Stanford University, Spring 2002

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SmirC

• A conceptual captology design by
• Minette Chan and Josie Chou

Design ChallengeTo encourage TV couch potatoes
to deconstruct advertising messages and become
smarter consumers Time limit 8 hours
preparation, 4 minutes presentation
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User Description

• Target Audience 16-40 years old
• Cable or satellite TV subscribers
• Knows there is more to TV commercials than meets
  the eye

3
SmirC outsmarts advertising
Helen subscribed a broadband cable service and
was hooked up with their service, with an
innovative remote control SmirC and smart box
on TV set. 
The smart box was connecting with the cable
service for huge subvertising data base. If there
was a counterpart subvertisment to the airing TV
commercial, SmirC would beep Helen, and a small
pop-up screen would jump on the right bottom
corner of the TV screen.
Helen could choose to view the subvertisment
right away, or saved it for later viewing. When
choosing No, thanks! the device would flash
three times to attract Helens attention on
viewing the subvertising.
A playlist of the subvertisments would be shown
on the TV screen, last recorded first played.
Helen could use the function keys on SmirC to
make selection.
The more subvertisements Helen viewed, the more
stars she won. The reward system boosted Helen to
be more aware of her consuming behavior.
After making the selection, the TV commercialor
the current programming would be replaced bythe
subvertisment. The subvertisement would be shown
on the main TV screen and the TV commercials
would be swapped to the small corner screen.
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An example of subvertisement A true story with
Sprint PCS servicewww.thelocalworld.com/sprint.ht
m
John purchased a Sprint PCS phone and was hooked
up with their cellular service, with absolutely
no contract signed. 
Over 3 days of the 7 phone calls made by John,
half of them were interrupted and disconnected. 
Being rightly dissatisfied with Sprint's service,
the phone was returned to where it was bought,
and the John was told that the service was
cancelled. He was happy to know the cancellation
was so easy.
Three months later John received a bill for over
180.00. 
After contacting Sprint PCS and speaking to
several people there, he was told that they knew
he only had the phone for 3 days, and returned
it, but refused to settle upon any type of
agreement. 
Sprint PCS still wanted over 180.00 for services
they never provided. John was very angry but had
no way to do with i. He paid the bill.
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Features/Functionality
SmirC The Smart Consumer with the Smart
Remote Control

• Smart Box hooks up to the TV and senses
  commercials
• SmirC receives signals from Smart Box
• Has visual and audio prompts
• User control by providing three options View
  now, later, or No thanks!
• Small pop-up screen is unobtrusive and keeps
  viewers informed
• Rewards viewers for watching subvertisements
  through star system

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SmirC The Smart Consumer with the Smart
Remote Control

• Immediate deconstruction takes advantage of the
  recency effect
• TV commercial VS. TV commercial is a powerful
  comparison and targets the same laid back TV
  audience
• TV subvertisements are visual and more
  appealing to couch potatoes
• A remote control is part of the couch potato
  culture. It will be easier to persuade a TV
  viewer to use this system and to use it now.
• Star system provides extrinsic motivation and
  boosts intrinsic motivation (of being a smarter
  consumer)

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SmirC The Smart Consumer with the Smart
Remote Control

• Persuasive Purpose
• To encourage TV viewers to apply critical
  thinking skills to the many ads they encounter by
  pushing a button on their SmirC.

Industrial Design SmirC provides all the
functionalities of a universal remote control,
making it an extremely useful gadget to have,
plus includes a connection to the Smart Box which
airs non-ads to deconstruct common advertising
messages
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Prototype of SmirC

• Picture of SmirC

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Theoretical Justification

• Immediate deconstruction takes advantage of the
  recency effect
• TV commercial VS. TV commercial is a powerful
  comparison and targets the same laid back TV
  audience
• TV subvertisements are visual and more
  appealing to couch potatoes
• A remote control is part of the couch potato
  culture. It will be easier to persuade a TV
  viewer to use this system and to use it now.
• Star system provides extrinsic motivation and
  boosts intrinsic motivation (of being a smarter
  consumer)

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Shortcomings of Design

• Data analysis is difficult to do in
  subvertisements.
• Too much information may not be welcomed by TV
  viewers
• Subvertisements should be short and attractive
  to be effective
• Cable providers may not wish to be associated
  with subvertisements
• Technology is here but at a very high price (not
  economically feasible).
• Not all TV viewers have the basic technology
  (cable or satellite TV)

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Expansion - What else is possible?

• LCD remote control all around, more flexible,
  allows onscreen messages
• Internal sensor device in TV makes Smart Box
  accessible to more people
• System can become proactive instead of reactive
  Allows viewers to view commercials that they have
  not seen before and then deconstruct them
  immediately afterwards
• Game mode Let viewers watch a TV ad and reflect
  on the influence techniques used. Scenarios are
  shown onscreen and TV viewers choose from them.

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Next Steps in Design Process

• Create prototype and conduct user testing (lots
  of observations, interviews, etc.)
• Create a variety of subvertisement samples
• Measure retention and effectiveness of the
  approach (correlation between the use of SmirC
  and smart consumer behaviors)
• Research on viewing it Now and Later is there a
  difference?

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Evaluation of Captology Design Project
How well does the design idea fit into the realm
of captology? 0 1
2 3 4
5 6 7
How well does the design match the design
brief? 0 1
2 3 4
5 6 7
How viable/convincing is the proposed solution?
0 1 2
3 4 5
6 7
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Evaluation continued
How clever is the proposed solution?
0 1 2
3 4 5
6 7
How effectively did the presentation
communicate? 0 1
2 3 4
5 6 7
How well does the document communicate?
0 1 2
3 4 5
6 7
Bonus Points