Animated Character Likeability Revisited: The Case of Interactive TV
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/jus/2006_august/chorianopoulos_animated_character_likeability.html
  peer-reviewed

Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos
Journal of Usability Studies
2006

Abstract:

Animated characters have been a popular research theme, but the respective desktop applications have not been well-received by end-users. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of an animated character for presenting information and navigating music videos within an interactive television (ITV) application. Information was displayed over music video clips with two alternative user interfaces: 1) semi-transparent information overlays, 2) an animated character. For this purpose, the differences between ITV and desktop computing motivated the adaptation of the traditional usability evaluation techniques. The evaluation revealed that users reported higher affective quality with the animated character user interface. Although the success of animated characters in desktop productivity applications has been limited, there is growing evidence that animated characters might be viable in a domestic environment for leisure activities, such as interactive TV.