To Programmable Thermostat users/owners: Need your help to fill out a questionnaire! =)

 Dear all programmable thermostat users/owners,

Hi, I am a college student who is doing a project about programmable
thermostats. I have difficulty to find people who use or own a
programmable thermostat, and I am so desperate that I am asking for
help in this group. The questionnaire is mainly about your experience
and opinions about programmable thermostats. It won't take long to fill

out the questionnaire and I really really really appeciate your help.

Here is the questionnaire:

Programmable Thermostat Questionnaire (for users/owners)

1. What is the brand and model of your programmable thermostat? (You
can leave out the model if you do not remember)

2. How long have you owned or used a programmable thermostat?

3. What kind of features does your programmable thermostat have?
**Please select the following item(s) that are applicable by putting an

"X" at the end of the item.
    (1) Ability to store and repeat multiple settings (e.g. weekends
and weekdays)
    (2) Manual override to allow you to change the current temperature
without affecting the daily or weekly program.
    (3) Ability to operate normally with a battery backup during a
power outage or a battery failure
    (4) Ability to prevent unnecessary or unreasonable period of a
setting (e.g. a period of 1 minute)
    (5) Digital Display
    (6) Keyboard Lock to prevent unauthorized changes to the
preprogrammed settings
    (7) Multiple Temperatures Display (Fahrenheit or Centigrade)
    (8) Multiple Languages Support and Display
    (9) Low Battery Indicator that indicates whether the battery used
to hold the programmed schedule is low
    (10) Energy Monitor that keeps track of number of hours the
heating/cooling system has run for any selected time period
    (11) Filter Change Indicator that goes on after a preset time
period to remind when it is time to clean or replace the filter
    (12) Temperature accuracy within one degree (plus or minus)
    (13) Instructions printed on the inside cover
    (14) Others:

4. Please scale the satisfaction level of your current programmable
thermostat? (1 - Not Satified and 8 - Completely Satisfied)

5. What feature(s) do you like about your programmable thermostat? And
why do you like it or them? If applicable, please write the number of
the item in Question 3, and explain for each item.

6. What feature(s) do you dislike about your programmable thermostat?
Why do you dislike it or them? If applicable, please write the number
of the item in Question 3, and explain for each item.

7. If you think that your programmable thermostat needs to be improved,

what kind of improvements should be made?

8. Please scale (between 1 and 10) the importance of the following
requirements of a programmable thermostat: (1 - Least Important and 8
- Most Important)
** Please put the number at the end of the item.
· High Task efficiency
· Low Error rates
· Fast recovery time
· Easy to learn
· Easy to use
· Safe
· Good physical design
· Good interface design (software)
· Durable
· Ease of maintenance
· Others:

9. How much time do you usually spend at most to perform a task, e.g.
to set a weekday program?

10. If you can recall, how much time did you spend on performing a
task, e.g. to set a weekday program for the first time?

11. How well (a scale between 1 and 8) do you know about your
programmable thermostat in terms of features? (1 - not well and 8 -
very well)

12. How much time have you spent to learn to use the features of the
thermostat that fit your needs?

13. How much percentage (between 0% and 100%) of all features of the
thermostat have you learned using the time that you answered in the
previous question?

14. Where do you use your programmable thermostat?
**Please select the following items that are applicable by putting an
"X" at the end of the item.
    · Home
    · Office
    · Others:

15. Please indicate your age range
**Please put an "X" at the end of the item.
    · 15-24
    · 26-35
    · 36-45
    · 46-55
    · 56-65
    · Over 65

16. What is your occupation? (If you are a student or a professional,
please indicate your specific area)


***Thank you so much for your time to answer this questionnaire. I
really appreciate your help!

Estella

 

Right.... Why do I have a hard time believing this? OK, I'll bite...



Qty 2 - Lux 1000 - have owned others in the past


Over 15 years


If the power is out, running the thermostat won't help. The thermo clock is
backed up.


 6


The ability to program each day separately. Lumping weekends & weekdays will not
work


Construction quality is poor. Switches can be intermittent. Screen is too small.


See above


15 seconds


2 minutes

 Dear Clark,

Thank you for your trust and time for filling out this questionnaire. I
should have made clearly what my assignment is about.

I am from Washington State University, the class is Cpt S 443 about
Human-Computer Interaction. My instructor needs me to get at least 6
responses from people who use or own a programmable thermostat, so that
I can analyze the data and make up my own list of requirements of a
programmable thermostat.

Hope this will clear some of your questions if you have any doubts
about this questionnaire.

Estella

 

No problem. Things are not always whet they seem on Usenet, but I probably
shouldn't be quite so cynical...

 Okay, I am glad and thankful to say that I just collected "enough" (the
minimum number required by instructor) responses from all of you. So I
will move on from here, and start doing some primarily analyzes for the
next step of my assignment.

If you just read the first post, please do not fill out the
questionnaire.

Thank you for those who responded my post. I appreciate all the data,
comments, and advice from you all.

Estella