The parental control features hardwired into all three next-gen consoles are often touted by the video game industry when game legislation is debated.
However a study by Chicago research group User Centric questions whether console parental controls are effective.
User Centric, which bills itself as a "usability consultancy" likewise casts a jaundiced eye at parental controls built into DVR's and cell phones, as well as the V-chip feature of television sets.
User Centric tested one of each type of device with 20 parents and 20 kids, ages 9-12. No product names were specified, so we don't know which console they evaluated. In any case, their results are not likely to make it into video game industry marketing campaigns any time soon. From their press release:
Failure rates were high: 31% (DVR), 36% (mobile phone), 42% (V-Chip), 47% (game console).
The relationship between ratings systems and their impact on parental controls was unclear to many participants... When using the game console, participants were confused whether their selection represented the highest rating allowed or the lowest rating blocked (despite explanations displayed onscreen)...
Overall, User Centric found that: participants' lack of understanding about ratings compromised their ability to successfully set up parental controls and that parents may be more confident than they should be that the controls are properly set.
Comments
Yes you are correct, they should make everything as dumb as possible so we can raise up a new generation of stupider adults who can't even get that right... like they say, make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. Anyways it is the parents fault, but the test was skewed and they never provided the adult with any documentation, or at least they haven't said so. and any test that shoots out results without that kind of documentation, can't be trusted in my opinion. There is a reason things get peer reviewed in the professional world, so crap like that gets filtered out.
> generation of stupider adults who can’t even get that right
What a load of trash. The system is design for real people, you know the ones out and about who can not manage to turn on subtitles. They are the ones that need to be able to set the device up.
> Anyways it is the parents fault
Right. Something is hard to set up, so it is the parents fault. Now if they were parents out in the wild they are the parents we want on side as they attempted to lock the machine down, and attempted to control what Jnr plays. 47% of them failed. If they did not attempt to set the machine up I'd agree with you.
> but the test was skewed
Without knowing the full details of the test, I can not answer that.
> and they never provided the adult with any
> documentation, or at least they haven’t said so.
They had not really said all that much in the link above. The truth is we don't know if they included the manual or not.
Best option IMO is to sell the devices locked down. If you want to play GTA you will be willing to read a small amout of the manual to do so.
Enjoy your day. :)
Heh, I wondered if someone would say that. That has got to be a frustrating job, because some people just won't be satisfied until an interface can read your mind and program itself. And then they'd complain that they have to think.
....so basically...alot of those 20 parents were idiots?
and another thing...there isn't really a way for small kids that need parental blocks to get around the blocks, unless they guess, in which case the password must have been too easy. The only other way around that i can see is resetting the system...
On game systems it is very simple to set a rating limit...I don't know about the V chip...I think I have one on my television and that kinda makes me uneasy (I don't believe in them)
It is not hard to use the parental control features.
I mean, seriously, you're led by the freakin' hand (push button A to do this, push button B to do this), how the heck hard can it really be?
I seriously question the validity of this study (and if it's true that the Parents really had such difficulty, then I question the validity of the "subjects" as well).
Nightwng2000
NW2K software
and here is a vid on myspace that makes fun of halo 3 and jack thompson
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=190...
I found the Wii setup to be fairly easy, but the 360 setup was a bit more of a pain, it's menus need work.
Question: If a parent is unsure how the buckles and clips which secure a baby seat in a car fit together or too lazy to secure them properly, does it wrong and then goes driving, is it the device that is putting the child in danger? Should there be an overhaul of the structure of child seats because of this?
"When using the game console, participants were confused whether their selection represented the highest rating allowed or the lowest rating blocked (despite explanations displayed onscreen)…"
Overall, User Centric found that: participants’ lack of understanding about ratings compromised their ability to successfully set up parental controls and that parents may be more confident than they should be that the controls are properly set."
Their own findings show that it is the parents at fault. As in my hypothetical questions, a system or mechanism should not be blamed for failing if it is being used by people who do not understand it. How to fix the problem? Parents just need to do a little more work in looking into the ratings and learn how to use the parental locks/controls on the devices in question.
You know it's funny, I'm sure that this crazy notion of the parents taking an active interest in what their child is doing and taking necessary measures to ensure it is appropriate and safe for them has been put forward before.... OH YEAH! It has! It's called being a responsible parent!
seriously, what? you can't UNDERSTAND WORDS WHEN THEY ARE PRESENTED TO YOU?
what batch of retarded inbred blind people did they get to do this test?
I hate when facts are skewed like that. It reeks of Jack Thompson, and that smells worse than a 1 year deployment.
and how do you get a non multiple of 5 failure rate with a group of 20?
And they didn't even give them the manuals.
If you give anyone software, they will not know how to use all the features without either
1. some sort of training
2. A F***ING MANUAL
really, this is a completely bogus report :) have a nice day.
true they didn't state it directly, though the quote on the side was interesting,
each time i go there, it's different but it said,
"testing 1 person is 100% better than testing 0"
But the results still aren't credible.
Ben
*headdesk*
*crotch punch to the idiotic parents*
I feel like there should be a requirement to at least have a significant number of people in a "study" before you go touting it to the world. "We surveyed a group of three (3) Americans and have concluded that all Americans are male, enjoy baseball, and think the Dodgers are the best team ever. -USC study)"
They need to put that feature in big red letters on the front of the box I guess. Maybe a lot of parents reallly don't care?
When designing the system the console developers likely had a set of "example users". One would be the "idiot parent" who would should be the one that runs though some of the inital set up. The text for said user would likely include things like "will never read the manual" and "after inital set up does not really want to touch scary thing again (unless solatare is released)".
If the target group find the set up confusing, the set up is wrong.
(As an aside the real idiot parents (and likely a good 30-40% of the people used in this test) would never touch the machine, but just give the scary pong thing to the kids to set up)
Is that Jonny Cage's new finisher????
M = MATURE. YOUR KID SHOULD BE EITHER 17, OR YOU SHOULD KNOW IF HE'S MATURE ENOUGH TO PLAY IT.
The system will say something like 'BLOCKED" or "unblocked".
just when you think you've made a system idiot-proof
I can't imagine a UI designer thinking to himself "This could be more friendly to the novice - and it is the novice who is going to need this function - but screw it. I'm going to invert the parental control spectrum and bury it three layers down in an ancillary menu. Just to spite the user. I hate them so much..."
That is, parents using their parental powers to control the lives of their children.
If you see your kid playing something you don't like, either watch him/her play it with them, and/or turning the console off if you do not want your kid playing it.
You can't realistically do anything to change the parents apart from trying to educate them. It's up to the designers to ensure that people who appear to be pretty damn stupid (at least in one fairly specific domain) are still able to operate the controls. Even if it is their fault, blaming the parents here isn't going to help anyone.
"Best option IMO is to sell the devices locked down. If you want to play GTA you will be willing to read a small amout of the manual to do so."
Then you will get a flood of console returns because they are defective. If people are unwilling to look and read aboutt he parental locks on the console to stop a kid from playing the game, do you really think they will look to check the parental lock when they first open the box.
I Think that the consoles when they are fresh from the factory, should cue the parents to set the parental locks the moment they turn on the console. This can easily be done when the console boots up. They check for the flag and if it is not set then cue the parental lock. This will help alleviate a lot of the problems.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
If the parent does not read the manual to find out how to do something it is their fault they do not know how to do it. Can people who don't know how to set up a password on a brand new computer really complain when they fail to set up a password? Yes, but they are retarded for doing so. Proper documentation is made available when the system is purchased, I find no fault with the consoles.
I will still say that the test was crap cause the got a 47% out of 20 people.
@VioletSon
Me either, i think i didn't put out the sarcasm disclaimer like i should have.
So despite the screen stating exactly what they mean, the parents couldn't figure it out? I can understand if that info was buried in manuals, but ONSCREEN? I weep for America's educational system that has failed to teach reading comprehension...
Depends on the message returned, but you are most likely to be correct.
> I Think that the consoles when they are fresh from the factory,
> should cue the parents to set the parental locks the moment
> they turn on the console.
A fine suggestion, I agree but "many participants believed they had successfully activated parental controls when they actually had not" makes me at least think the problem is not simply that the feature is hidden in some obscure settings menu, but that the UI for setting up the controls needs a rethink.
> Also, I am completely against dumbing down this process.
> If you make it simple enough for an idiot adult to figure out,
> it is simple enough for a child to figure out.
Simply to lock does not equate to simple to unlock. Unlocking should be as hard as the password assigned.
> out how to do something it is their fault
> they do not know how to do it
If you know the target group from the outset is unlikely to read the manual (and in this case they are), then that is who the system should be designed for.
> the parents couldn’t figure it out?
We have two possible reasons to this. They did not read the text on screen. Nothing can be done for them. Such users if not in the test however would likely not even attempt to set up parent controls.
The text was confusing. If so it needs to be re-written.
I disagree with the target group statement. but i have no more interest in this subject, have a nice day :)
Actually, you would be surprised. I've had moments where, when designing a UI, the desire to make the user suffer becomes almost enough for me to actually DO it. I could easily see a designer with less self control (or more of a mean streak) figuring that into their process.
"Right. Something is hard to set up, so it is the parents fault."
What makes you think it's hard to set up? All the consoles I've worked with, it's been an easy process.
"The text was confusing."
How could you possibly know this? WHY would it be? Developers actually pay people a stupid amount of money specifically to research stuff like this. Not to mention the fact that it's actually HARD to MAKE the instructions for something as simple as parental controls confusing in the first place.
This is not rocket science, people. Put in a GD password, boom. Done.
@ rdeegvainl
I'm with you, 20 people does not a legitimate study make, by any stretch of the imagination. And quite frankly, if half of their 20 parents really couldn't figure it out, I refuse to believe the sample set wasn't very deliberately skewed to include the most technophobic vegetables they could find.
For the 360
System start brings us to the dashboard.
Each UI blade is visible, with one called system.(The only slightly ambiguous one)
1: 3 taps on the right of the d pad and I have access to all the settings.
2: 1 tap down and I have family settings(Which even provides an explanation of what it does, and how you can protect younger users. It even has a pleasant little lock symbol on it. ) Press the button.
3: Sub menu for xbox live features and console features. Once again an explanation for what is in each sub menu is provided before opening one.
4: Within the console menu is game ratings menu and a dvd ratings menu. Each with a clear explanation.
5: games menu gives an allow all option, then one for each rating. Each rating has a rather clear explanation. Allow teen rated games and below. or E games and below. It even gives a nice explanation of each rating.
The only hard part for the process is remembering to set a passcode one menu back up. However the system still functions, however it can be quickly disabled. Of course if you go in and notice that little timmy can play M games on his newfangled machine, you take away his new fangled machine till a later time.
Memo to those with a game-legislating agenda:
This study used 20 parents. Not a representation of American parents.
"how do you get a non multiple of 5 failure rate with a group of 20?"
DING! DING! DING! WINNER!
9/20 = 45%, where the F did they get 47%?
Also 20 people is not significant enough to prove anything.
Sorry, I watched Knocked Up 3 times over the weekend.
So after looking into this, this has no scientific or legal value. Only commercial.
I do agree that the numbers just don't add up and they need to fire their statition.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary