User Analysis

Poster Creator

• As a user of our system, a poster maker will be actively using a website to create QR codes to be placed on posters. They will have to create these codes using our site and may have to use the site many times a week. As one user commented, they create a lot of posters a week and spending more than 5-15 minutes creating a QR code may prove an inefficient use of their time. Thus, our system will need to be adapted for quick creation. Further discussion led to the statement that "Posters are usually just a way for us to spread news about an event. We usually want as large a turnout as possible, but for smaller events we provide a lottery upon email request." With the mention of QR codes leading to the possibility of creating RSVP events so that the user could be made aware of who was interested in the event, where they saw the poster, and if the viewer actually wants to attend the event, users were excited. Having an automated system for tracking statistics about an event was a much desired idea, but not sought after because those in charge were not technically advanced enough to pursue by their own means.
• Users were familiar with the concept of a QR code, had seen/heard about them becoming new and popular, but never created one because they did not know how to. Before the suggestions of calendar events and RSVP counters, users were concerned about what the codes would actually do. They also seemed fairly concerned with what they would have to learn in order to be able to use these codes as part of their posters. Our site will require no knowledge about the QR system itself, and will generate codes and perform operations autonomously without requiring extra work from the creator. With this explanation, technically advanced users as well as their opposite alike were excited about the possibility of having a site to be able to create these codes and gain functionality with their posters.

Poster Viewer

• This user will need to have a smart phone, an existing QR code application, and the knowledge that QR codes can be scanned with a QR application . The user will open an existing application to scan the QR code and then be brought to our website.  The user can then add the event to their calendar by downloading an .ics file or inputting their Google Calendar password.
• The purpose of the application from a user perspective is to quickly and automatically perform the tasks of setting reminders and RSVPing for events. User interviews showed that upon viewing posters for events they found interesting, they went through the process of using their smartphone to enter a calendar entry with information such as date, time and event name. In addition events that require RSVP would require further action by the poster viewer, often in the form of sending an email to the event host. This whole process can take 30 seconds to a minute and also also requires users to remain in front of the poster as they write down any information they wish to remember. The application can greatly streamline this process for the user, instantaneously making all the information about the event available to them on their phone and calendar without the user having to do any tedious manual entry. The user would then be able to continue down the hallway, while completing remaining steps. The ability to easily and automatically RSVP for events also reduces the burden on the poster viewer and makes it more likely that they will indeed RSVP. 

Users interviewed

• Sr. Administrative Assistant; Office of the Vice President for Institute Affairs; MIT
• Event Chair; Student Group; MIT
• Undergraduate Student, MIT

Task Analysis

Create a Poster

• When creating a poster, a user will need to generate the QR code to add to the poster.

• The user is the poster creator - a graphic designer - who is using a desktop/laptop computer.  The user is likely to have have a large screen and/or multiple monitors. A poster creator has relatively more time to create a QR code, and is interested in creating a code to match the poster.  A user may go through several iterations of QR codes to match the design of the poster.

• Users of the system could range between casual poster creators and professional graphic designers. Users will likely have to use the system without training.  However, in large graphic design shops, the user might have been trained in the system.  Professional graphic designers may be frequent user of a system, and thus require efficiency.

• The code could need to be changed after the initial design of the poster.  For example, a client may want to change the color scheme of a poster.  The user would then need to go back into the system to generate a new code.

Add event to calendar

• Users who scan QR codes off posters are in a very different situation.  A typical user is walking down the corridor when a poster catches their eye.  They have only a few seconds to enter the information or else they will be late to their destination. 

• Users will need a smartphone (iPhone, Android, etc) with a "barcode scanner" application.  Multiple barcode scanner apps exist on the market.

• Once a user scans a QR code they can continue to walk down the hallway while completing the rest of the steps on their phone.  The interface should therefore be very simple and very efficient.

• Users will not receive any formal training.  Some words could be placed on a poster, but most poster creators would not want to put voluminous instructions on their posters.  The system must therefore be easily learnable.

• One thing which we discovered was that a user must be educated that more information/interactive features is behind the QR code.  Users have learned that in many cases the QR codes are not useful.  Users need to somehow know that the code allows them to add the item to calendar.

View RSVPs

• Many event organizers will wish to review the RSVPs for a particular event.  The uses might be the same as the graphic designers, or they may be other users.  These users may be using a desktop/laptop or smartphone.  A user may use a desktop several days before an event, but a smartphone the day of the event.

• The people viewing RSVPs might have received formal instruction in the system, but they probably have not.  Since the users might not have been the ones who initially created the QR code, we can not rely on the learning from the other part of the system.

• If the person is viewing RSVPs on their smartphone the day of the event, the user may only have a few seconds to see the count of the event.  On the other hand, a user who is viewing the RSVPs on a desktop might be interested in detailed statistics on how and when users RSVPed.