Design Issues of the GE 74894 Clock Radio

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Design Issues of the GE 74894 Clock Radio

• Brandon Paulson
• CPSC 689-605

All pictures and instructions are from the GE
Consumer Electronics website.
http//www.home-electronics.net
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Design Issue 1 Mapping

• LED display used as feedback mechanism shows
  alarm 1 to the left and alarm 2 to the right, but
  the buttons used to set the alarm are mapped with
  alarm 1 on the right and alarm 2 on the left.

Top view of GE 74894 Clock Radio
LED display of GE 74894 Clock Radio
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Design Issue 2 Conceptual Model

• On/Off button used to turn alarm off is much
  smaller and not as visible as many of the other
  buttons.

• Conceptual model also has problems because user
  may not be certain if this button turns just the
  alarm off, or all alarms off, or the whole clock
  off.

Top view of GE 74894 Clock Radio
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Design Issue 3 Consistency

• Inconsistency between two similar functions.

• This can also lead to affordance problems as the
  user becomes unsure as to whether a button should
  be tapped, pressed, or held.

Instructions for Sleep and Nap Modes for GE 74894
Clock Radio
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Design Issue 4 Visibility

• Icon used in the middle of Time/Date selector
  may not be visible to user as representing Time.

• One good design feature is the Lock setting
  which acts as a constraint to keep the time from
  being accidentally set.

Side view of GE 74894 Clock Radio