SP

TS

Find a seat.

DESIGN SOFTWARE:

ROLE:

Designer

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Problem Statement

Finding a place to sit on campus can be a struggle for many university students. It is time consuming to walk place to place looking for a table to sit and eat or study. Even if you show up before rush hour, there's no guarantee that you'll find the seat you need. And when you finally find the perfect seat, all the time you spent looking for it, ends up taking away from your little bit of free time every day.

Product

Finding the perfect seat can lead to better focus and increased productivity. Spots is a mobile app that finds not only seats, but it can reserve them, schedule events, and find friends. The ease of finding a seat at anytime anywhere gives university students back hours of time to study, eat, and have fun. Every minute counts in university, that's why I developed Spots.

Define

How can we help university students find preferred seating on campus ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, and give them back the time they deserve?

Anytime

Hours and busy hours for every building.

Anywhere

Floorplan and seat count for every building.

Friends

Add and locate friends anywhere on campus.

USER RESEARCH

Target Consumers

This app is specifically designed for university students and teachers who attend in-person or live on campus. Students who often plan group activities, study in public spaces, and eat from campus dining options will be the main users of this product.

Interviews

The user research was initially focused on common inconveniences in campus. Four university students from different universities and living situations were personally interviewed over video call. An additional ten university students participated in a mini survey.

Key Observations:

Students all expressed a need for convenient seating
Most student participants place an equal importance on education and social life
All participants have a limited amount of free time outside of education

Personas

User research was inspected in detail to create specific types of common university students.

Jacob (always asking for directions)

Towson University

Bachelor of Computer Science

"I spend a lot of time searching for buildings and taking long routes. I need a more efficient path to class."

laptop: 75%

phone: 25%

Other: 5%

Rebecca (social butterfly)

University of Maryland College Park

Bachelor of Arts in English

"I like to hang out with friends, but sometimes it's hard to find a spot for all of us to fit. I need to find more open seats."

laptop: 40%

phone: 50%

Other: 10%

Seja (studious student)

John Hopkins University

Bachelor of Nursing

"Studying keeps my grades up, but finding a quiet seat takes me forever. I would like to utilize my time better."

laptop: 35%

phone: 50%

Other: 15%

Competition

After much time searching for related apps, there were none like it to be found. The most similar software is developed privately by some universities. This is a popular demand for seating maps in universities, but there is none to be found.

User Flow

I began by creating a mind map. The chart below map's out the page connections in the app.

Wireframes

I continued to creating wireframes for the essential pages of the app. These pages were sketched and then digitized. It took many designs and iterations to settle on a near final product.

VISUAL DESIGN

I used other map tools and social media tools to help create aesthetic and recognizable UI. In the end I kept a theme of blue and orange, since they are complimentary colors. I used complimentary colors since it is a common color theory theme used in university logos and apps. This similarity to school colors allows the user to adjust to the app visuals. I also used basic colors and icons that even young children would understand so that all types of phone users could interact easily.

ITERATE, ITERATE, ITERATE

To create the prototype page flow, I used sticky notes with pages and actions written on it. Then I took the sticky's and connected them in a functional and comprehensible manner. I had multiple users test different stages of the clickable wireframe prototypes and recorded their feedback. Based on the information I was able to adjust a few things and create a user friendly interface.

Prototype Testing

The app aesthetics, interface, and experience was completed and felt nice to use and look at. After running it through a couple user tests, I identified and fixed multiple parts. Users seemed to respond very well to the interconnected buttons and understood the meaning of icons without having to put much thought into it. I adjusted grammatical errors, colors, button connections, and added pages to create the final product. Each type of user responded well and enjoyed the UI and UX, they felt at ease while navigating the app.

FINAL PROTOTYPE

After much review and testing the app came together and each user had no issues to be noted with it.

WHATS NEXT

I will be working with a team to develop the full product in the future. This is meant to be one of a series of apps designed to improve the university experience. As technology advances this app may be subject to change, but the goal will stay the same. Spots will continue to serve students in the most efficient and comprehensible manner possible when looking for a seat.