LA 1 – The Telstra T-Box Design

This review will compare the Telstra T-Box to that of the Apple TV device, as it appears that the T-Box is an attempt to replicate the successes of Apple.

First Impressions

Aesthetically, the Telstra T-Box looks and feels cheap and poorly constructed. The semi rigid black plastic casing completely fails to reflect the $299 price of the device. The Apple TV device ($129), which conversely (like most Apple products) has a solid and well constructed feel, which conveys an air of quality that the Telstra machine lacks.

Clearly influenced by AppleTV

Smaller with much better build quality

The T-Box measures 200mm x 200m x 40mm, yet feels to be a largely empty case, while the Apple TV case is small and compact (98mm x 98mm x 23mm). The front of the T-Box has a single USB port, while the back, features aerial connections, HDMI, S-VIDEO, Digital Audio, RCA and Ethernet should the wireless interface prove to be insufficient.

While Apple TV features the now well known Apple icon embossed on the top of the device, the T-Box has a slightly awry, small Telstra ‘T’ icon screen printed on the front. The T-Box branding is extremely poor.

So before installation, the overall design of the T-Box fails to engage the user or convey any confidence in build quality.

Installation

While user installation of the T-Box presupposes a reasonable level of computer literacy, plugging the various cables into a television is relatively simple. Despite this, the only documentation relating to installation, covers plugging in the few cords that ship with the device. There is no manual supplied at all. The user is left to assume (hope?) that the device itself is preloaded with online manuals, tutorials or wizards. In terms of communication design, it is difficult to appraise this component as it is totally absent! In fact, there is no tutorial nor manuals loaded onto the T-Box.

Connecting the device to a broadband connection is possibly the most difficult aspect of the T-Box. As mentioned in an earlier post, the device is simple enough to connect to wireless gateway, providing that the user has a basic understanding of HTTP and WLAN. Configuring the device to log into a network with more than one router is not as straight forward and will result in a lot of ‘Google searching’ for third party instructions.

Documentation

Possibly the biggest failing of the Telstra T-Box, is the almost complete lack of readily available documentation about the device.

Online searches reveal a number of blogs and forums that explain features and offer solutions to various problems, but Telstra itself appear to be focused solely on sales of the device.

However, a reasonably comprehensive, 62 page user manual for the T-Box does exist and is available as a PDF download from Telstra (http://www.telstra.com.au/tv/download/document/tbox-user-guide.pdf). That this manual is not easily found or preloaded onto the T-Box can only be described as extremely poor.

Additionally, there are a series of instructional videos available to aid the user in setting up WLAN connections (http://www.telstra.com.au/tv/tbox/setting-up-tbox/). While these will help most users, any deviation from the standard Telstra supplied gateway may cause problems.

Calls to Telstra will connect the user with much sales advice, but are unlikely to result in any technical solutions. Indeed Telstra staff appear to be unaware that user manuals or any documentation even exists. While this may be somewhat acceptable from sales staff, the absence of any technical advisors is not.

Foxtel

Foxtel, Telstra’s pay-television channels are also available via the T-Box. These extra channels can are available to subscribers, allowing users to view Comedy, The Discovery channel, Sports and additional movies, while Nickelodeon and the Disney channels are available for children.

Subscribing to Foxtel through the T-Box itself is relatively easy, with the onscreen TV guide including Foxtel channel information whether the user is subscribed or not. While this feature may have been intended to advertise the pay television channels, it in fact only illustrates the poor selection of programs available through the service. Indeed, being able to view what would be available through subscribing only reinforces the decision to avoid Foxtel altogether!

The Interface

Although the external casing of the T-Box suggests otherwise, the onscreen performance of the device is quite good. While the interface itself is clearly inspired by Apple TV, the design and layout of the screens is relatively clear and easy to navigate. There did appear to be a few too many ‘layers’ of screens, but it is not easy to become ‘lost’ while navigating through the various features. The screens are well designed and pleasantly coloured. Consideration also appears to have been given to the fact that the screens may be accessed in darkened rooms, where bright colours would be unpleasant to navigate.

Apple's icon driven menu extends across all their devices

Influenced by Apple. Bigpond Movies is one of the few instances of onscreen branding

The screens themselves are clearly labeled and use simple language where necessary. While Apple TV nor the T-Box used any discernible onscreen branding, Apple used icons that are clearly identifiable from their other devices. The Telstra device tends to overuse the word ‘My’, as in ‘My recordings’, ‘My movies’ etc, while simple one word titles would have sufficed. The personalising language comes across as somewhat forced (similar to Microsoft Windows).

Clear and easy to navigate TV guide allowing the user to record with a single click

To exploit all the features of the T-Box, a good connection to a reasonably high speed broadband connection is required. In addition to functioning as a digital receiver for older analogue televisions, the device offers a gateway to exclusive Telstra television and music channels, as well as offering the ability to download and view programs from Telstra’s fairly extensive online library. With a 320GB Hard Drive, up to 30 hours of HD recorded content (100 hours of SD) is achievable.

Once configured, the T-Box is an enjoyable device to use with clear easily navigable screens that become easier to use with time and experience of the device.

While many of the device features tend to be discovered during use rather than found in non-existent documentation, the capabilities of the T-Box are significant. The ability to record an entire season of a series with a single click of a button or record a program on one channel while watching another make owning a T-Box an overall enjoyable experience.

Summary

So, while the actual device has a look and feel of inferior quality, the T-Box has a very clear interface, with some good UX design. That the device is used and navigated by so many users without any documentation at all reflects on how much communication/graphic design contributes to the overall user experience.