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We have identified two main user classes: MIT students (both undergraduate and graduate) and MIT faculty/staff. To explore our user base, we have interviewed two undergraduate students, one graduate student, and one staff member. Our interview process was conducted face to face, and users were asked a series of multiple choice and open-ended questions.
User Classes
MIT Students
Undergraduate and graduate students who can verify their identity with MIT certificatesat any given university.
Characteristics:
Male and Female
18-25 years old
Speak English
Computer literate
Don’t want to register (MIT certificates)
Are concerned about privacy
Needs:
Want to share summer plans with friends
Find others who have overlapping summer plans
View friends’ summer plans
MIT Faculty and Staff:
MIT University affiliates who can verify themselves with Kerberos name and/or MIT certificatesin some manner.
Characteristics:
Male and female
22+ years old
Speak English
Computer literate
Work at MITa given university
Needs:
Want to plan summer events geared toward MIT students
Want to view undergraduate/graduate summer plans
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Below we have identified a series of tasks a user might perform on the TravelTech system. These tasks range from one-time profile creation to searching for other users in a similar geographic location.
1. Creating a Profile and Joining a Network
Goal: Create a profile on TravelTech and join the MIT network.
Preconditions: User must be logged in via Kerberos or MIT certificate.
Subtasks:
- Enter user information such as summer destination and contact information.
- Upload profile picture.
Constraints: MIT affiliates without certificates must have a valid MIT email addresses and log-in information.
Frequency of Use: Once to create, but updates are allowed.
Exceptions:
- User can upload an image that is too large.
- User can input wrong contact information or incorrect format (i.e. malformed email addresses).
2. Creating a Travel Group
Goal: Specify or search for a group of people with similar travel destinations and times.
Preconditions: User must have created an account, be logged in via MIT certificates , and have inputted his/her own travel information and times.
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- User can filter incorrectly on a map due to inadequate zooming features.
- User may create a group and want to change aspects of it later.
32. Messaging a Travel Group
Goal: Send a short message , limited to 140 characters, to a group of users in a Travel Group.
Preconditions: User must be have created an account, be logged in via MIT certificates , and have an existing Travel Group.
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Frequency of Use: Up to multiple times per day.
Exceptions:
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- User may send it to the wrong recipients.
43. Inputting Summer Plans
Goal: User enters his/her general summer plans into the web interface, which will allow other users in the group to view these plans.
Preconditions: The user must have created an account and logged in. Before completing this task, the user needs to know his/her summer plans. This task should only need to be performed once or a few times (if the user's summer plans change) for one particular season, so efficiency is not of utmost importance (but still a concern to be kept in mind).
Subtasks:
- Access profile page
- Enter and save changes
- Click the "my profile" button
- Click the "edit profile" button, enter changes,
- Click the "save changes" button
Exceptions:
- The user could mistakenly enter incorrect information, so he/she should be able to easily change or undo these actions.
- A lost network connection.
54. Advertising / Bulletin
Goal: On the bulletin page, users can advertise within the group for specific needs (i.e., "Roommate wanted"). This could also be a place where users make day-to-day plans with other group members.
_Preconditions:_The user must have created an account and logged in. He/she would also need to know specific details regarding what he/she is advertising or looking for. This task could be performed often (even multiple times in one session) and by many users, so efficiency and easy learnability are essential.
Subtasks:
- Click the "Access bulletin " button from any page
- Posting to bulletin: click the "add posting" button, edit information regarding the posting (i.e., description of item being advertised), click the "post to bulletin" button;
- Viewing previous postings: scroll up and down page to see all postings, click on an individual posting title to see specific details
Exceptions:
- As with many other operations, the user could enter incorrect information, so an undo/edit operation would be necessary.
- A user posts an advertisement on the bulletin that is claimed by another user soon thereafter, but if the advertisement is not taken down, then other users may still think that the item is available.
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