Executive Summary

We analyzed 68 survey responses about the AMSAT Satellite Status Page using structured counts, provisional qualitative coding, and LLM summaries of each free-text question.

The main result: respondents value the page as a fast operational status check. The clearest improvement path is to make the current status table easier to filter, scan, and trust while preserving its simple default experience.

What We Can Learn

• The audience skews toward frequent operators who use the page before deciding what to work.
• Users primarily want to know whether satellites are active, heard recently, and usable right now.
• Mode and transponder details are central to the status workflow, especially FM, linear/SSB, SSTV, digital, beacon, and intermittent modes.
• Respondents value speed and simplicity; many prefer targeted improvements over a heavier planning tool.
• Filtering and list organization are the strongest improvement signals.
• Scanability problems show up across layout, color semantics, mobile interactions, and long table navigation.
• Trust in report quality matters: timestamps, corrections, mistaken reports, report history, authentication, and callsign/grid persistence all came up.
• Advanced feature ideas are fragmented. APIs, pass prediction/maps, telemetry, frequencies, and richer metadata have supporters, but not the same broad demand as filtering, scanability, and report quality.

Recommendations

• Keep the default page simple; make extra controls opt-in.
• Declutter the page of other features, like contributor list and donation button, that distract from the core status workflow.
• Build filters first: active/recently heard, mode/type, satellite category, and favorites if feasible.
• Make mode, transponder, repeater, beacon, and intermittent-mode status more visible in the main status view.
• Improve mobile report details and table scanability before adding large new feature areas.
• Add lightweight validation and correction paths for reports and timestamps.
• Explore report history after the core table improvements, with a focus on what operators need to assess current reliability.
• Defer maps, pass prediction, telemetry, and broader metadata work until the core status workflow is easier to filter, scan, and trust.