Overcompensating Much? – Part 1

I *HATE* most remote controls. They are completely non-intuitive, have no standard UI scheme from one to the next, and can be infuriating to try to use if you need to control more than one device with them. Even the TiVo remote, which my former cow-orkers at IDEO designed and is generally recognized as one of the best remotes ever, suffers from “find-the-right-button” issues.

This designer has come up with a unique answer to the problem (via) — a remote control with one button for every single channel (provided you only have 100 channels). It’s almost two feet long, so it does have the advantage of being really hard to lose.

He’s also designed some more conventional remotes, which have the usual issues incorporated into their otherwise swoopy designs.

I think a far better idea for remote controls is to have them function like the Wiimote: just a few buttons for selecting items and a navigable mouse cursor on the screen to select choices from menus. It would also help if electronics makers wouldn’t try to cram too many features into their devices.