Please simplify projector/audio setup

[mitar]

This is really getting ridiculous. After last upgrade (putting stuff in those metal boxes) things are really impossible to use. Remote controls? Why? Why not simply a panel with 2 buttons for video: chromecast, HDMI, and 3 buttons for audio: mic in, HDMI in, chromecast in?

This is really impossible to use now. People have issues.

At least remove all buttons from remotes which are not needed.

[ck2qsuZT]

I was planning on using something like a raspberry pi and a breadboard with a single button which is much easier for members but much harder for future EM. If not, detailed non technical, and better written instructions would likely solve the issues. But yeah, also ripping off all the unused buttons on the controller might work.

[mitar]

Just simplify. Really. Things before were much simpler, even if we had to replace stuff every so.

[mitar]

Pleeease. Add at least instructions. People are soo confused.

[ck2qsuZT]

When I get back, I know it's an issue :p I didn't forget about it I just
had to leave.

On Sat, Apr 2, 2016 at 11:36 AM, Mitar [email protected] wrote:

Pleeease. Add at least instructions. People are soo confused.

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[clohard]

I really dropped the ball on this one = /

[clohard]

I feel once it is documented that it shouldn't be as much of an issue and I would want to try documentation before hardware changes. I honestly feel people had more issues with the previous setup, not only did they not know how to use it but they would break things trying to "fix" things that weren't broken in the first place. Now everything complex is isolated and it's much harder for people to nuke a working configuration. Also, with the old setup people generally had to press more buttons than they have to now.

[mitar]

I do not know if they had more issues, but it definitely did not work more often this semester. The issue are also "temporary" fixes. You moved Chromecasts between rooms, without renaming them. You know how "temporary" fixes become permanent. I saw that at this semester introductions workshift managers were unable to use the projector in the dinning room.

Those things simply has to be fixed immediately. The same with printer. If you do not fix them immediately, people start playing with them and things get worse. They get used to going by instructions do not work.

Also, they have too many options. I told you, you would just duck-tape all those useless buttons away. That would take you 1 minute and would make it easier for everyone for the whole semester.

The issue is that in theory you are right, if it is simple and they cannot change, it is better. But your setup looks more complicated (so many buttons) and it simply does not work for most of the time. Then it is worse.

Maybe before they had to press more buttons, but it was easier to know which ones to press. Now it is not unclear.

[mitar]

It is easy to test this. Just create an user study. Ask few new people this semester to try to use a projector and do not tell them anything. And observe what happens. And then iterate until it gets to the stage that new people can use it always (not just when it is not broken) without your help at all.

[ck2qsuZT]

I have done this and the main issues were:

• People had were not knowing how to get audio output from their
  computers (that's not common electronics problem, the member should be able
  to use their own computer... )
• People not knowing how to turn on the audio receiver
• People forgetting to turn shit off
• People being intimidated by the audio mixer (again, photos / video
  would probably greatly help here)
• People not knowing the difference between an audio mixer and an audio
  receiver (Pictures / video would probably help greatly here)
• People not knowing how to use the remote / assuming it did things it
  doesn't (yes duct tape over the useless buttons would probably fix this but
  I'm reluctant to do so because if in the future we need those buttons they
  will be sticky and unpleasant, a new remote costs $20)

The main differences between this and the previous setup is that this setup
has a receiver locked in a box and a mixer added, the mixer makes it so you
don't need to change input on the receiver and makes it so there are only
two cables to deal with. On top of that it prevents the $500 receiver from
walking away, worst case scenario the $80 mixer walks away. Yes, a receiver
is more intuitive to some but people were still very intimidated by the
receiver when it was a receiver only setup. It also adds redundancy since
both carts are the same, if something breaks in the middle of an event (as
it has before hence why the dining hall cart is in the family room) then
you can just wheel them out and swap them out. I dropped the ball since I
was supposed to fix the setup then replace them again but I never put in
the effort, the only difference between the two setups is that the Dining
hall (currently family-room) has a better receiver which currently has no
channel A audio output for some reason.

The main issues I observed when I did the observation with the old setup
were:

• Point one from above
• Point two from above
• Point three from above
• People being intimidated by the audio receiver
• People not knowing how to change the input on the audio receiver
• People messing with configurations because they didn't know how to use
  the setup and as a result breaking the setup
• People placing cups on the audio receiver leading to either
  condensation dripping into the receiver or people spilling stuff into the
  receiver (we lost two receivers these ways)
• The libed was relatively simple compared to the stage, as a result
  people didn't use the stage setup unless they had an event and most of the
  time screwed it up. Now both are the same complexity (I feel they are now
  in between what both were before) and people know how to use either just as
  well, albeit now people know how to use both equally poorly because of the
  lack of documentation.

I did intend to document but I dropped the ball, I got one hour a week and
I wanted to improve and fix things which ended with me mostly improving
things and making more stuff to document as opposed to documenting the
stuff that was already there so I didn't really do my job but I do honestly
believe that the two hours a week is not enough compensation for the
position. It's fun to build a computer and an A/V setup but not fun to
document it and when you are only compensated enough hours to do one or the
other I feel people are going to do the former.

On Fri, Jun 3, 2016 at 4:08 AM, Mitar [email protected] wrote:

It is easy to test this. Just create an user study. Ask few new people
this semester to try to use a projector and do not tell them anything. And
observe what happens. And then iterate until it gets to the stage that new
people can use it always (not just when it is not broken) without your help
at all.

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