High Def Digest has a list of the most annoying traits on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs.
Other than the newer format-specific quibbles most of the annoyances are problems that have existed with standard DVDs. When DVDs first came out they were pretty much bare-bones, then discs starting getting excessive with the menus and transitions. After that it seemed that a lot of folks learned to simplify their menu design while others just kept making gratuitous fluff. All this time I’ve mostly heard the same complaints over and over – users don’t like the extra crap.
The biggest offender is placing no-skip advertising before a film. Previews and trailers are OK but having an ad for not pirating the disc I just bought or even worse, and ad for the same movie on the disc is just stupid. If you do this allow skipping – don’t disable the Menu or Title buttons. Seriously, if I bought the disc I will watch it more than once, so I will hate that outdated ad next time around all the more (DVD profit is mostly from sales, not rentals).
Interactive formats do require thinking. UI considerations and user flow are still significant. I’ve always try to put a lot of thought into the menus I put on any shipped DVD, be it a one-off demo or a replicated disc. Even when pressed with doing “cheap” menus I avoid making use of excessive effects and features that authoring software makes easy. Nobody is going to pat me on the back and say “thanks” after experiencing the disc, but if I hadn’t done that they would have had a far worse user experience, which will color whatever content you have on your discs. The experience is important.
DVDs will still sell no matter how much crap is tacked on but now with the pressure to buy the new HD formats every good customer experience will help. If I was producing your disc I’d take this very seriously. You want your format to look and feel good after all. Plus, it’s often cheaper to avoid generating all the extra art or scripting that don’t add to the project.
Hi-Def Disc Producers Fail to Learn From Standard DVD
High Def Digest has a list of the most annoying traits on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs.
Other than the newer format-specific quibbles most of the annoyances are problems that have existed with standard DVDs. When DVDs first came out they were pretty much bare-bones, then discs starting getting excessive with the menus and transitions. After that it seemed that a lot of folks learned to simplify their menu design while others just kept making gratuitous fluff. All this time I’ve mostly heard the same complaints over and over – users don’t like the extra crap.
The biggest offender is placing no-skip advertising before a film. Previews and trailers are OK but having an ad for not pirating the disc I just bought or even worse, and ad for the same movie on the disc is just stupid. If you do this allow skipping – don’t disable the Menu or Title buttons. Seriously, if I bought the disc I will watch it more than once, so I will hate that outdated ad next time around all the more (DVD profit is mostly from sales, not rentals).
Interactive formats do require thinking. UI considerations and user flow are still significant. I’ve always try to put a lot of thought into the menus I put on any shipped DVD, be it a one-off demo or a replicated disc. Even when pressed with doing “cheap” menus I avoid making use of excessive effects and features that authoring software makes easy. Nobody is going to pat me on the back and say “thanks” after experiencing the disc, but if I hadn’t done that they would have had a far worse user experience, which will color whatever content you have on your discs. The experience is important.
DVDs will still sell no matter how much crap is tacked on but now with the pressure to buy the new HD formats every good customer experience will help. If I was producing your disc I’d take this very seriously. You want your format to look and feel good after all. Plus, it’s often cheaper to avoid generating all the extra art or scripting that don’t add to the project.