MileStone 1

Overview of Previous Trial

There has been a previous attempt by University of Georgia students to introduce a system that allowed users to reserve selected rooms within the MLC with mixed results. While some people thought that the system provided a good way for users to guarantee that a room would be available, there were other people who took advantage of the system for their own gain, such as selling reserved slots for the rooms or reserving the rooms for extended periods of time. Another issue is that the system required users to register through an outside website and there was no easy way for users to access the site through an application on their phone. I believe that this resulted in underutilization of the rooms and led to a generally bad user experience.

Overview of Research

Based on our questionnaire delivered to UGA students, there were 53 total responses.

Forms response chart. Question title: On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you say it is to find a study room in the MLC?. Number of responses: 52 responses.

Forms response chart. Question title: Do you think the time of day changes the difficulty of finding a study room?. Number of responses: 52 responses.

42 out of the 53 people surveyed said that the difficulty in finding a room at MLC was between an 8 and a 10 with 1 being easy and 10 being difficult. This means that finding a room at MLC is a real issue that UGA students face. An app to monitor which room were available and which rooms were occupied would save students the time of walking throughout the entire building to find an open study room. Students surveyed said it is “harder during the night [to find a study room] when no one has a class” as “more people study at night”.

This application will enhance the academic success of students at UGA by allowing them to check the application to view open walk-in study rooms instead of walking around MLC to find an open one. The ability to reserve a study room will significantly increase the chances of groups being able to use a study room at MLC for their group work.

Task Analysis

Task: Reserve a study room

Goal Description: The goal of this task is to reserve a study room at least 24 hours in advance for a group of people.

Devices Used: Laptop, desktop, mobile phones

Breakdown of Tasks:

0.0: Sign in

0.1: Enter UGA MyID

0.2: Enter UGA MyID password

1.0: Search for available rooms

1.1: Select the time period in which you would like to reserve a room

1.2: Click search

2.0: Select a room

2.1: Select the room

2.2: Enter the time period for which you would like to reserve the room

3.0: Reserve the room

3.1: Click reserve room

3.2: Click confirm reservation

Task: View available free-for-all study rooms

Goal Description: The goal of this task is to allow students to search for available first-come first-serve study rooms and see a breakdown of how many study rooms are available on each floor of the Miller Learning Center

Devices Used: Laptop, desktop, mobile phones

Breakdown of Tasks:

0.0: Select to see available study rooms

0.1: View the percentage of rooms occupied by floor

1.0: Select a floor

1.1: View study rooms on that floor (available in light green, occupied in dark red)

Task: Cancel a study room reservation

Goal Description: The goal of this task is to allow a group that previously reserved a study room to cancel that reservation.

Devices Used: Laptop, desktop, mobile phones

Breakdown of Tasks:

0.0: Sign in

0.1: Enter UGA MyID

0.2: Enter UGA MyID password

1.0: Select to cancel reservation

2.0: Select reservation to cancel

3.0: Confirm the cancellation

Personas

Name: Jessica

Year: 1st year Undergrad Student at the University of Georgia

Housing: Lives on campus with 1 roommate

Description:

Has 3 to 5 group projects a semester and meets regularly with her groups using the MLC study rooms. Uses the UGA app frequently to track busses, access eLC, and Athena. Prefers to schedule meetings with her groups several days in advance. Does not use the MLC for other purposes.

Frustrations:

• Difficult to find a study room
• Single people occupying a room or holding it for others

Name: Loyd

Year: 4th year Undergrad Student at the University of Georgia

Housing: Lives off campus with 5 roommates, approx. 20 minutes from campus

Description:

Does not usually have group projects but meets regularly with class study groups of 4 to 6 people in the MLC study rooms. Does not usually use the UGA app. Study group meetings are impromptu though are typically prior to exams, and usually last between 2 and 3 hours.

Frustrations:

• Difficult to find a study room, usually takes 10 or 20 minutes of walking around the MLC to find one.