Design of interactive television programs

Abstract

This paper presents results from a set of design sessions held in a broadcasting company. The aim of research was to find a user centered design method which includes the future users into the product development in the early stages of new product design. In this case, the products were interactive television programs and applications for digital television. The study also aims at creating a design method with the user study participants as equal research partners with the designers.The study started with a user study in study participants' home environment. The user study results, a set of user profiles, was taken to a broadcasting company. A series of five design sessions with participants from the broadcasting company followed. New concepts of interactive television programs were designed during the design sessions. The study resulted in new concepts of interactive television programs and services for digital television that were created by both TV viewers and designers.

Digital Television for All: User Preferences and Designers’ Views on What Would Suit the User

“…User study results are responses to questionnaires, diaries, photographs, users' innovations and notes from the interviews [5]. The study participants also made scenarios about what their television will look like in year 2006, five years ahead of the present moment.…”

“…There are results from prototyping personalized TV news [9], usability testing Electronic Program Guide prototypes [6] and designing on-screen displays and remote controls [8]. There are also results from an ethnographic study of set-top-box use [10], a study resulting in a set of user groups for digital television [4] and a user study resulting in new concepts of interactive television programs made by TV viewers [5]. The next subsection deals with issues concerning user research and user centered concept design for digital television.…”