The AAVSO Smart Telescope Working Group is looking for one or two new members who love thinking about people, learning, and community to help shape the experience of our smart telescope observers. We need one or two people to co-lead on what we’re calling “the user experience” – everything from a newcomer’s first contact with AAVSO to how they feel when their data shows up in a light curve. Our user experience lead or co-leads will become part of the all-volunteer Smart Telescope Working Group (about 10 people) to help us build a complete ecosystem to support smart telescope science. That includes:
- Software to calibrate photometry and measure variable star magnitudes
- Training that helps observers extract reliable measurements quickly
- Feedback that shows observers how their data looks
- Tools that make it easy to find stars that currently need AAVSO data
- Visualizations that show how each person’s data contributes to understanding a star’s behavior
Most of us in the working group are engineers at heart, and we’re looking for someone who will keep us focused on making this ecosystem exciting, welcoming, collaborative, and fun for people. Smart telescopes can open the door for completely new audiences, and we want their AAVSO experience to be engaging from the very first night.
As our Smart Telescope User Experience Lead, you might:
- Shape our recommendations to smart telescope vendors on how AAVSO program stars are presented to observers so they are clear, motivating, and easy to act on.
- Co-design the emails or SMS messages that give observers feedback about their data, turning raw metrics into encouragement, coaching, and recognition.
- Help us design the experience for a wide range of smart telescope owners – from experienced AAVSO observers to high school students with no prior astronomy background.
- Work with the new AAVSO educator to structure smart telescope training that is engaging and bite‑sized, and help us resist the temptation to drop a 100‑page manual into each user’s lap.
- Gather and interpret feedback from early users, going beyond “what’s broken” to understand what keeps smart telescope observing fresh, rewarding, and sustainable.
- Help us reach out to the broader smart telescope community so they know about, and feel invited into, AAVSO’s smart telescope program.
We’re looking for someone who can regularly dedicate about 4 hours a week (with some flexibility) to this effort. Experience with human‑system interface, UX, education, or people‑centered design is very helpful, and familiarity with variable star observing is a plus—but curiosity, empathy for learners, and enthusiasm for making smart telescope science accessible are even more important.
If this sounds like you—or you know someone in the AAVSO community who might be a good fit—please contact me (Mark Munkacsy) via the forum messages to learn more or to volunteer.
– Mark