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When the user first navigates to the rideshare RideShare page, they are asked to login with an mit certificate, but can still see the functionalities available for logged in users. 
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- The category buttons were confusing and their function was not obvious from their initial design.
- The appearance of Filter buttons for each type of field in the Refine Search panel was confusing.
- The button to "Share" a posting was small and hard to find.
- A lot of users didn't realize our date fields had a calendar widget right next to them and typed in their desired date instead. One user typed in the date using the Day/Month/Year format instead of the standard Month/Day/Year format.
- When adding users while trying to share a posting over email, users didn't understand the paradigm we designed to enter an email address, and click "Add" for each desired recipient. One user tried to enter all the users into the box for adding, which would be an error case.
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- One issue that we also grappled with was the user's definition of start and end locations when posting a new RideShare. Should the user enter "MIT" as a location or something like "East Campus". We made the design decision that either one entered by the user would be ok since we will not filter by start and end location, only trip category, and a person looking for a ride would need to visually inspect all the options when looking for a match.
- Users were confused about the meaning of "Refine Search" in our interface, and didn't realize that that consists of a search.
- It is somewhat unclear to users what it means to "post a ride". They don't understand if one "posts a ride" to offer other people to share it with them or to indicate that they are searching for a ride at that time.
- The left hand panels were distracting for users who were not logged in; they should not be able to interact with these panels before logging in.
- We didn't take into account editing your posts after you've submitted them. Right now the user would need to delete a post and enter it again in order to change it.
Prototype iteration
Design | First Iteration | Second Iteration |
|---|---|---|
Category buttons | Buttons consist of the icons of an airplane for the "Airport" category, a shopping bag for the "Shopping" category, a beach for the "Travel" category, and a question mark for the "Other" category. | "Airport" and "Travel" categories are merged into "Travel" with an airplane icon because the distinction between the two is not obvious. Words are added to the icons to aid comprehension. |
"Filter" buttons in "Refine Search" panel | After a user changes a field in the "Refine Search" panel, s/he has to press the "Filter" button next to the field in order to refine the search results according to that field. | The "Filter" buttons are removed. Search results are dynamically updated as the user manipulates the fields. |
"Date" fields | Users can enter the date by either typing in the field or clicking on the calendar widget next to it. | The calendar button is removed. When a user clicks on the date field, a calendar appears automatically and the user picks a date from the calendar. |
"Vehicle" field in "Post a New Ride" panel | The field does not exist. | The field is added so that users can specify the type of vehicle they want to use. |
"Share" a posting button | The button is too small. | The button is made larger and more obvious. |
"Email" field in "Share" panel | Users type in an email address in the "Email" field and press the "Add" button next to it in order to add the email address to the recipient list. | The "Add" button and the recipient list is removed. Users type in multiple email addresses in the "Email" field separated by commas. |