Most online platforms use recommender systems to reduce information overload and enhance user experience but do not usually address the implications of their influence on users from an ethical and legal perspective. The Digital Services Act (DSA) is the first supranational regulation that requires online platforms to explain the criteria underlying their recommender systems and to allow users to control them by modifying their parameters. However, the effectiveness of user control features is mainly dependent on the design of the interface: in fact, users may not be interested in using tools that, despite supporting their empowerment, increase the cognitive load of their experience. This paper introduces a controllable and transparent RS for short videos integrated into an interactive user interface, through which a preliminary user study was conducted to provide insights into how the DSA-informed control features of RSs can enhance users’ understanding and willingness to intervene on the recommendation process. After interacting with this platform, users participated in an evaluative survey featuring six dimensions: perceived control, perceived transparency, engagement with control features, perceived psychological workload, satisfaction, and impact on digital wellbeing. The findings indicate that: 1) users show the tendency not to use the control features when not prompted to do so; 2) users with different domain knowledge have similar preferences for different levels of control; 3) providing transparent and user-friendly control features can encourage their usage; 4) the availability of control features is associated with users’ feeling of empowerment and perceived ability to recognize how recommendations steer their attention. These results open future research directions on the design of DSA-informed transparent and controllable RSs and provide practical guidelines for the implementation of the DSA requirements for RSs.