The Bell Atlantic Stargazer Interactive TV market trial went live in May of 1995. It was first video-on-demand service designed for commercial deployment. Many of the user experience (UX), usability and ergonomics principals discovered are now part of contemporary digital cable. Note: Bell Atlantic Video Services, which developed Stargazer and ran the market trial, changed its name along the way to Tele-TV.
As Director of Human Factors & Consumer Research for Bell Atlantic Video Services (later called Tele-TV), Don Rickert directed all research activities related to Stargazer. This included ethnography, questionnaires, usability testing, depth interviewing and focus groups.
This consumer research conducted by Don Rickert and his multi-disciplinary team of usability engineers, behavioral and social scientists, industrial designers and interaction designers, collaborating with marketers and product managers, defined the total customer experience for Stargazer, including—
- Packaging and the consumer “out-of-the-box” experience (Customer satisfaction from the first minute—the most important!)
- User interface / UX design (useful, usable & desirable = happy & loyal customers)
- Industrial design of remote control devices (high "coolness" factor—emotional appeal)
- Training procedures for cable installers and Customer Support (Greatly reduced costs + much improved total customer experience)
- Collateral materials (e.g. “quick guides”) for consumers (Marketing messages that customers really care about)
The images below are some of the few that exist today. The technology for capturing screen shots from television screens was not as well-developed as what is available today. Click on the thumbnail images for larger views.
To see some later versions of the Stargazer UI, go to Peter Stonier's website. Peter was one of the great thought leaders behind ITV and VOD and a wonderful colleague of the highest order.
Link to some later Electronic Program Guide screens on Peter Stonier's site
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