1 | P age CSCI 4800 - Fall 2014 Group 10 The  Town  Crier  -­‐Milestone  2 Connecting to the Classic City Design Alternatives Group 10 Kyle Sweeney, Jared McReynolds, Lou Oriondo, Tank Tankersley CSCI 4800 - Fall 2014 2 | P age Introduction The data gathered in the early stages of the project provided insight on how those that responded currently discover local restaurants, events, and attractions, as well as a preferred method of discovering these venues. The users that responded received the questionnaire in several different ways. Some users were direct friends, roommates, and co-workers – others were complete strangers that came into contact with the survey on the University Facebook Page (which includes Alumni). To ensure that these users are properly represented, the following design alternatives will provide examples of use from three different perspectives. Each persona will be tasked with using a specific design alternative to solve the problem of discovering what Athens and the local area have to offer. The first design alternative is a Town Crier website. 36% of those that responded to the survey reported that their preferred method of gathering information about local venues would be from a website. In addition, 65% of the responses reported that their current method of gathering information about restaurants  came  from  “word-of-mouth”.  Similarly,  43%  of  users  reported  that  social  media  (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) was  the  main  source  of  information  about  events  and  attractions,  with  “word-of- mouth”  being  a  close  30%.  In addition, the Oconee Welcome Center stated that Facebook and Twitter was their main outlet of information. As such, the website focuses on incorporating social media practices  as  well  as  the  “word-of-mouth”  effect  to  distribute  information  about  locally  owned  venues.     Mockups Figure 1. Town Crier Main Page 3 | P age Figure 2. Map and Location Page Figure 3. Schedule Creation Page – “Plan  it” The user can plan or randomize a schedule. Created schedules will be displayed in the lower section of the page. Selecting a schedule will provide options to share via social media. 4 | P age Figure 4. Town Crier Profile Page Figure 5. Restaurant Profile Page The profile pages give an easy way to track where friends have recently (or currently) visited. 5 | P age Figure 6. Town Crier Schedule Detail Page Figure 7. Venue Search Page The website also provides a traditional method of searching for restaurants should they wish to go to a restaurant/venue not attended to by a friend. 6 | P age Strengths (cid:120) Allows users to leave reviews of venues, restaurants, and attractions – all displayed on their Town Crier profile page as well as on the venue page. (cid:120) Supports social media integration (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) – 65% of users reported that social media is something heavily used in information gathering (cid:120) User driven, easy to include other users when trying to discover a new place or scheduling a night out Weaknesses (cid:120) Lack of mobility – due to modality, the interface is unable to support changes once unable to use the internet. This makes inviting friends, changing evening schedules, or finding new restaurants difficult to do once already at the location. (cid:120) Must plan ahead – to utilize the features of the system that current solutions do not have (ex. Yelp), a user must make plans ahead of time. The user would have to create a schedule of events and invite friends or share on social media before leaving. (cid:120) Integration  with  current  location  would  be  limited  due  to  the  website’s  intended  use.  The   location feature would be limited to finding the location when accessing the website at home, for example. This would be inconvenient when already near the location of venues and searching for another attraction to attend. Narratives Persona 1 This first narrative describes a UGA Alum currently in town with his family for the Homecoming football game. He has not been in Athens for many years and is practically a tourist in the bustling game-day college town. The Alum would like to meet up with old friends that may have come to the football game and take them to his favorite restaurant. He uses the Town Crier website to check if old friends have checked in at Sanford Stadium. 7 | P age Persona 2 This next narrative describes new students at the University of Georgia wanting to schedule an evening out. The students have only recently arrived in Athens and have no prior knowledge of the area’s restaurants, venues, and other attractions. The Town Crier website was introduced to them during the summer orientation session. Persona 3 The last narrative describes a local Athens family wanting to discover something new. Their Town Crier profile page has recorded their past visits to restaurants, events, and attractions – this makes it easy to discover a venue not yet visited. The family checks the profile pages of family friends to see if any have gone to a specific restaurant and created a review. After visiting the restaurant, the family decides that such a great restaurant should be more well-known and decide to spread the information to their friends via their Town Crier profile page and Facebook. The  “word-of-mouth”  effect  then  takes  hold  and   spreads the information to many users. 8 | P age Much like the Town Crier website, the Town Crier Key Fob design was created with the data gathered from Milestone 1 – more than half of those that responded gathered information via word of mouth. The key-fob design would be designed to be not much bigger than a key-fob one would find attached to car keys. Having a small form factor ensures that the device itself is not cumbersome when attached to keys. In addition to the key-fob itself, there are discs that can be inserted into a port on the side of the device. These discs would plug into the fob, much like a USB into a computer, and display information on the display screen. The action of trading discs with other users supplements the action of verbally suggesting a venue to someone – not only does the user hear a testimonial about the venue, but they also now have quick information available to them about the venue (i.e. location, restaurant name, special deals). 9 | P age Mockups Figure 1. Key-Fob Default Screen and Welcome Screen Figure 2. Key-Fob Venue Information Screens 10 | P age Strengths (cid:120) Very social, emphasizes user-to-user interaction (cid:120) Portable, key-fob attached to keys or other objects like a keychain (cid:120) Ease of use, display provides basic information and has only two buttons for navigation (cid:120) Easily obtainable information. Handed a new disc while out in downtown Athens? Simply insert the disc into the key-fob and lead the group to a new destination. (cid:120) Flexible – disc creation not limited to venues and business. Patrons can create discs for venues they enjoyed, for personal events, and for hole-in-wall venues that may not receive high traffic Weaknesses (cid:120) Small size – as disc collection grows, keeping up with individual discs may become cumbersome. Key-fob has a limit to number of discs it can hold (cid:120) No integration with social media, relies solely on user interaction. Merely a supplement to how users spread information by word-of-mouth (cid:120) Key-fobs must be manufactured and distributed. There are costs associated with the materials and manpower to do so (cid:120) Screen may not accommodate all users. Screen’s diminutive size may deter those with vision impairment Narratives Persona 1 Two new students are currently attending their summer orientation session at the University of Georgia. Each student was given a key-fob and pack of discs to explore during their orientation break. The students have never been outside the UGA campus and have no clue where to go during their break – as such, they decide to use the key-fob to find suggested attractions in town. The students did not know there was a zoo in Athens until trying out all of their suggested discs. With this information, the students discover Bear Hollow Zoo and can trade discs to find another attraction.