• Observations & Interviews. Give a narrative of the three people that you observed and interviewed. Don't use their names. Don't identify the users by name, but do describe who they were. Each narrative should include a particularly interesting moment -- a breakdown or workaround that exhibits a feature of the problem you're aiming to solve.
• User Classes. Describe the user classes that you have identified, and their major characteristics.
• Needs & Goals. Describe the goals that you have identified, with reference to the observations you made.

Observations/Interviews:

• Student desk worker: 
  • observations
    • works only in one dorm
    • typical hours are evening 4-10pm
    • mainly checks out items
    • many clicks to do simple tasks
  • things she wishes she could do with the current system
    • perform repetitive tasks faster
    • find all desk related information in one place
    • have a "digest" of all info relating to a student in one place (personal info, packages, items, keys, mailbox #)
  • things she dislikes about the current system
    • very inefficient workflow for tasks she does often
    • no batch operations
    • slow performance
    • no auto-correct or auto-suggest for text box search
    • no online key audits/check-in/check-out
  • things she likes about the current system
    • is fully featured - most tasks are possible with system, no need for paperwork
• non-MIT affiliated desk worker: 
  • observations
    • writes lots of sticky notes to tell the next desk worker about something she did that the current system isn't capable of handling
    • the "package location" field doesn't auto-populate after the package recipient field is filled. The package location is based on the floor the resident lives on and after the recipient name is filled out so it should use their info to auto-fill the package location field. (ex: I live on floor 3 so my (normal-sized) packages go in bin 3)
    • it's not obvious from a glance that an item has been checked out even when you look up that particular item
  • things she wishes she could do with the current system
    • leave virtual sticky notes
    • allow residents to view the status of an item (checked out/available) without visiting desk
    • look up guests on a guest list
    • look at a calendar of when different desk workers are working
    • view a list of items that have been checked out
  • things she dislikes about the current system
    • no timestamp for when residents pick up packages
    • she has to check the (separate) dorm website to check whether a room is reserved before she can loan the room key
    • she has to move all the packages after she scans them because the package scanner is not wireless
    • items are not categorized--spare room keys are mixed in with movies and games
    • she can't ever find the media room key in the database when people want to check it out and it is checked out frequently
    • all the pool sticks are listed together as one items but people usually check out only one at a time (same with ping pong paddles and balls)
  • things she likes about the current system
    • ability to look up the date/time a package is registered and by whom
    • the database of keys includes their ID numbers. She can use this to make sure that students return the key they were loaned
    • ability to look up a resident's history--packages they've received (when they picked them up) and other things they've checked out
    • item pages display the name of the person who last checked out the item
• night watch security guard: 
  • does not check out packages
  • does not check out spare keys, or movies, or anything else
  • mostly in charge of keeping suspicious people out
    • procedure to make it past the desk:
      • if they (student) can get into the building with their id at the front door, then they live there
      • if they can't get into the building, then residency is confirmed with a Rolodex and some form of identification
        • if not identification, the worker has their home address on file and asks the student to state it
      • if they don't live in the buidling, they must have a resident get them at desk (guest lists are not used after midnight)
  • if a student locks themselves out of their room
    • using the rolodex, a form of a identification, or a security question like the one above
    • if they are all clear, then security uses a master key to open their room

User Classes:

• student desk workers
  • MIT students that are typically looking for a chill job to earn some money while working on homework
  • manage packages, items, and guests
  • frequently check out items
  • want resident profiles with all the information regarding a user in one place
•  
• independently hired desk workers
  • not affiliated with MIT
  • manage packages, items, and guests
  • work daytime and evenings
  • frequently check out items
  • use post-it notes for communication
• security guards
  • work as from midnight until 8 am
  • don't handle packages, items, or guest lists
  • handle guests without using the guest list
  • only need to use the system to look up residents
  • work in multiple dorms

User Needs/Goals:

• register packages easily
• easily mark packages as picked up
• check out games, movies, and spare room keys
• verify guests
• leave messages for other desk workers
• view log of actions