Don Rickert Research and Design Work: Mostly (but not all) Things

Interactive Television (ITV) Introduction

Interactive Television (I-TV) and Video-on-Demand (VOD)

Prior to the advent of the World-Web Web, the Internet was viewed simply as a system for research collaboration. It was definitely not an entertainment medium for consumers. Interactive TV was the dream of many organizations, especially telephone companies, as a way to put to use what was then a new and revolutionary DSL technology. The Bell Atlantic Stargazer ITV/VOD 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 (relating the the set-top boxes and remote controls) principles discovered are now expected basic features of contemporary digital cable. This is particularly true of the the interactive programming guides that digital cable and satellite TV users have become accustomed to.

Remote Control Devices for Interactive TV

Click on any of the thumbnail images in this post for larger views.

Don Rickert and his team at Bell Atlantic had TOTAL responsibility for design research, industrial design, human factors / ergonomics and usability evaluation of a suitable remote control device for effectively interacting with an Interactive TV/VOD system. This was completely uncharted territory.

Two unrelated outcomes involved:

1. Don Rickert going on to get a Ph.D., writing the first known Doctoral Dissertation on the psychological principles of interacting with a TV using a remote control device (yes, it is really true!)
2. Don becoming a Professional Member of the Industrial Designers Society of America...that's what the IDSA title after Ph.D. refers to.

Stargazer Baseline Remote Control Device

This ugly little beast was the starting point for user interaction with an ITV/VOD system prior to any user research. It met all engineering requirements and almost none of the user experience (UX) requirements. But...you've always got to start somewhere and it DID send codes that made things happen on the television screen!

Stargazer Remote Control Concept Based on an Existing Device

A concept based on the RCA 'Simple Remote'. The concept is the one with the paper image of buttons (the navigation buttons are purple) pasted on.

Whatever you may be thinking about this design and what Sigmund Freud might have thought about it if he were alive, it won't be written here! Let's just leave it at it was a bit too simple for the needs of ITV.

Existing Design from Patton Design for Scientific Atlanta

Patton Design, one of top industrial designers specializing in remote control devices at the time, designed a cable remote control for the once mighty but now defunct (we think) set-top box manufacturer, Scientific Atlanta. This remote control, pictured from two angles, is shown below. This device was the inspiration for other variations, including those designed by Don Rickert.

Variations of the Patton Design Remote Control Adopted by Pacific Telesys, at joint-venture partner of Bell Atlantic and later Tele-TV.

  

The Evolution of Remote Control Designs of Don Rickert for Interactive TV

The final image shown below is what actually went into production for the Stargazer Interactive TV Market Trial. It is not the best design (confirmed by subsequent research by Don Rickert), but the one that could be manufactured for what was deemed the "right price". Pragmatic concerns like cost of manufacture are the bitter pills that product designers have to learn to swallow.

   

Design Based on User Research Insights

The production remote control device was carefully evaluated as part of the overall Stargazer Market Trial. Ethnography and depth interviews were used extensively as part of the evaluation research. The design, pictured at the right, was developed in response to actual research findings.

Don Rickert actually used the device pictured as part of his doctoral dissertation research.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Bell Atlantic's Stargazer Interactive TV / Video-on-Demand (Summary)

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 Overview screens on Peter Stoniers site

Link to some later Electronic Program Guide screens on Peter Stonier's site