My home is my cozy castle – UID tests new generation of Vaillant heating controls
During their on-going cooperation, UID and Vaillant Group tested and optimized the user interface of a new generation of heating controls. In the course of various test rounds, Vaillant and UID interviewed 2,500 online participants, e. g. by using the AttrakDiff questionnaire, and conducted usability tests involving approximately 60 participants. The result: The heating controls' attractiveness is now almost equal to that of the iPhone.
-
The background
Vaillant Group is one of the leading companies worldwide in the fields of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. Their portfolio ranges from ambient temperature controls to heat pumps, gas and oil heating systems and to combined heat and power systems. In 2010, the family-owned company had 12,400 employees and revenues of 2.3 billion euros.
The starting point and the objectives
Perfect heating comfort and high energy-efficiency: this is what makes Vaillant heating systems attractive to their users. In order to keep this complex technology easy to handle, usability and design are among Vaillant's priorities.
A new generation of user interface is to make it even easier and more convenient for end users and installers to operate the heating controls. To achieve this, Vaillant not only uses standard touch/turn buttons but also innovative interactive solutions such as touch screens. UID supports Vaillant in continuing to improve their user interfaces.The procedure
Various conceptual plans developed by Vaillant served as a basis for UID to develop interactive Flash prototypes. These concepts where then individually evaluated and compared in tests involving a number of online participants. AttrakDiff, a questionnaire developed by UID, played an important role in these tests. It helped the participants to assess not only the usability but also the appeal of the various concepts. The concept that was judged the best was then iteratively refined and evaluated by Vaillant. All in all, 2,500 participants from five countries took part in these tests.
UID then conducted usability tests to corroborate the results gained from AttrakDiff. During these tests, 60 users and installers tested interactive flash simulations in a usability test studio or real research prototypes in the Vaillant research laboratories.The result
By iteratively analyzing, evaluating and optimizing, Vaillant and UID continuously improved the user interface's quality. The attractiveness of the latest generation of heating controls is now almost equal to that of the iPhone.
Project reference from 2011
