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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 certificatein 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
Personae
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User 1: Undergraduate Sophomore at MIT
John is a twenty-year-old college sophomore who is, at this point, unsure of his summer plans. He is studying Management Science (Course 15), and hopes to be working in New York or Boston this summer and/or next summer. He is from a secluded part of St. Louis, and enjoys the privacy of a humble Midwestern town. John has a passion for sports and music; in his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and guitar. As an MIT student, he is relatively technologically savvy, though has no sort of programming / software design experience. His main uses of his computer are browsing the Internet and word processing.
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- Travel Plans: Denise usually stays at MIT to UROP. she She has her living arrangements settled but is looking for a an easy means of meeting and contacting other people who are also at MIT over the summer.
- Information Security: Privacy is very important to Denise. She wants to meet other MIT students, and maybe friends of friends, but not random people. She doesn't want her information to be readily available to just anyone on the street. She also wants to be able to filter the people she meets by criteria such as living groups.
User 4: Staff in the MIT Alumni Association
Emily is in her forties and works in the MIT Alumni Association. Her job involves expanding the presence of MIT's alumni network.
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- Information Security: For Emily, privacy is very important. She wants to organize events only for MIT affiliates. Having a system where log-in information is verified via certificates would be very useful.
** Users' names changed for privacy
Task Analysis
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. Create a profile and join 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:
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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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- Search and filter people by living groups, interests, major, in addition to their traveling destination and time.
- Identify individuals with similar traveling plans via a map of the world.Star friends.
Constraints: None.
Frequency of Use: Every time that the wants to plan a new trip, one to four times a year.
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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:
- User can try to send a message longer than 140 characters.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: Click the "my profile" button, click the "edit profile" button, enter changes, click the "save changes" button
- Access profile page
- Enter and save changes
Exceptions:
- The user could mistakenly enter incorrect information, so he/she should be able to easily change or undo these actions.
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- A lost network connection.
5. Advertising / Bulletin4. Searching for Roommates
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 membersa roommate.
_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 "bulletin" button
- Access bulletin from any page
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- Posting to bulletin
- Viewing previous postings
- Reply to previous postings
Exceptions:
- As with many other operations, the user could enter incorrect information, so an undo/edit operation would be necessary.
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- 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.
65. Profile to Publish Information
Goal: The goal is for the user to submit or change their personal information displayed on his/her profile and maintained in the database.
Preconditions: The user must have created an account and be logged in with an MIT certificate.
Subtasks: Click the "my profile" button, click the "edit my profile" button, change any of the fields by clicking the field and using the keyboard (name, age, year, major, phone number, address, summer plans), click the "save changes" button.Exceptions:
- Access profile from any page
- Edit and save changes
Exceptions:
- If the user enters the wrong information, the user can
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- edit again and redo the process.
7. Viewing the Map6. Find Nearby Students
Goal: The goal is for the user to be able to view an interactive map that displays locations of other students
Preconditions: The user must be have created an account and be logged in with an MIT certificate.
Subtasks: Click the "view map" button
- Access map from any page, click and drag the mouse / scroll wheel to move the map and zoom, respectively.
- Different users travel plans will be displayed on the map.
Exceptions:
- If no other users have inputted travel plans, the user may think that the feature is broken.
87. Searching for Schedule Overlap
Goal: The goal is for the user to be able to find who has overlap with his/her schedule and where/when that overlap is
Preconditions: The user must be have created an account and be logged in with an MIT certificate , and have previously inputted summer plans.Subtasks: Click the “view schedules” button and a new page will open with each location in the user’s travel plan represented with an expandable tab. The user can click to open each location in the trip and see other students planning to be in that same location at the same time.