Group Members:
Brian Bell
David Kim
Justin Merritt
Problem Statement:
Going out to eat with other people can be a challenge in itself. Coordinating people’s culinary preferences, schedules, and locations is a hassle for any group of friends who just want the simple pleasure of having a meal together.
Specifically, we have identified three problems associated with forming a group to go out to eat.
1. It is difficult to tell who among your friends is willing to go out to eat.
2. It is difficult to tell when your friends are available to eat.
3. It is difficult to tell where your friends want to go out to eat.
We aim to create a mobile / web application user interface that simultaneously solves all of the above problems.
User Analysis:
We have several main user classes:
1. Young people and students who don’t cook for themselves and go out to eat often (i.e. students and people aged 18-30)
2. Professionals who are trying to coordinate going out to eat while managing their busy schedules.
3. People who really don't know each other well and want to
Properties of young people / students:
Case Study 1:
We interviewed Mercedes, a 19 year old student at Wellesley College. If she wanted to go to dinner with her friends, she would either a) call her friends and ask what they want to eat, or b) walk to her friends' rooms and ask what they want to eat. She feels that it takes too long to call all of her friends, and that asthe group gets bigger, it gets exponentially harder to figure out what to eat. If all of her friends wanted to go to different places to eat, they would have to get together and have a long discussion before they figured out where they want to eat. Sometimes the discussion is so extreme that they decide to stay in rather than to eat out at all. Her friends also have very different schedules, so it can be very hard. The total process of finding a place to eat for dinner can take all day for her, between texting / calling all of her friends.
Lessons Learned from Case Study:
- While there may be
Properties of Professionals:
- Aged 22-retired
- Own a cell phone, likely a smartphone (possibly a Blackberry or more simple cell phone)
- May not be quite as familiar with social networking websites or with food-rating websites like Yelp
- Have limited time for lunch / dinner, so need as much efficiency as possible
Age, gender, culture, language
- Most aged 18-30 (the demographic of smartphone users), though accessible to any age-group
- No restrictions on gender, culture, or language
Computer experience (typing? mouse?)
- Comfortable with smartphone technology
Motivation, attitude
- Motivation: a desire to fulfill social needs by going out for a meal with friends or network and develop new professional connections.
- Attitude: social, wanting to spend time with friends (or possibly new people who are not yet acquaintances)
Application experience
- More likely to have experience with web applications regarding cuisine. Examples: Yelp, OpenTable, Zagat.
Work environment and other social context
- Perhaps in close camaraderie with co-workers, or living in an area with friends, roommates, college friends, and family
Relationships and communication patterns with other people
- A person wanting to maintain their social network of friends and family through regular conversation.
Task analysis:
Task 1: Event creation
Goal: User wants to create a meeting time and place for a meal, and invite people to said meals.
Task 2: Pick your people
Goal: User wants to accept or decline an invitation for a meal.
Task 3: Pick a spot
Goal: User wants to negotiate when and where the meal takes place.
Task 4: View event reminder
Goal: User wants to get more information about the proposed meal.