Freshman Compass

1
Freshman Compass

• Matt
• Tony
• Nemanja
• Natasha
• Laurent

2
The Problem

• Students and visitors don't know how to get from
  one place to another on the UMD campus.
• Students don't know about the resources that are
  available to them on and off-campus.

3
The Solution

• Our solution was to provide anyone with a PDA a
  way of accessing information about the campus and
  off-campus resources through our program,
  Freshman Compass.
• A PDA was chosen because we wanted this to be
  portable so the user could have access to the
  information whenever they wanted.
• There are similar projects at other schools such
  as the Active Campus from the University of
  California San Diego.

4
DEMO

• Time for our demo

5
User Testing First Prototype

• Number of users tested 7
• First task Find your way from CSIC to the Kim
  Building using the text input boxes.
• Second task Find your way from the Kim Building
  to J. M. Patterson Building using the drop-down
  menus.
• Third task Enter an incorrect location and
  comment on the error message.

6
User Test Results First Prototype

• General User Comments
• Users generally liked the idea.
• All users were able to complete all three tasks.
• Common Problems
• The separate screens for starting and ending
  locations caused confusion.
• Error message was seen as unhelpful and the color
  combination was bad.

7
User Testing Second Prototype

• Number of users tested 5
• None of the users who tested the first prototype
  tested the second.
• First task Find your way from A.V. Williams to
  CSIC using the form filling function.
• Second task Enter in an incorrect value and
  comment on the error message.
• Third task Using the Type Search function,
  locate the CD Depot.

8
User Test Results Second Prototype

• General User Comments
• All users finished all tasks.
• Combining the starting location and ending
  location screens lessened confusion.
• Reactions to error message were much more
  positive.
• Common Problems
• The Type Search screen had both a Submit and an
  OK button which led to user confusion.
• Users had concerns with the size of the map.

9
Lessons Learned

• Learned how to divide up the work and put it all
  together.
• Overcoming differences about where we wanted the
  project to go.
• How to organize tests and carry them out.
• How to start and finish an entire project from
  scratch.

10
Future

• Create a working implementation of the map with a
  fully zoomable interface.
• Create a back end support using a website,
  allowing for a forum, blogs, updates, etc.
• Expand the database of places the user would want
  to know about.
• Allow user to create their own locations, to give
  them more control over the application.