Introducing the new Verizon FIOS TV Guide, now even worse than before!

[nullsoldier]

Ever since I switched to FIOS I have been an extremely happy consumer. I have had no internet outages and more TV channels than I could ever hope to watch. Unfortunately there's one thing that just infuriates me beyond belief. Over the course of my service, Verizon has forcefully deployed new TV menus to my TV box.

I honestly have no problem with it if the new menu wasn't absolute garbage. Clearly who ever was in charge of creating this has NO IDEA what user experience is. I would honestly be embarrassed if I were Verizon. Sorry Verizon, you aren't a software studio and you don't understand user experience. Stop acting like you do.

My complaints

Each update has reduced the number of channels you can see in the TV guide even in full screen mode

First I want to thank you for reducing the number of channels I can see to the point where the menu becomes useless. I most certainly didn't want to look at 10-12 different channels. That's far too complicated for an end user like me. Instead you've decided that I only need to look at 5 channels at a time. Are you serious? Did anyone even test this poorly developed garbage before they deployed it? Who thought only displaying 5 channels was a good idea and why aren't they fired yet? Clearly they're incompetent.

Each update has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the performance of the menu

Every time Verizon deploys an update the performance of my menu drops beyond acceptable limits. Now after the second or third update, I can barely even use my menu. It some times takes 10 seconds to bring up a menu if my box is choking, and 2-3 seconds to scroll one channel through the menu guide. Yes I understand that I most likely have an older box, but you should think about that before you deploy this horrible update to ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS. I can't even fathom how someone could be this retarded.

The latest menu design completely ignores many usability rules

Even as a novice usability designer, I know better than to create something this bad. There's a row of buttons on the bottom that the user is not easily able to access. I tested this with all of the members of my family and no one had any idea how to access them. What's even more humorous is that there's inconsistency in design at the bottom of the menu for accessing "Search" and "Options". Congratulations, you've single handedly made your menu system harder to use while you thought you made it easier and more simple.  

I've uploaded a screenshot of my menu circling all of the reasons I found that this new menu system filas at for first glance.

http://i.imgur.com/OCe0j.jpg

Just for the record, I have a 47" 1080p TV. Good thing I knew the channels I go to by heart because if it was Verizon's job to limit the amount of channels you turn your TV to then they've succeeded.

[chrisgrill]

Agreed. The new guide is terrible. 4 channels? Its ridiculous. I think the picture in the guide is smaller as well.

[tns]

Your picture shows 6 channels displayed.  The old guide had 9 but complete obscured one with the mode that is on top (and scrolled as if it had only 8 displayed.  It also partially obscured the next 3 with the  the current channel.  Effective only displaying 5.

So effective channels displayed is 6 now 5 before.  And more hours displayed.  You can now see 3 hours of info, you used to see only 1 1/2. 

 Search button B (Blue) is indicated and  you can now start search from the channel display. 

Mode was previously displayed at top.  Option was previously to use left button or option button to show guide mode but I believe is only the option button in 1.9.

There were comments during the sneak preview about the speed being slow on older model stb's.

[nullsoldier]

Effectively you're only displaying 5 channels when you bring up the menu, and 6 when scrolling through. To a user, they generally don't care what the current channel is selected but are interested in the unselected channels they are scrolling through. So in the best case sceanario they are looking at 6 channels while manually searching. 

The old menu did not effectively only display 5, but a much more reasonable number than the amount it displays now. I'm not able to point out how many it previously displayed because I don't have access to the old menu but as an end user not only does it display less channels but the UI itself makes the menu feel claustrophobic making the user experience feel as if there's less to look through by design.

Regardless of justification, the buttons on the bottom don't make logical sense to end users. If I put the controller in the hands of all of my family and they can't figure it out then something is wrong.

[tns]

I am trying to locate a good image of the old guide for you but it was as I described.  Only 5 channels were displayed without something being displayed over the top of them.  3 were half covered.  A page scroll went down 7 channels. 

Now 6 are fully displayed and a page scroll is down five.

Personally I prefer the new guide.  Haven't seen it but supposively you can still switch back to a guide similar to the one you seem to prefer. 

[nascar]

I believe there is a setting called Guide View.  Classic or Standard are the choices.  Located in Menu... Settings... Television... Guide View.

[0100010]

---

@nascar wrote:

I believe there is a setting called Guide View.  Classic or Standard are the choices.  Located in Menu... Settings... Television... Guide View.

---

Correct.

Menu - Settings - Television - Guide View :

Classic = 4 visible channels on Full Screen Guide

Standard = 6 visible channelson Full Screen Guide

Provided the OP is on a 6xxx or 2500.

[dpere]

I see how this 6 channels per screen was achieved.  The text size shrank to the point where now it looks like the disclaimer text you see at the bottom of car lease commercials.  It's ridiculously small now.  Not all of us have a 999 inch TV.

At least give us the option in the "Classic View" to only view 4 channels worth of programming but FULL SCREEN WITH LARGER TEXT SIZE.  All the classic view does now is eliminate the top two rows of programming and replace it with a larger image of the show currently being viewed.  

Shrink the height of the row showing the description of the currently watched show to one line of text.  All we need is the name of the show.  If we want more info on the current show, we press INFO.

With all the effort nowadays to give visually impaired people the ability to be able to access more media, I can't believe Verizon makes no effort to do so on the channel guide.  I have trouble reading it from more than 12 feet away and I have perfect vision, and judging from the 35 pages of comments in the past year stating the same from other customers, I'm not imagining this.  

[MovieBuff3]

You can only change the menu from 4 to 6 channels.

I agree with all of the critical reviews...

Just when I begin to understand and utilize the functions, Verizon feels the necessity to change the whole layout!

WHAT THE HELL FOR??

THE BIG QUESTION:

Why did Verizon waste time and resources to "update" the menu?  It wasn't broken!  It worked, so don't "fix" it.

THE NEW MENU IS HORRIBLE.

And who came up with the color change?  Baby blue?  REALLY???

If you want to add new features and/or make the menu more efficient, then ADD those features.

Don't make a complete facelift to the entire design!

And why doesn't Verizon do what other developers do?

Offer a Beta version to users so Verizon can get CONSTRUCTIVE feedback from the end users.

[nascar]

They did offer a beta version and plenty was offered in terms of trying to change the colors, contrast, and fonts used.  I have yet to see the latest version but I'm hoping more tweaks down the road can be made to improve the readability.

What I'm seeing from others as 1.9 is rolled out is there is consistent criticism of the look (colors, contrast, and fonts) and not the functionality which is a tremendous improvement over 1.8.

---

MovieBuff wrote:

You can only change the menu from 4 to 6 channels.

I agree with all of the critical reviews...

Just when I begin to understand and utilize the functions, Verizon feels the necessity to change the whole layout!

WHAT THE HELL FOR??

THE BIG QUESTION:

Why did Verizon waste time and resources to "update" the menu?  It wasn't broken!  It worked, so don't "fix" it.

THE NEW MENU IS HORRIBLE.

And who came up with the color change?  Baby blue?  REALLY???

If you want to add new features and/or make the menu more efficient, then ADD those features.

Don't make a complete facelift to the entire design!

And why doesn't Verizon do what other developers do?

Offer a Beta version to users so Verizon can get CONSTRUCTIVE feedback from the end users.

---

[frankay213]

---

@nullsoldier wrote:

Ever since I switched to FIOS I have been an extremely happy consumer. I have had no internet outages and more TV channels than I could ever hope to watch. Unfortunately there's one thing that just infuriates me beyond belief. Over the course of my service, Verizon has forcefully deployed new TV menus to my TV box.

I honestly have no problem with it if the new menu wasn't absolute garbage. Clearly who ever was in charge of creating this has NO IDEA what user experience is. I would honestly be embarrassed if I were Verizon. Sorry Verizon, you aren't a software studio and you don't understand user experience. Stop acting like you do.

My complaints

Each update has reduced the number of channels you can see in the TV guide even in full screen mode

First I want to thank you for reducing the number of channels I can see to the point where the menu becomes useless. I most certainly didn't want to look at 10-12 different channels. That's far too complicated for an end user like me. Instead you've decided that I only need to look at 5 channels at a time. Are you serious? Did anyone even test this poorly developed garbage before they deployed it? Who thought only displaying 5 channels was a good idea and why aren't they fired yet? Clearly they're incompetent.

Each update has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the performance of the menu

Every time Verizon deploys an update the performance of my menu drops beyond acceptable limits. Now after the second or third update, I can barely even use my menu. It some times takes 10 seconds to bring up a menu if my box is choking, and 2-3 seconds to scroll one channel through the menu guide. Yes I understand that I most likely have an older box, but you should think about that before you deploy this horrible update to ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS. I can't even fathom how someone could be this retarded.

The latest menu design completely ignores many usability rules

Even as a novice usability designer, I know better than to create something this bad. There's a row of buttons on the bottom that the user is not easily able to access. I tested this with all of the members of my family and no one had any idea how to access them. What's even more humorous is that there's inconsistency in design at the bottom of the menu for accessing "Search" and "Options". Congratulations, you've single handedly made your menu system harder to use while you thought you made it easier and more simple.  

I've uploaded a screenshot of my menu circling all of the reasons I found that this new menu system filas at for first glance.

http://i.imgur.com/OCe0j.jpg

Just for the record, I have a 47" 1080p TV. Good thing I knew the channels I go to by heart because if it was Verizon's job to limit the amount of channels you turn your TV to then they've succeeded.

---

Ok, its not that hard. i dont even have the guide and one glance i figured it out:

1. the bar on top is a scroll bar, showing you how far left or right you are on the channel giude. Just like a scroll bar on a computer

2. those spaces in between the shows are not Verizon's fault. It is whatever the braodcaster tells them is on

3. Hit the B button on your remote to Search

4. Hit the Options button on your remote to change the guide mode

if you use a computer AT ALL, you should be able to understand simple things like this

[flaguy66]

I have two TVs in my home, one is a 6*** box and the other a 7*** box.  The 6*** box got updated first, and I almost blew a gasket, for the exact reasons stated here, a lack of channels, bad font/color scheme and also the placement of the picture as embedded, versus overlay. 

Then the 7*** box television got upgraded, which displays the guide in HD.  My immediate reaction is that its fine, I can handle it.  It has enough channels to live with, and which doesn't radically change what I perceive as "standard". 

I'm hearing that I'm essentially SOL for getting the 6*** box to display this guide with an acceptable number of channels.  However I do have a choice, go back to Brighthouse, which had PiP, a great "start over" feature and Bay News 9.

I'll be asking Verizon to give me the right hardware to support these "enhancements" to my service.  If they refuse, I'll happily "revert" to cable :).

[tns]

Here is a image of the old screen

Also can someone confirm how many channels are shown on the new screen.  In the help video it also looks like its 8 channels, rather than the 6 shown in OP post.

[0100010]

Depends which Guide you're looking at in 1.9.

You can choose the Full Guide (in Standard or Classic) views, Channel Guide, Half Guide or Mini Guide.

7xxx HD

Full Guide Standard = 7 channels (hit Guide once)

Full Guide Classic = 5 channels (available option in Television settings menu)

Channel Guide = 7 channels horizontally (hit Guide twice)

Mini Guide = really just one channel at a time (hit the down arrow on live TV)

Half Guide = 6 channels (hit the up arrow on live TV)

2500 / 6xxx / 7xxx SD

Full Guide Standard = 6 channels (hit Guide once)

Full Guide Classic = 4 channels (available option in Television settings menu)

Channel Guide = 6 channels horizontally (hit Guide twice)

Mini Guide = really just one channel at a time (hit the down arrow on live TV)

Half Guide = 5 channels (hit the up arrow on live TV)

[Justin46]

---

@0100010 wrote:

Depends which Guide you're looking at in 1.9.

.....

---

Excellent post! I hope all of those complaining will read it, really shows how off base they are. Thanks for posting.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[MovieBuff3]

Depends which Guide you're looking at in 1.9.

You can choose the Full Guide (in Standard or Classic) views, Channel Guide, Half Guide or Mini Guide.

7xxx HD

Full Guide Standard = 7 channels (hit Guide once)

Full Guide Classic = 5 channels (available option in Television settings menu)

Channel Guide = 7 channels horizontally (hit Guide twice)

Mini Guide = really just one channel at a time (hit the down arrow on live TV)

Half Guide = 6 channels (hit the up arrow on live TV)

2500 / 6xxx / 7xxx SD

Full Guide Standard = 6 channels (hit Guide once)

Full Guide Classic = 4 channels (available option in Television settings menu)

Channel Guide = 6 channels horizontally (hit Guide twice)

Mini Guide = really just one channel at a time (hit the down arrow on live TV)

Half Guide = 5 channels (hit the up arrow on live TV)

What a waste of time!

Don't you and the rest of the Verizon geeks realize that the average end user is a VIEWER not a techie?

We don't want to play with (and waste time with) all of these silly options.  In fact, I'll bet the majority of Verizon customers don't want or need to have all of these ridiculous options.

We just want to view our selected channels in the best resolution possible and to have the basic ability to find a movie or show, and be able to record, pause and playback movies or other media.  PERIOD.

If you want to offer all of these other "hyper-options", then put them in a special area and call it "Customize Your Viewing Pleasure" or an equivalent label so the Geeks can go there and play while the rest of us can get down to business and  just watch our TV sets.

[jackmcgann]

---

 get down to business and  just watch our TV sets.

---

LOL,  care to reword that oxymoron !!

[VectorVictor]

---

@moviebuff wrote:

What a waste of time!

Don't you and the rest of the Verizon geeks realize that the average end user is a VIEWER not a techie?

We don't want to play with (and waste time with) all of these silly options.  In fact, I'll bet the majority of Verizon customers don't want or need to have all of these ridiculous options.

We just want to view our selected channels in the best resolution possible and to have the basic ability to find a movie or show, and be able to record, pause and playback movies or other media.  PERIOD.

If you want to offer all of these other "hyper-options", then put them in a special area and call it "Customize Your Viewing Pleasure" or an equivalent label so the Geeks can go there and play while the rest of us can get down to business and  just watch our TV sets.

---

So, in short, you're mad that Verizon is offering a new experience and more options to the customer? 

Really?

[freedoms1]

I can see there are two, distinct camps that have emerged about this upgrade. Those people who really like it, and aren't the least bit daunted by the new features. And there are those people who just want to watch television without having to trifle with a lot of features they'll never use, anyway.
And I understand BOTH points-of-view.

I'm in the middle. I like some of the new features, but I find some of the settings (and the new guide's look) superfluous.

I liken this new design to each new operating system Microsoft rolls out. They're always full of "bloatware," and if you aren't willing to spend a lot of time finding out what, say, Windows Messenger is, or that there's a way to change the look of the desktop, you're at the mercy of the software designer.

I would suspect when Verizon signed-up its beta testers, they had hoped to attract tech savvy people who aren't inhibited by new technology. That's beneficial, but perhaps, only to a degree.

However, I also understand that many, many people don't care to roam around in their settings to determine the difference between a Full Guide, Half Screen Guide, Mini Guide or Channel Guide. They aren't about to try to figure out the difference between a "Classic View," and a "Standard View." They just want to watch television.

Here's what I considered to be some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. For the next software release, can you please offer a legacy function that will enable users to choose the look and feel of the guide? If not, please consider the fact that some people (I'm not necessarily one of them) don't shell out their money (which seems to increase every month) to watch their guides!

[mcb01]

---

@freedoms wrote:

I liken this new design to each new operating system Microsoft rolls out. They're always full of "bloatware," and if you aren't willing to spend a lot of time finding out what, say, Windows Messenger is, or that there's a way to change the look of the desktop, you're at the mercy of the software designer.

---

This is actually the fault of computer manufacturers like HP or Dell that sell pre-built machines with bloatware. Those types of programs are not inherently part of any Windows OS.

[freedoms1]

I'm a little confused about your response, mcb01. I've never had one of those pre-built PC's.
But every time I install a Microsoft operating system, I have to search to find applications I won't need - so I can disable them.
Just like with every new piece of software I install, I have to tell it I don't really want the Google or Yahoo toolbars that come with them.

But to the broader point. I'm not necessarily being critical of the folks at Verizon for trying to serve its customers by developing enhanced guides and functions. I'm just questioning whether Verizon is attempting to appeal more to those people who are technologically savvy, than to people who just want to watch their televisions - without having to navigate through these "guide experiences."