Problem Statement

MIT desk workers are central to the smooth operation of each dorm. Most desk workers only work a couple hours a week and don’t know how to address every issue that arises on their shift. Thus they need an efficient way to clearly and concisely share information with each other. Each dorm has a different but cumbersome system for doing this.

MIT desk workers are also responsible for ensuring that the desk is staffed throughout the day. The current process for shift scheduling is time consuming and error prone since it is done manually, so they need a better way to efficiently and correctly schedule shifts. Since people sometimes cannot make their shifts, they also need a way to dynamically handle shift changes.

Interview Narratives

Interview #1 - Jane
Jane is a 20-year-old MIT undergraduate studying Brain & Cognitive Science. She has a couple small jobs around campus, one of which is working McCormick Desk. She’s been working desk for two years now and has done most of the roles at some point, from mail shift to closing shift, which makes her a more advanced worker. 

Shift scheduling happens at a semesterly desk worker meeting. Each desk worker fills out a spreadsheet, crossing out the times they cannot do, and marking their preferred hours. They also note how many hours they would like per week. The Desk Captain takes all this information and tries to come up with an assignment of shifts that works for everyone’s schedules and that keeps the desk covered throughout the day. With around 25 desk workers, this becomes a laborious task for the manager that is prone to mistakes, so she goes through a few drafts before striking the right balance of schedules. 

Her shift always begins by reading the logbook- a 3-ring binder full of notes from other desk workers that goes back about a month. This is how they share information between shifts. Each page contains a box for a log and a response; here desk workers write down something that came up during their shift that they didn’t know how to handle, something unusual that came up that others need to know about, etc. The entries range from small matters like running out of supplies at desk to bigger matters like a lost phone or ID, to even bigger matters like a missing persons report. As she reads each new entry in the book, she initials the side of the page to indicate that she’s read it; there tend to be a few new entries every day, but the logbook goes back about a month. She likes the system in general, but said it can be hard to search through if you need to revisit an important entry, and that not everyone reads the logbook, even though it’s required.

Interview #2 - Tanya
Tanya began working desk at McCormick in April 2010 as a junior in high school. She is now 20 years old, goes to college in the area, and is a Certified Nursing Assistant. To her, dorm security is first and foremost in her job, and part of this is making sure that throughout the day at least one person is working desk, and that desk workers communicate effectively. 

She noted that the systems at desk for managing residents needs, like checking out movies or keys, for signing people in, and for logging information is very fragmented. She had worked at Baker for a few days and found that the systems there are completely different. 

Like most other desk workers, Tanya does homework, eats dinner, watches shows, and hangs out with friends while working desk. It is a rather low-key job in this respect, but it also means the worker’s attention is divided. When asked, she said she spends approximately 80% of her time on her own computer either working or watching TV, and only 20% of her work time on the desk computer.

Interview #3 - Helen
Helen is a 22-year old MIT senior majoring in Chemical Engineering. She first became a desk worker when she was a freshman in order to earn money. Her job entails five main responsibilities: checking in visitors to the dormitory, logging and delivering packages, sorting mail, checking out keys, movies, and equipment, and passing relevant information from one desk worker to the next. 

Helen describes the job as one that allows her to finish homework, watch movies on the job, and speak with friends. Whenever a guest arrives she looks them up on a guest list by typing in their name. Whenever packages arrive, she scans them with a scanner, which enters the package and recipient into an online system. The process for checking out keys and equipment is also very similar - she simply puts their name in an online system and marks the item as checked out.

As she discussed her daily duties we identified the most challenging aspect of her job: scheduling. When asked her how her shifts are scheduled, she explained that the desk captain manually schedules them based on three variables:  how many hours you want to work, when you want to work, and the maximum hours you are willing to work. The desk captain spends multiple hours at the beginning of the semester manually scheduling shifts and must take into consideration seniority and other preferences. Helen states that sometimes she has unexpected circumstances that requires her to skip a shift and she is unhappy with the current system. She wishes that there was a system to simplify the rescheduling process.

Interview #4 - Sanya

Sanya is a senior at MIT majoring in computer science. She has been working as a desk worker for Bexley Hall for three years, seeing it as an “awesome way to make money.” She spends most of her shift “just sitting” but her duties include letting guests in and handling packages. When the doorbell rings, the desk worker has to walk around the corner to open the door. She admits that the current policy is that residents are supposed to receive their guests, but this policy is not followed closely.

Receiving packages is a process that is susceptible to human (desk worker) errors. When packages are received, they are logged on a computer using a recently implemented system. The desk worker logs the delivery company, the name of the resident, and the number of packages received. The system then emails out to residents who received packages. Outgoing packages require desk workers to email out to all other desk workers that there is an outgoing package. There is no way to log whether a package has been picked up or not. This has lead to people not finding packages after they received an email saying a package has arrived. The reasons for this include (in order of frequency) a desk worker not searching for a package in the proper place, the email being sent by mistake, or theft. There has never been a confirmed case of package theft, but some packages have “disappeared.”

Scheduling for desk workers at Bexley Hall involves the desk captain sending out a Google Doc where desk workers submit the hours they are working for the entire semester. Seniority (semesters working) dictates how many hours can be taken per week. If a desk worker cannot work his shift, he emails out to all other desk workers and the first person to respond picks up the hours.

User Classes

We have identified three main user classes: student workers, desk captains, and desk managers.

Student Workers

• High school/college students
• Have busy schedules
• Work few hours per week
• 18-22 year olds
• Tasks: staff desk, checkout equipment, let guests in, receive guests, check logbook

Desk Captains

• Represents desk workers in house government
• Responsible for scheduling desk shifts
• Dorm resident 18-22 years old
• Tasks: create shift schedule, student worker tasks

Desk Manager

• MIT employee
• Non-resident
• 30-40 years old
• Long-term employee
• Authority on desk problems
• Tasks: handle unusual issues from logbook, clear logbook, handles exceptions to dorm policy (ex. room reservations), keep desk stocked with supplies

User Needs and Goals

Information Sharing: Access and update information; maintain persistence of information between desk workers and across shifts

• Student workers: 
  • at the beginning of each shift, need to check notes from other desk workers (ex. lost/found items brought to desk, outgoing packages)
  • leave new messages

• Desk captain and desk manager:** need to handle issues that other desk workers didn’t know how to deal with** delete outdated messages

Scheduling Shift Assignments: Create a schedule such that all shifts are covered and seniority is maintained; reschedule shifts in a timely manner

• Student workers:
  • need to be able to submit schedule preferences
  • need to be able to have shifts rescheduled

• Desk captain:
  • create schedule that takes seniority and preferences into account

Ensuring Safety of the Dorm: Limit admittance to dorm; report incidents or issues to appropriate parties

• Student workers and desk captain:
  • make sure non-residents sign in and are received by a resident
  • report dorm issues (ex. broken facilities)

• Desk manager:** ensure follow-up on dorm issues