Project 4

User Research
‍

We jumped straight into research, trying to understand more about the students’ pain points and behaviors. We surveyed and interviewed students at the library and were able to collected over 150 responses. To ensure a well-rounded understanding, we also interviewed front desk staff and IT staff to gain insights from both perspectives regarding the printing issues at hand.
‍

Printing at the library can be unreliable (Student’s experience)

The most common printer problem reported by students was printer shutdown, followed by issues with print refunds.

Observing Student Behaviors

We documented student behavior with interviews and suverys of what they would do when encountered with printing problem.

Find another printer

Leave the Library

Inform the library staff

Lack of communication between library staff and students?

Here we started to see how there might be a communication gap between the library staff and the students. Since only 8% of students report a problem, there may be unreported problems that are not immediately known to the staff which delays the time it takes to fix the printer, increasing the downtime of printers.
‍
‍

Analyzing Research
‍

There are complaints from both students and staff

After conducting interviews and surveys, we organized the insights into six categories representing the pain points experienced by both students and staff.

Printing Journey of a NYU Student

Based on the responses of students’ experience with the printing system, we mapped out a user journey where a student might have encountered an issue. This allowed us to see at which point of the process do student experience frustration and plan out what could be done to make the process easier.

Turning insights into opportunities

After analyzing data gathered from our research efforts, we organized the needs of students into these categories

Problem:

Opportunities:

Issues are not immediately reported to library staff

There is an existing communication gap between staff and students, particularly regarding issues such as account balances, printing problems, or error messages.

Enhancing Transparency for Assistance

Students should able to seek for help through a simplified process minimizing the need for intermediary steps.

Inconsistent Printer Availability

Students find it frustrating that when they arrive at Dibner, they may end up going to a printer that is out of order. Since the printers are individually placed throughout the library, it may be inconvenient for them to find another one.

Prioritizing Student Convenice

Students be able know ahead of time if printer is available to use or not.

Missing Features and unclear settings

Based on the current NYU mobile print system, there has been significant confusion regarding print settings, and processing times

Clear Settings, Job Status Updates, and Accessible Support

Students should be informed when their print job is complete on mobile print to avoid wasting time waiting without updates. Print settings should be clear, and assistance should be available when needed.

So these insights led to the question...
‍

How might we...
‍

Improve communication and feedback between students and library staff to proactively identify and resolve printing issues, ensuring an efficient printing experience for students at the Dibner Library?

User Testing and Improvments
‍
‍

Between our first prototype/design to the final product, we conducted a total of 20 user testings. Our test group included a diverse pool of students, from those who are regular users of the school printers to those who have never used it before. Here are some of our major changes/pivots during the iteration phase:

Personalization & modern design

The decision to replace multiple buttons with a single button accompanied by explanatory text enhances the user by simplifying interactions, reducing cognitive load, and providing more clarity.

Additionally, we introduced a more personalized touch to the top of the screen design by incorporating students' names, making the overall design less static and more reader-friendly.

Simplifying navigation & adding more progress indicators

At first, users could only select a document to use the navigation to change the print setting, delete, or preview. After testing, users thought that although it was organized, it was still very tedious.

More indications, such as a pop-up, was added to notify user when all their documents were done processing and instructs them to move on to the next step.

Prioritizing features: Creating a Profile Page

We realized that print history should be a sub-page on the profile tab because there are not a lot of use cases unless users see a discrepancy with their print funding. Creating a profile page also allowed us to add additional features such as sharing prints and request to recharge balance.

We also changed the wording/icons and placement of the navigations menu for easier understanding.

Final Prototype
‍
‍

[data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { display: none; } @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { [data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { position: absolute; z-index: -100; display: inline-block; height: 100%; width: 100%; object-fit: cover; } }

Precise printing progress ‍

Numerical and visual indicators to keep students informed about the progress of their print jobs, offering a clear sense of how far along the document is in the processing queue.

Clear print settings

Presentating all print settings in a clear and organized manner, making customization easy.

Real-time printer status

Utilizing the printer's Local IP address, the server will be promptly updated with real-time information about the printer's availability.

Reporting problems

If students encounter issues with a particular printer, they have the option to promptly report the problem directly to IT. It will then alert other students and staff about the malfunction.