Google Design Challenge
A Library app to easily reserve spaces to study in the university
ROLE
IMPACT
UX Research, Design and Usability Testing
Reduction in time to completion
Behind the scenes
Final Outcome
Even though I couldn’t get to the next round, this case study bagged me
other offers from top companies.
“Your school wants to provide dedicated spaces for students to help them focus on their academic studies. Design an experience for students, professors, and members of the school community to reserve work desks/spaces in the library.
Checking availability
Reserving the space
Reporting any issues”
Before I start, what is the significance?
I wanted the data to drive my research direction and understand the significance.
13.5 hours/week
is the time spent on an average on campus studying, compared to only 4.3 hours/week
engaged in collaborative work.
Library
Preferred places to:
Dorm
Lounge
Class
Cafe
Outdoor
Lab
Lecture
Seminar
Work in a group
Study/Work alone
So, what is the current solution?
I set some initial exploration areas to understand the current process and get myself familiarized with the process.
Is the current solution optimized to reserve a study spot?
What challenges do they face while reserving a study spot in the library?
What are the considerations of students that reserve study spots?
Empathizing with the users
I also calculated the time to reserve a study spot while getting myself accustomed to the system. This helped me to identify the parts I wanted to learn more about.
And, What do the current users think?
I interviewed some of my peers to gain better insight into the user needs.
I was also curious about their experience and emotions during the reservation process.
Takeaways:
“if students aren’t going, they
don’t cancel their reservations”
“The website is really difficult to use
and takes too long to reserve a
study spot.”
“I would like to know if there is
a cafeteria because I spend a lot
of time in the library”
“For a first time user, it is really
difficult to find my way in the
library. It takes up so much time”
“I want to know which room is
where exactly - currently I can’t
know how it looks like”
“I wasn’t aware of the reservation
system until I went to the library
and the staff told me”
5 Users
3 Profiles
I interviewed,
Understanding accessibility
considerations
Less Cognitive load
Assists in decision
making
Then, I studied the competitors
At this point, I had so many
ideas and I had to rationalize
01
Does it help them in reaching the
closest library?
02
Does it address one of these key
problem spaces?
03
What's the possible impact on
success metrics?
Easy to use
Efficient
Accessible
IU Mobile app
Interactive Kiosk
One.IU portal intergration
What are the opportunities?
An AR map to guide them to their reserved space
Report issues through the application
Make the user aware about their options
Provide them with best possible matches
Optimize the reservation process
Educate them about room facilities and requirements
How does the solution look like?
Does my design assumptions actually help users?
Most students have the app on them, so easy to find (from play store)
Easy to book interface with top availabilities
Rooms with availability are shown first
Questions to calculate their match score
Confirmation with navigation capabilities
Map view to see the closest library
AR to guide them to the exact location
Card view to see all the matched library spots
Sign into the system to keep their reservation intact
1
Usability Testing
2
Talk-out-loud-exercise
Bridging the gap
Homepage
Their goal is to find availability quickly rather than keeping tracking of reservations
After
Sign in
After
Initially sign in was given secondary priority but after user testing, it was important for students to sign in first to retain their seats
What about the
impact?
I conducted task analysis with the interviewees to understand how long does it take and observe their emotions.
Time-on-task
12 steps ( 2mins approx )
7 steps ( 45 secs approx )
This helped to define the solution
See features
This helped to define the solution
Onboarding
Reservation
Questionnaire
Confirmation
Home Page
Navigation
List view
QR Scanning
What did I learn from
this process?
Taking in accessibility considerations
Being mindful about my mistakes
User test, user test, user test!!
A quick 1-min overview
Net Promoter Score
Recommendation of the product.
DAU
We could measure by how many users that find the app useful enough to access it everyday?
Engagement
Assess success by understanding how much people interact with the application
Through synthesis of all the data gathered, I realized that students needed a system that would help them making college library reservations
more accessible, streamlined, and transparent.
Measuring Success
My goal
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