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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:
- 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!)
- 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.
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