Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
This page describes the first meeting for Team Ferns, which includes Cadan, Estee, and Summer. Our project focuses on designing an assistive device for a staff member at Facilities Management Services.
Our client is Ted, a storeroom receiver whose job involves handling and processing incoming supplies. Since this was our very first meeting with Ted, held on November 10, our goal was simply to learn. We wanted to understand what Ted’s daily work looks like, how the facility operates, and what his typical workflow involves. Most importantly, we hoped to learn about the challenges he faces so that we can design a tool that genuinely supports him in his job.
Meeting agenda with Ted - 11/10
Meeting agenda with Ted - 11/10
45 mins in total
Introduction (5 mins)
Introduce who we are and what we do
Client introduce who they are and what they do
Project overview (5 mins)
The goal of our project is to try to build useful medium-fidelity devices in four weeks. Throughout the process, the client will be involved in providing your background, needs, and pain points and offering feedback based on our design ideas half way through the project.
Just be mindful that we’re students, not professional electronic technologists. We can’t invent a novel piece of technology or build commercial products. But we will still try to design and build something useful for the client.
Understanding needs & brainstorming (30 mins)
‘Could you tell us about your daily workflow? If you can show some of the common tasks that’d be great.’
‘What are some difficulties you encountered and what caused them?’
(will ask more specific questions to find out more problems)
If the client has multiple problems, ask them to prioritize them and set on 2-3 directions for us to focus on. Based on the problems, frame our idea directions with props or drawings and invite the client to participate.
Wrap up (5 mins)
Exchange contact information. Thank them for the time. Remind them of the project schedule again.
Meeting summary
Meeting summary
Ted started the meeting talking about one of his biggest challenges, which related to inventory mismatch. They have online inventory that people can submit the request for, which is a more convenient way for both users and Ted. But online inventory doesn’t always reflect the actual storeroom inventory, like someone new might finish a request in person but forgot to update the online inventory, then there will be a mismatch with what’s actually available. We understand that this is a very important problem to Ted, but it’s hard for us to implement a solution related to the web and given our tight schedule. So we moved on and asked if he had any other problems.
Then he mentioned how people submit the request form isn’t very systematic and consistent right now. Oftentimes people show up at the storeroom window not knowing exactly the parts that they need. They will write a general description of the parts and quantity, and Ted will try to find them and put in the item number manually. He will also need to update the online inventory after finishing up in-person storeroom requests to make sure that there’s no mismatch with online and the actual storeroom inventory. If there’s a way to help in-person users to find the parts they need right on the spot digitally, it will be very helpful to Ted (we thought about maybe just forcing them to scan a QR code to submit the order). But again, this is more of a digital intervention than a physical product. So we want to explore more to see if he has any other challenges.
Example of the in-person stock order form. People fill out descriptions and quantities, but the most important part, like the catalog number is missing.
Example of the online stock order form. It’s much better because it automatically generates the bar code and item number so that Ted only needs to scan the code to find the inventory request. He also doesn't have to update online inventory separately
An organized wall with bands(?) and a stack of random boxes in the corner because there was no space elsewhere.
Another major issue Ted faces in his daily work day is the lack of storeroom space availability– both inside and outside of the space. He stated that oftentimes, once space runs out in a particular area, new inventory is stored in a random open spot. This makes things difficult to track. However, it isn’t within our scope to help expand their storage space. Thus, we went on to discuss other possibilities
Towards the end of our conversation, Ted also mentioned that a prevalent occurrence that could be improved is that many delivery drivers often come by during his lunch break and ring the doorbell to drop things off. However, since Ted is in a union, he is unable to work while on break, so the drivers end up ringing the doorbell for several minutes. Although some can simply leave the package by the window, heftier packages require Ted’s signature.
This isn’t quite an enjoyable experience for him, especially since the lunch hours are already posted on the walls. On further inspection however, we noticed that the sign is severely worn, with faded writing on tape. So, our team thought of making a more interactive sign that is sure to catch the attention of delivery drivers. As we talked with Ted, we reached a consensus that this is the most plausible project to pursue, and it would be a helpful addition to his work life!
Current sign has faded sharpie marks of the lunch hour time.
What we think after the meeting
What we think after the meeting
We were able to ask all the questions we wanted to, although the answers we got weren’t what we were exactly looking for. Many of our client’s problems were infrastructure/software related issues which we would not be able to change. It wasn’t looking too great until the last 5 minutes, when our client mentioned something that sounded like it was doable and would actually improve his life. If we could do the meeting over again, I wish we would’ve had more than 5 minutes to discuss the more reasonable idea and how to implement it, because now we have to email back and forth instead of having a real conversation. Overall I think our meeting was a success, we came away feeling pretty good about the direction we were headed and our idea.
Page updated
Report abuse