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The Client

Apple Valley High School

The Users

Media Center Employees and Teachers

The Problem

The current method of reserving computer labs and laptops is tedious for the teachers and a major time suck for the multimedia center employees (admin). Previously a custom reservation platform had been created for them, but the teachers found it difficult to use and rejected it. They desire a system which:
  • leverages preexisting code
  • cut admin out of the reservation process
  • allow teachers to easily reserve rooms themselves
  • calendar month view

The Solution

Find out why staff rejected the previous reservation system. Design a better system of reserving the schools ​3 large computer labs, 8 Chromebook carts, 1 iPad cart, 1 MacBook cart, and 2 specialty rooms.

Cognitive Walkthrough

Before visiting Apple Valley High School I looked over the previous reservation system. What I found was a website that was able to perform the fundamental task of making a reservation and cancelling a reservation. However it took an inordinate amount of steps and you couldn't easily check room availability.

Key Insights
  • Shorten the user flow.
  • Figure out a way to view upcoming weeks.
Reservation Overview
Current Reservation Equipment Overview

Usability Testing

I asked three participants to make a reservation using this system. I found several usability issues and noted them below.
Admin Managing Reservations
Admin Managing Reservations

Contextual Inquiry

I interviewed the administrators of the multimedia center and they walked me through the current system. 
Desired Features
  • An easy to read week and month view.
  • The ability to make one reservation for an entire week.
  • A full screen read-only month view calendar that they can use as a calendar permanently on an iMac as a display in the room. 
  • Ability to edit reservations. Currently they can only delete them and make new ones.

Wireframes

The goals are to create a clickable calendar, shorten the user flow from login to reservation, create a more organized week view, to make it easier to the Admin to change reservations. Additionally the Admin requested a read-only month view calendar and email reminders. I began by drawing and then moved to Sketch.
Sketching a Scheduler 1
Sketching a Scheduler 1
Sketching a Scheduler 2
Sketching a Scheduler 2
The First Iteration
The First Iteration

The First Prototype

Using Sketch I built the first prototype.
There needed to be three different views for the teachers to use:
  • Day
  • Week
  • Month -  I found it tricky to fit all of the necessary information into the month view. I would need to look at how other websites accomplish this.
Second Iteration Created in Sketch
Second Iteration Created in Sketch

The Second Prototype

Hundreds of little tweaks later. 
Picture
Third Iteration Created in Sketch

Deliverable - Interactive Invision Prototype

The New Eagle Reserve
The New Eagle Reserve

Next Steps

  • Usability testing with Apple Valley High School Teachers.
  • Scope out the project with a developer.