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

几十年来，我们一直有看电视的动机，原因多种多样，从习惯或消磨时间到寻求信息或形式的陪伴。我们为什么接触电视可能是相似的，但自从电视问世以来，我们如何接触电视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馈送的故事情节中解放出来。这并不是全新的，因为90年代引入的数字视频记录提供了一些计划中的灵活性，而视频家庭系统(VHS)或Betamax在此之前就已经推出了。然而，视频点播，尤其是整部电视剧的发行，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，但对于什么是狂欢还没有一个明确而广泛的定义。当用于其他活动(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内疚的快乐。一些视频点播平台以一种在其他地方应用时可能会给人留下粗俗印象的方式来宣传“值得大吃大喝的电视”，很难想象“份量控制是给傻瓜的”会像一瓶苏格兰威士忌上的标语那样被接受。也许这种差异是因为人们意识到了危害。虽然许多研究已经表明观看时间与负面结果(如睡眠质量、身体健康、社交)之间存在关系，但这种关系的方向并不明确，这可能是为什么关于观看时间过长的潜在风险几乎没有指导意见的原因。这项研究旨在帮助识别消费者可能发现自己观看时间超过预期的情况，确定是否以及在多大程度上影响到这一点，以及如果是这样，如何解决这个问题。以价值观为中心的设计将被用来创建一个用户友好的VOD界面框架，供应商可以利用该框架来确保他们的消费者对他们的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.