Ruwido opens French user behaviour research centre

TV user experience specialist Ruwido has opened a new user behaviour research centre in Toulouse, France.

Ruwido conducts its own scientific user behaviour research to help with the design of new products. The new facility will operate in addition to the existing usability lab in Austria, and will focus on research into new forms of interaction technologies, consumer behaviour and the latest IPTV technology.

“We chose Toulouse because France is a particularly developed TV market, enabling us to be at the centre of innovation,” said Regina Bernhaupt, director of user experience research, Ruwido France. “Given the strength of the research we have already undertaken and the reliability of the results, we have been able to confidently predict the needs and desires of the next generation of television viewers, and those past predictions are now a market reality. This new facility will further strengthen our ability to develop devices and solutions that provide exactly what operators, and ultimately consumers, need in the home.”

Ruwido is using IP&TV World Forum to reinforce its message that new interaction techniques, such as voice control, will enhance, rather than replace, remote control devices in the living room.

According to CEO Ferdinand Maier, the majority of multi-button remote control devices have become unnecessarily complicated, and intuitive ways of navigating and selecting from content menus need to be created to enhance the user experience. “New interaction techniques for TV are currently a hot industry topic, yet while we do not dismiss these as methods of enhancing the navigation and discovery experience, they will not replace remote control devices,” said Maier. “People at home do not want to move away from the experience they are used to and they enjoy, but they should be encouraged and allowed to interact with their services in a more natural and enjoyable way. At Ruwido we understand that the next generation of TV services must enable the user to feel comfortable and that every way of navigation has to be used in the right context.”

Demonstrations at Ruwido’s stand will aim to highlight the importance of allowing consumers to feel in control when interacting with their devices and services. The company will demonstrate Aura, which consists of a physical device and a graphical user interface designed to allows more intuitive navigation by enabling viewers to physically push the moveable slide of an input device faster or slower depending on how they want to scroll. Depending on how much distance the moveable slide covers, the more tactile resistance is experienced by the user.