User Analysis:
Our users are general MIT students which offer the following general demographics:
- Age: 17+ (Will be an MIT student (undergrad or grad))
- Any gender or culture. Should be proficient in English.
- Any education (will be an MIT student), physical limitation, or computer experience though the user should reasonably be able to navigate a web application.
- Should have knowledge of the MIT system of classes with prerequisites and graduation requirements.
Though our users won't change, when they visit the site they may have different objectives and goals they hope to get done.
Freddy Freshman
Freddy is an excited freshman who is looking forward to getting to MIT and starting classes. He has been looking at the course catalog and subject listings for the past few days and wants to take many classes. Of course he can not fit them all in one semester so he decides to form his four-year plan to include all the classes he is interested in taking.
Sally Senior
Sally is a senior entering her spring semester who can not wait until she graduates. She has finished all of her major requirements, and is excited to be taking electives and "easy A" classes. She wants to know what classes are easy, those that friends have said are great classes with good professors, and also classes that her friends will be in.
Ally Advsior
Ally is an upperclassman associate adviser for a group of freshman. She knows more about the MIT workload and can tell what will be a bad or good semester. She recommends her students make a temporary schedule and share it with her so we can view it and make suggestions, recommendations, or ask another upperclassman about the workload.
The three above users include three example student populations who have a principal purpose and something different that they would like from a class scheduling tool. In fact most users will be a combination of the three student populations above: students who want to decide their classes for the semester; want to know the impact their current schedule will have on the following semesters; and someone who wants to know the classes that friends are thinking about taking to decide whether to pick a class for this semester or for next semester.
Task Analysis:
Four-Year Plan:
Freddy wants to create his four-year plan with all of the classes he is interested in taking. He knows he wants to study Computer Science, Course 6-3, and is really interested in learning theatre.