availaboard
Senior Capstone Project
Human Centered Design & Engineering B.S.
University of Washington 2015
Problem
Schedule posted to door of meeting room
How can we improve the existing meeting room system?
Paper calendars taped to doors once a week
Google Calendar updated frequently
Users unsure if room is being used or when it will be used next
Users desire places to study
New users unsure of what features are available in rooms
Action
1. Research of competitive products; gathered and shared results with team members using Pinterest
2. Iterated and tested UI using two paper prototypes with target users to address iconography, user flow, and content. The first prototype was drawn by hand, and the second was a combination of drawings and graphics.
3. Chose hardware including a Nook Simple Touch running Android to display the Google Calendars. The Nook was challenging to work with: Although it does have a battery life that is comparably long, it's black and white display was a major constraint to UI design.
4. Connected and tested Arduino for WiFi and to control colored LED lighting to show users status of the room.
Result
Mounted at an accessible level to all users, Availaboard shows the status of a meeting room from a distance with LED lighting and on-screen with its UI.
