The usability of a DVD menu

I recently received a DVD featuring video and photographical highlights from a friend’s wedding day. As much fun was experienced by all during the celebrations, I eagerly loaded my DVD player in the anticipation of spotting myself and my friends amongst the crowd. However, it was not to be as I was defeated at the first hurdle; I couldn’t understand how to navigate around the media. The top level menus were faint images of roses (I think!) and featured against a moving blurry background of rotating flower bouquets, in addition, the feedback for selection was non-existent and the labelling incomprehensible.

The poor usability of my friend’s wedding DVD could be forgiven as the DVD was compiled by the groom as a cost saving exercise using free software, however commercial DVD manufacturers can not use the same excuse. This experience led me to review various DVDs in my collection.

From exploring the first few, it was obvious that from a usability point of view DVD menus are generally poor – commonly a case of placing aesthetics over function. In other words, designers appear to view this medium as a creative arena where no rules apply.

In many cases, navigating menu options from simply playing the film to selecting individual chapters was frequently difficult and often frustrating. On one DVD, I drilled down within the special features section and the only way I could return to a start point was to reject the disk and reload the DVD!

As a result of these experiences, here are some suggestions for better presented and usable DVD menus:

• Keep the animations and menus within their own distinct regions on the screen. (Nothing is more frustrating than trying to assess feedback after making a selection against a rolling or busy background.)
• Ensure feedback is obvious e.g. highlight the current selection.
• Clearly label menu items; ensure the labels are intuitive. ‘Chapters’ are chapters, don’t reinvent the wheel – people just want to watch the film and the extras (not spend value leisure time working out the meaning of a label or a new way of navigating around a DVD.)
• Remember that users will be using one of the most frustrating selection devices invented by man, the remote. So don’t hide options and require the equivalent of a mouse over movement to highlight menu options.
• Always provide an escape route; there should be no dead ends when navigation down ‘levels’ within a DVD menu. For example, there should be direct mapping between the remote control’s rocker buttons and target operations, i.e. the up/down/left/right movement, should be direct and immediate.
• A user should always be able to return to a logical start point. (Nothing is more frustrating than having to eject a DVD and start the loading process all over again.)

Ask yourself this question, how many times do you want to watch the opening credits of a movie when exploring a DVD?