The Psychology of excessive 'Viewing on Demand': How might platforms be designed to optimise user autonomy of VOD consumption?

几十年来，我们看电视的动机从习惯或时间的流逝到寻求信息或陪伴的形式。我们与电视互动的“原因”可能是相似的，但我们与电视互动的“方式”自其诞生以来已经发生了很大的变化。视频点播（VoD）平台的引入将观众从强加的时间表和点滴的故事情节中解放出来。这并不完全是新的，因为数字视频录制在90年代推出了一些计划的灵活性和视频家庭系统（VHS）或Betamax在此之前可用。然而，视频点播，特别是整个系列的发布使得连续（或狂欢）观看剧集比以往任何时候都更加方便。狂欢观看现在是一个家喻户晓的术语，但对什么构成狂欢的明确和广泛的定义尚未确定。当应用于其他活动（吃，喝，赌博）时，狂欢被认为是不受欢迎的，但在这种情况下，它可能被归类为一种不那么有罪的快乐。一些视频点播平台以一种在其他地方应用时可能会被认为是粗鲁的方式宣传“值得观看的电视”，很难想象“部分控制是为吸盘”会像一瓶苏格兰威士忌上的标语一样被接受。也许这种差异是由于感知的危害。虽然许多研究表明观看时间和负面结果之间存在关系，（如睡眠质量、身体健康、社会交往），这种关系的方向不太清楚，这可能是为什么很少有关于“过度”观看时间相关的潜在风险的指导。这项研究旨在帮助确定消费者可能发现自己观看的时间超过预期的情况，确定这是否重要以及有多大重要性，如果重要，如何解决。将采用以价值观为中心的设计来创建用户友好的VoD界面框架，供应商可以利用该框架来确保消费者对其观看习惯拥有最大程度的自主权。

For decades, we have been motivated to watch television for reasons ranging from the habitual or passing of time through to seeking of information or forms of companionship. The 'why' we engage with television may be similar but the 'how' we engage with it has changed considerably since its inception.The introduction of Video on Demand (VoD) platforms in the aughts has unlocked viewers from an imposed schedule and drip-fed storylines. This isn't entirely new as Digital Video Recording introduced in the nineties afforded some planned for flexibility and Video Home Systems (VHS) or Betamax were available before that. However, VoD, particularly with whole series release has made back-to-back (or binge) watching episodes more convenient than ever before.Binge watching is now a household term but a clear and widespread definition of what constitutes binge has yet to be set. When applied to other activities (eating, drinking, gambling), binge is considered undesirable but in this context, it may be classed as a not so guilty pleasure. Some VoD platforms advertise 'Binge-worthy TV' in a way which might come across as crass when applied elsewhere, it's difficult to imagine that 'portion control is for suckers' would be so acceptable as a tagline on a bottle of scotch for example.Perhaps the difference is due to perceived harms. While a number of studies have shown a relationship between viewing time and negative outcomes (e.g. sleep quality, physical health, social interaction), the direction of that relationship is less clear which may be why there is little guidance on potential risks associated with 'excessive' viewing time.This research is intended to help identify the circumstances in which the consumer may find themselves viewing more than intended, establish if and how much that matters and if so, how it might be addressed. Values centred design will be employed to create a user-friendly VoD interface framework that suppliers can utilise to ensure their consumers have the greatest degree of autonomy over their viewing habits.