GR1 - User and Task Analyses

User Analysis

We have three main types of users represented by the following people (fictional names):

• Jimmy: ski school director
• Darryl: administrator and daily supervisor
• Sam: ski instructor

Jimmy: the ski school director

Jimmy is the director of the ski school. He is comfortable using a computer, but does not have any experience in web development. Jimmy needs a way to monitor how many instructors he has scheduled for each shift and to track if instructors are missing their shifts. He would like a way for instructors to request a schedule change directly from the supervisor of the shift they are requesting to change and would like a copy of the request to go to the central supervisor email address. He does not like having to make the changes to schedules himself and would prefer that the request go through the supervisor of the shift. If the instructor is making a change near the time of their shift, he would like the computer to block the request and direct the instructor to call the appropriate supervisor, since often supervisors may not check their email before heading out onto the snow if it is a last minute change. He would also like to track how many clinic hours instructors have and whether or not they have taken certain required clinics. Additionally, it would be helpful if instructors could submit requests for clinic hours that they got outside the ski area or that didn’t make it onto the sign-up sheet. He would also like an interface that would allow him to post announcements and links to training materials for his instructors without having to directly edit html code.

What we learned from Jimmy

What the current system does well:

• Jimmy can view instructors’ schedules and print of a list for the supervisors each day
• He can also track the number of clinic hours instructors have

What the system currently lacks:

• Instructors can’t enter/edit their schedules
• He has no way to track how many shifts instructors have missed (either excused or unexcused). He would like a way to see how often instructors are being excused from shifts.
• He has no way to track what required clinics instructors have taken so he uses an excel spreadsheet, which instructors can’t view. Furthermore, clinic hours are sometimes missed since there is no easy way for instructors to request missed hours and he has to personally try to keep track of clinic hours taken outside the area (ex. exams taken through the Professional Ski Instructors Association)
• An easy way to post announcements and outside links

Darryl: an administrator and daily supervisor at the ski area

He is older and not very comfortable using a computer, but learns how to perform the tasks necessary for the ski school each season. He currently enters all of the instructors’ paper schedules into the computer by hand at the beginning of the season. He would like a way to allow instructors to enter their schedules before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, he would like a way for the instructors to submit a request to change their schedules so that they don’t have to email him to have him make the change. He is unsure if approval is necessary, if it is far in advance, but would like to receive a notification of what the change was. He would also like instructors to directly call their supervisors if they need to cancel last minute. He would also like a way to see all changes that an instructor has made to their schedule since initially submitting it. He also needs a way to print off a copy of which instructors he has for the shifts he is supervising so that he can take it out onto the snow with him.

What we learned from Darryl

What the current system does well:

• He can view instructors schedules and print out a copy to take with him on the snow

What the system currently lacks:

• A way for instructors to submit/change their schedule
• A way to track changes that are made to an instructor’s schedule though out the season.

Sam: a ski instructor at the ski area

He is comfortable using computers but does not have any web development experience. He recognizes that the other instructors have a wide variety of computer skills (some instructors are in their 70s) so that the website needs to be usable for people with only very basic skills. He would like to be able to submit and change his schedule online. He would also like an email notification when his initial schedule and any schedule changes are approved. He also likes being able to view which other instructors are on the schedule. He teaches in the children’s area and would like to be able to see which instructors are skiers and which are boarders like he can for the instructors in the adult area. He also likes being able to view other instructors contact information.

What we learned from Sam

What the current system does well:

• He can view his schedule and who else is on the schedule with him
• He can view other instructors’ contact information

What the system currently lacks:

• He hates filling out a paper schedule and wants to be able to submit it online
• He would like a way to request a schedule change if it is a long way in advance
• He would like the to be able to see which instructors in the children’s area and skiers and which are boarders. The current system only breaks instructors down by supervisor and since there is only one supervisor for skiers and boarders in the children’s area, they appear together online.

Task Analysis

There are a few tasks that are very important for this application.  Notes relating to the scope of the project within 6.813/6.831 are in parentheses and the tasks we focused on are bolded.

• Create season (can be done annually using Django's interface to the database)
• Submit schedule
• Change schedule
• View schedule
• View instructors for shift (generating a list of text data is not an interesting problem from a UI standpoint)
• Track instructors’ attendance
• Track clinic hours
• Post announcements (the mostly empty home page in our implementation can be used for this)

Create Season

Goal: The ski school director or an administrator wants to create a "season" to store information (schedules, announcements, etc.) about the coming season.

Subtasks:

• The user opens the interface
• A new season is created for the coming winter
  • The user designates which disciplines are taught during which shifts for each day of the season (since the schedule is dependent on holidays)
  • Possible disciplines: adult: ski, adult: board, child: ski, child: board, racing (not all disciplines are taught every shift)
• The season becomes visible to the ski school director, all administrators, and all instructors

Preconditions:

• The user has administrator privileges (ski school director or an administrator)
• The season has not already been created

Time constraints:

• Should be before the ski school opens for the season

Frequency of use:

• Once per year

Submit Schedule

Goal: An instructor wants to submit his/her schedule and be notified of its approval or denial.

Subtasks:

• Instructor selects which shift to teach and specifies which discipline for each shift
• Schedule is submitted
• Schedule is approved by admin or ski school director
• Instructor is notified of approval (or denial)

Preconditions:

• Instructor must have an account

Time constraints:

• Must be before Thanksgiving

Frequency of use:

• Once per instructor per season

Change Schedule

Goal: An instructor wants to request to change his/her schedule for a shift, and be notified of its acceptance or denial, and if it's accepted, to see the change reflected in the schedule.

Subtasks:

• Instructor selects which shift he/she would like to change
• Sends request to supervisor
• Supervisor approves/rejects
• Instructor is notified of result
• Changes are logged so that supervisors can review changes at a later date

Preconditions:

• Instructor has submitted a schedule

Time constraints:

• It is at least 72 hours prior to the start of the instructor's shifts

Frequency of use:

• A couple of times per season per instructor

View schedule

Goal: Any staff member wants to view a schedule.

Subtasks:

• Select instructor
• Display schedule

Preconditions:

• Instructor has submitted a schedule

Time constraints:

• None

Frequency of use:

• Once a season to a couple of times per week, depending on instructor

View instructors for shift

Goal: A staff member wants to view the instructors scheduled for a given shift.

Subtasks:

• Select shift
• Display instructors in printable format

Preconditions:

• Instructors have entered schedules

Time constraints:

• None

Frequency of use:

• Several times per day

Track Instructors’ attendance

Goal: An administrator wants to manage an instructor's attendance.

Subtasks:

• Select instructor
• Display shifts instructor is scheduled for, shifts the instructor was excused from, and shifts the instructor has missed
• Mark a shift as missed or excused
  • Any shift can be marked as excused
  • Only previous/current shifts can be marked as missed

Preconditions:

• Instructors have entered schedule

Time constraints:

• None

Frequency of use:

• Several times per day

Track clinic hours

Goal: An supervisor/clinic instructor wants to enter hours for clinics.  Everyone wants to view the clinic hours and requirements fulfilled.  Instructors want to request clinic hours that got missed so that supervisors/clinic instructors can approve them.

Subtasks:

• Clinic instructor/supervisor enters hours and if the clinic fulfilled a requirement
• View current hours/requirements fulfilled
• Request clinic hours
• Approve requests for clinic hours

Preconditions:

• Instructor is in the system

Time constraints:

• None

Frequency of use:

• Several times per day

Post announcements and outside links

Goal: An administrator or director wants to post announcements and/or outside links for the staff.

Subtasks:

• Post announcement
• Announcement is emailed out to instructors who have opted in to receive announcements by email too
• Announcement is viewed
• Post outside link with description
• View outside link

Preconditions:

• None

Time constraints:

• None

Frequency of use:

• A couple of times per week