Gaucho EMap Katelyn CahillThompson Tyler Manley Arden Rosenblatt

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Gaucho E-MapKatelyn Cahill-ThompsonTyler
ManleyArden Rosenblatt
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Proposal

• Our proposal discussed the need for an online
  interactive map of the UCSB campus. It also
  presented the audience and benefit of such a map.
  We also proposed to design a website that would
  satisfy that need

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Need

• Previously, the best way to plan a route around
  campus was with a traditional paper map.
  According to a voluntary distributed via
  Facebook.com, 73 of students surveyed have had
  significant trouble finding a building on the
  current map.
• Small buildings or trailers dont always appear
  on paper maps, and some buildings appeared with
  different labels on different maps.
• The building labels on the paper maps dont
  coincide with the building codes on student
  schedules. The Facebook survey results showed
  that nearly 50 of those surveyed have had
  difficulties finding a building because they
  didnt recognize the building code.

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Proposed Solution

• An interactive map would provide the UCSB
  community with a way to easily navigate the
  campus.
• The proposed solution was to make a website that
  let users search a database of building
  directions organized by both building name and
  building code.
• Each building would have a page of its own, with
  a map highlighting the location of the building,
  as well as written directions and a picture of
  the building.

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Audience

• The proposed map would primarily help new
  freshmen and transfer students find buildings.
• It would also help returning students, professors
  and visitors to the campus, or anybody else who
  needs to find a building on campus.

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Benefits

• Many students fail to find buildings or get to
  their classes late because they dont know where
  a building is.
• The map would give users a way to locate
  buildings ahead of time.
• The directions would give users a general idea of
  how to get to the building
• A picture of the building would give users a
  visual of the building so that they know what to
  look for.
• The map, combined with directions and a picture
  would make it less intimidating to navigate
  campus, and the E-map as a whole will save
  students time.

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The Beginning
We made a crude screenshot of what the map might
look like. It included many of the things that
the final map had a choice of buildings, a
picture, directions, and notable facts about the
building.
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Development

• We decided to start all of the directions from
  one central location. Storke Tower was an ideal
  departure point because almost everyone knows
  where it is, and it is visible from almost
  anywhere on campus.
• We decided to show a picture of each building
  because a visual would help students know exactly
  which building they were looking for.
• We decided on making walking directions to the
  buildings, because that would be applicable to
  most users.
• Finally, we decided to include facts about the
  buildings that would be helpful to know when you
  were trying to find the building or trying to
  find a class in the building.

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Development

• At this point, we had to make the site. We
  started by making a template for all the pages
  that looked clean and professional.
• Originally, we wanted users to be able to search
  for buildings by the building name or by the
  building code on their schedule. The most
  efficient way to do this was with two dropdown
  menus.
• Each of the dropdown menus contained links to the
  separate building pages, the alphabetical index
  and the homepage
• We made maps with the route described in the
  directions traced in red, and the building
  outlined in red
• We then put pictures of and directions to each
  building on each page.

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Usability Testing

• To test the E-Map, we asked subjects to act as if
  they were incoming freshmen. We gave test
  subjects an actual schedule and asked them to
  locate the buildings on the schedule.
• Many users got confused by the directions,
  because they mentioned buildings or landmarks
  that visitors or new students wouldnt
  necessarily be familiar with.
• We also found that users didnt like to scroll
  through a large map for every building.
• Users also asked how to find printable directions.

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Changes

• We decided to include a non-scrolling cropped
  version of the large campus map, so that users
  didnt have to scroll. However, the full version
  of the map may still be viewed by clicking the
  cropped one.
• What we figured out is that the site needed a
  help page that had pictures of landmarks, such as
  the Arbor and the Library. We also decided to
  include general instructions for using the E-Map
  on this page.
• We made printable versions of the directions to
  each building, and put links in the direction
  sections.
• We also made an alphabetical index of the
  buildings to make it even easer for the users to
  navigate the site.

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Completed Beta Version
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Completed Beta Version
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Results

• The beta version is live and operable.
• It provides detailed instructions, a picture,
  supplemental information, and a map with the
  location highlighted for ten campus buildings.
• The drop-down menu feature makes small or
  improperly labeled buildings easy to find, saving
  people time and averting frustration.
• The need for a way to find buildings using course
  schedule codes, rather than the full building
  names, was met.
• Visitors or those unfamiliar with the campus now
  have a medium with which to familiarize
  themselves with the campus, and find and print
  directions to their destinations before arriving.

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The Future

• In the future, we would like to make the map more
  customizable and more beneficial to the
  community.
• We would like to include directions from
  multiple locations, such as from points in Isla
  Vista and the Residence Halls.
• We would also like to add directions to
  destinations in Isla Vista.