Fergie's Tech Blog

DirecTV's DVRs Run into Usability Snags

Via NewsFactor News.

The interface "is not intuitive, and it's not consistent in the way it performs," Gartner analyst Van Baker says. "There's a 'back' button on the remote, but it doesn't always go back. Sometimes, it takes you to a screen you haven't seen before.

DirecTV appears to have hit some speed bumps with the rollout of its new digital video recorder -- one of the company's most important initiatives.

Following at least dozens of consumer complaints to the company and on Internet sites about sluggish and occasionally idiosyncratic performance, DirecTV on Tuesday upgraded the software for the second time since the DVR was introduced last month.

"Some things are not as intuitive as we thought, and we're polishing it," says DirecTV Chief Technology Officer Romulo Pontual. "It's the kind of thing we do for a living."

posted by Fergie @ 12/22/2005 08:34:00 AM