways. They are small and insignificant, just like the functions they represent.
Then, there are the numbers. The numbers are a different shape than other buttons, are labeled, and only go up as high as they need to. To be honest, I don't know what the "-" key does, but the "fav" key probably goes to some sort of saved favorites screen. The numbers are spaced wide enough that you won't hit another number by accident.
Next come the channel and volume keys. Both keys are similar, so you know which one it is. There is a slight groove in the "minus" part of the key, so you know where you have to push to make it quieter (or go down a channel). You can't really see it from the picture, but the channel button has a rubber dot on the top, so in the dark, you know which one changes the channel. It's the one with the rubber dot. In between the volume and channel buttons, there are more somewhat useful buttons, but don't get used that much. They are close to a much-used part of the remote, so it is easy to get to them if the need arises.
At the bottom, there are 4 directional arrow keys, and an enter key. Pretty self explanatory. I haven't really used those buttons, but they are used for navigating menus.
Overall, I think my remote's success comes from the combination of it's simplicity and good mapping. There aren't a lot of buttons because there aren't a lot of things you can do with my TV. I'm ok with that, I don't need to do a significant amount of things with my TV.
-Ben Reback
There is a power button, located at the top and in the middle, and it is bigger than the buttons around it. The text is bigger, it is the only button of that color, and it has an engraving-type thing on the button so it feels different. There are "mode" buttons next to the power button, so it is easy to change the setting. Then, there are a bunch of small kinda useless buttons that you don't really use that much, but need to be there anyways. They are small and insignificant, just like the functions they represent.
Then, there are the numbers. The numbers are a different shape than other buttons, are labeled, and only go up as high as they need to. To be honest, I don't know what the "-" key does, but the "fav" key probably goes to some sort of saved favorites screen. The numbers are spaced wide enough that you won't hit another number by accident.
Next come the channel and volume keys. Both keys are similar, so you know which one it is. There is a slight groove in the "minus" part of the key, so you know where you have to push to make it quieter (or go down a channel). You can't really see it from the picture, but the channel button has a rubber dot on the top, so in the dark, you know which one changes the channel. It's the one with the rubber dot. In between the volume and channel buttons, there are more somewhat useful buttons, but don't get used that much. They are close to a much-used part of the remote, so it is easy to get to them if the need arises.
At the bottom, there are 4 directional arrow keys, and an enter key. Pretty self explanatory. I haven't really used those buttons, but they are used for navigating menus.
Overall, I think my remote's success comes from the combination of it's simplicity and good mapping. There aren't a lot of buttons because there aren't a lot of things you can do with my TV. I'm ok with that, I don't need to do a significant amount of things with my TV.
-Ben Reback
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