Author Archives: Edward Kelley

Assignment 2 – Ed Kelley

Posted on by

Observations

  • Student 1
    • Location: Tower Coat Room
    • Student is watching a short YouTube video that was sent out on TowerTalk, the Tower listserve.
    • Other students nearby lean in to watch as well and discuss/joke about the video.
    • Video is being watched on a Macbook, which is packed away when the students head to class together.
  • Student 2
    • Location: Precept Room in McCormick
    • Student has pulled up the readings and notes on the readings assigned for class on her computer and is casually skimming over the material as other students come into the room for Precept
  • Student 3
    • Location: Lecture Hall in McCormick
    • Student is looking at Google News on his laptop and clicking through various news stories
    • Each page is looked at very briefly, just long enough to get a summary of what was happening

 

General Thoughts

  • 10 minutes is very little time. For classes that a reasonable close, it is just enough time to walk there. If classes are farther away, it is not enough.
    • Mobile is potentially most useful as it can be used while walking
    • Use existing hardware, particularly projectors in lecture halls
  • Are these 10 minute breaks worth “solving”? Most students I talked to don’t even consider the break between classes as “waiting” time since it is so short.
    • Should we be designing something for other, slightly longer gaps during the day?
      • Lunch
      • Slightly mismatched classes (e.g. end at 12:20, start at 1:00)
      • First class of the day
      • Evening classes
  • The 10 minute changing periods are a nice break from academic work. Maybe it would be best to focus on something entertaining, distracting, or productive in a non-academic sense.

Brainstorming

  1. Mobile app that shows the funny/interesting videos/pictures that everyone in your eating club is watching.
  2. Mobile app that shows you the highlights from the reading you did to prepare for class. Content either self-created or created by any member of the class.
  3. In lecture halls, show news blurbs or campus information/events on the projector. Would encourage students to get to lecture early and already be paying attention to the screen.
  4. A mobile app to place your order from the Tower grill. Quickly jot down what you want for lunch and when you will get there so the food will be waiting for you.
  5. A mobile app to measure the overal happiness/emotional state of the campus. While walking between classes, just quickly tap how you are feeling, allowing an aggregate measure of mental health to be built.
  6. An application that will ask you to quickly create a couple study questions from the last lecture/precept and ask you several questions created over the semester to help refresh your memory and reduce cramming for exams.
  7. An app that will track your movements between classes, building a campus wide map with best walking routes (and average travel times) between any two places on campus. Find the fastest way between two buildings. Especially helpful for freshmen.
  8. An app that will show the upcoming events held at the eating clubs, pass colors, opening times.
  9. Mobile app that shows you all the currently showing/upcoming shows and performances on campus and allows you to reserve tickets.
  10. An augmented reality app that shows you images of what campus looked like from your vantage point many years ago.
  11. An app that will show which friends are walking in the same direction as you are so that you can walk together.
  12. An app that shows you the recent results of the Princeton sports teams and upcoming home matches/games.
  13. An augmented reality app that turns walking around campus into an easter-egg style game. Try and collect items/artifacts “hidden” around campus.
  14. A multiplayer game projected on the lecture hall projector where students use their smartphones as controllers.
  15. An app that will show the discussion questions/topics of the next class, so students can start to think about them before arriving.

Favorite Ideas

  • An augmented reality app that shows you images of what campus looked like from your vantage point many years ago.
    • Allowing Princeton students to get a glimpse into the past would help remind them of the history of this campus and all those who came before them.
  • A mobile app to place your order from the Tower grill. Quickly jot down what you want for lunch and when you will get there so the food will be waiting for you.
    • Using an app to order food would greatly speed up the time it takes to get food, which is currently up to 30 minutes using the paper system.

Prototypes

Historical Campus Augmented Reality App

First, a database of old images with their associated locations, view directions, and years would need to be created. Then, when walking through campus, students (or visitors) could pull up the augmented reality app. Using their current position and heading information, the app can show a timeline of images from very close to that location. The user can essentially look back and time when holding up their phone to the present day campus.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tower Grill

Every weekday, Tower has a full-service grill with a very large menu. The current system for ordering involves writing on a slip of paper and placing the paper in a bowl. Although very straightforward, the current system results in long waits for food as the kitchen cannot anticipate the orders. With this application, members will be able to choose the item they want, add special instructions, and set a lunch time, meaning there will be very little wait for food.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

User Testing

I took the paper prototype of the lunch ordering app to Tower and tested it with a few different members.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

  • Feedback
    • There is no “Back” button on several of the pages, leaving the user stranded.
    • “See menu” is confusing. One of the users tried to order from the static menu page.
    • There should be a “Cancel” button on the order page.
    • Login should only occur once (like Dropbox, Facebook, etc..)
    • The grill menu is not static but has daily specials as well.
    • There should be a notification when the order is ready.
    • Users would like a way to gage how busy lunch is. Get an estimation of order time.
    • The ability to track the progress of the order (received, started, completed) would be nice
  • Insights
    • Users were very excited about the prospect of this app potentially being built.
    • This app would solve a daily frustration for most members of Tower.
    • The app should not just be a form submission, but rather a process that follows the order from submission through delivery.
    • This system could be beneficial to the kitchen staff as well, since it allows them to start prepping food earlier, prevents the 12:00pm rush, and could provide analytics about food consumption/favorite items/etc…
    • Users expect a certain design structure (e.g. they were looking in the top-left corner for a back button)