Our Scenarios
Each team member created two scenarios, one for our polished persona and one for our unpolished persona. These scenarios were based off of the persona's characteristics and describe a typical situation they might find themselves in on the Link light rail. The scenario then shows how our personas would use LINKCHAT in that situation. The scenarios also help define what functionality our app would need to satisfy our user requirements. Finally, by showing what functionality our app would need, they helped inform our design sketches.
Zelda's Scenarios
Tsuki's Zelda Scenario
Zelda just finished her last class. She’s spent the past 5 hours in lectures and is looking forward to a relaxing ride on the light rail. She gets on the train at the UW station to find plenty of seats. She finds a seat by herself and takes a load off.
Zelda recognizes some other students from class sitting only a few seats away from her. She thinks of ways to strike up conversation but doesn’t want to hassle them about school. She pulls out her phone to occupy herself instead. Unfortunately there is no reception to stream music on Spotify or check her Snapchat.
Zelda spends her ride staring out of the window, watching people get on and off the train some of whom she knows. She wonders what they listen to on their headphones and what they are reading while they ride the light rail.
Zelda has the longest light rail ride there is (UW to SeaTac), and she just spent it doing mostly nothing. She wished she could have accomplished something.
Zelda recognizes some other students from class sitting only a few seats away from her. She thinks of ways to strike up conversation but doesn’t want to hassle them about school. She pulls out her phone to occupy herself instead. Unfortunately there is no reception to stream music on Spotify or check her Snapchat.
Zelda spends her ride staring out of the window, watching people get on and off the train some of whom she knows. She wonders what they listen to on their headphones and what they are reading while they ride the light rail.
Zelda has the longest light rail ride there is (UW to SeaTac), and she just spent it doing mostly nothing. She wished she could have accomplished something.
Sam's Zelda Scenario
Zelda boards the Light Rail car at SeaTac station as part of her daily commute to the University of Washington. She knows she is going to graduate on time and with a good class standing, but that doesn’t mean she can’t study more on her 30+ minute ride. Since she doesn’t get cell service on the light rail and there is no wifi, she has study her own material. She puts in her headphones and opens her textbook and begins to mind her own business.
After a few stops, a person wearing a Google shirt boards the train and proceeds to sit in the seat in front of her. She glances at him and notices that he is also wearing a badge that says “Recruiter” on the front of his sweatshirt. Being a senior about to graduate, Zelda has been looking for a job or internship for several months now, so her first urge is to talk to this recruiter. Unfortunately he seems to be busy, typing away on his phone while listening to something with his headphones on so Zelda decides not to disturb him.
Luckily, she is able to post on the Sound Transit digital bulletin board that she is interested in speaking with the gentleman and that message is posted onto one of the screens on the car. Hopefully the recruiter will look up and notice her username asking about him so he can direct-message her about any questions she may have. Either way, at least with this app she tried to reach out in a way that didn’t make her uncomfortable.
After a few stops, a person wearing a Google shirt boards the train and proceeds to sit in the seat in front of her. She glances at him and notices that he is also wearing a badge that says “Recruiter” on the front of his sweatshirt. Being a senior about to graduate, Zelda has been looking for a job or internship for several months now, so her first urge is to talk to this recruiter. Unfortunately he seems to be busy, typing away on his phone while listening to something with his headphones on so Zelda decides not to disturb him.
Luckily, she is able to post on the Sound Transit digital bulletin board that she is interested in speaking with the gentleman and that message is posted onto one of the screens on the car. Hopefully the recruiter will look up and notice her username asking about him so he can direct-message her about any questions she may have. Either way, at least with this app she tried to reach out in a way that didn’t make her uncomfortable.
Keane's Zelda Scenario
Zelda has just gotten on the Link Rail in SeaTac. As she settles into her seat, she pulls out some reading she has to do for class. Before starting, however, she decides to check her email and start up some reading music on her phone. As she opens the app and selects a station, she checks the chatroom to see if anyone else is on—not yet.
As the train makes it way towards the University District, Zelda keeps studying and listening to music. As she checks her phone to like a track that’s playing, she sees a notification that some other people have joined the chat room. Deciding to take advantage of meeting new people, she sends a message about how she really likes the band that is currently playing and hopes to see them when they come through town. A few minutes later Zelda’s phone buzzes with a notification; someone had responded that they saw the band the last time they were in town and really enjoyed the show.
Zelda notices that the person’s is wearing a UW shirt in their profile picture and decides to direct message (DM) the person. They start talking and find out they have some other common interests. As the train pulls into the University District station and Zelda gets off, she sees someone who resembles the person she has been messaging with on the train. Zelda goes up to the person and they end up walking onto campus together while getting to know each other better.
As the train makes it way towards the University District, Zelda keeps studying and listening to music. As she checks her phone to like a track that’s playing, she sees a notification that some other people have joined the chat room. Deciding to take advantage of meeting new people, she sends a message about how she really likes the band that is currently playing and hopes to see them when they come through town. A few minutes later Zelda’s phone buzzes with a notification; someone had responded that they saw the band the last time they were in town and really enjoyed the show.
Zelda notices that the person’s is wearing a UW shirt in their profile picture and decides to direct message (DM) the person. They start talking and find out they have some other common interests. As the train pulls into the University District station and Zelda gets off, she sees someone who resembles the person she has been messaging with on the train. Zelda goes up to the person and they end up walking onto campus together while getting to know each other better.
Curby's Scenarios
Tsuki's Curby Scenario
Curby Bartlett gets on the light rail at the UW Station in the morning. He would like to pull out his tablet and get his day started by reading his emails to prep for work. But going underground there is no signal for his tablet. So instead he choses to sit in silence.
Curby had a tough day he would like to relax by reading articles on his 20 minute ride home to the UW station. But his stop is underground and he can’t access the internet. Again he choses to sit in silence. But his quiet is spoiled by loud talking young people. Curby thinks he should confront them but thinks otherwise.
Curby gets off at his stop frustrated by his day, that was compounded by the light rail ride. He wished he could have relaxed with his online magazine articles and the young people could have been more quiet.
Curby had a tough day he would like to relax by reading articles on his 20 minute ride home to the UW station. But his stop is underground and he can’t access the internet. Again he choses to sit in silence. But his quiet is spoiled by loud talking young people. Curby thinks he should confront them but thinks otherwise.
Curby gets off at his stop frustrated by his day, that was compounded by the light rail ride. He wished he could have relaxed with his online magazine articles and the young people could have been more quiet.
Sam's Curby Scenario
Curby is seated in the Light Rail car while staring at his watch. According to the regular schedule, the train was supposed to leave 3 minutes ago. He knows he won’t be late for work since he always plans ahead and takes the train that gets him there 30 minutes early, but the fact that the light rail is delayed without warning is unacceptable. Looking at the Sound Transit app he sees that the driver posted a notification warning of a small altercation that delayed the route. At least just knowing why the train is so delayed makes him feel a bit better.
He goes back to the app and looks ahead at his destination. The app informs him that not only is it currently raining where he’s going but that there’s also a Mariner’s game going on, so there is going to be increased foot traffic. That’s ok though. It’s times like these that Curby is relieved that he is able to ride the link rail in peace while he commutes into the hectic areas of downtown Seattle.
With all this phone checking, Curby is glad that the Link Rail installed Wi-Fi hotspots to allow for easier connectivity and less battery drain on his phone. Not being the most technical of guys, he always has his phone brightness at max and never turns it on airplane mode without signal, so it’s nice to see that not having antennas that are constantly searching for data saves some phone juice. All in all, today should be just the way that Curby likes it, which is just like every other day.
He goes back to the app and looks ahead at his destination. The app informs him that not only is it currently raining where he’s going but that there’s also a Mariner’s game going on, so there is going to be increased foot traffic. That’s ok though. It’s times like these that Curby is relieved that he is able to ride the link rail in peace while he commutes into the hectic areas of downtown Seattle.
With all this phone checking, Curby is glad that the Link Rail installed Wi-Fi hotspots to allow for easier connectivity and less battery drain on his phone. Not being the most technical of guys, he always has his phone brightness at max and never turns it on airplane mode without signal, so it’s nice to see that not having antennas that are constantly searching for data saves some phone juice. All in all, today should be just the way that Curby likes it, which is just like every other day.
Keane's Curby Scenario
Curby is on his way to another day at work. As he gets on the Link Rail he puts in his headphones to enjoy his commute. After gets on his morning music station, he switches apps to look at his favorite news app, while the music plays in the background. As he looks through news articles, he comes across one relevant to type of music he is listening to and decides to share the article with the chat group; the music app has added itself to the share context menu so adding the article to the chat is a breeze.
During his break, Curby decides to listen to a song or two and opens up the app again. To help pass the time, he looks through chat room to see what people have been discussing. He finds and interesting and somewhat heated conversation that some people have been having regarding an artist he likes. However, he does not feel like engaging, content to just read the back-and-forth for entertainment. As his break comes to an end, he has not finished reading the thread and bookmarks it for later.
On his commute home, Curby once again listens to some music. As he opens the chat, he sees a user name that he often sees and decides to DM the person. By talking to the user, he finds out that the user is a regular commuter. Further conversation leads to jobs and as Curby tells of his position, he is surprised to find that the user is a friend of the person in charge of promotions. Curby uses this as an opportunity to network and feels better about earning that promotion.
During his break, Curby decides to listen to a song or two and opens up the app again. To help pass the time, he looks through chat room to see what people have been discussing. He finds and interesting and somewhat heated conversation that some people have been having regarding an artist he likes. However, he does not feel like engaging, content to just read the back-and-forth for entertainment. As his break comes to an end, he has not finished reading the thread and bookmarks it for later.
On his commute home, Curby once again listens to some music. As he opens the chat, he sees a user name that he often sees and decides to DM the person. By talking to the user, he finds out that the user is a regular commuter. Further conversation leads to jobs and as Curby tells of his position, he is surprised to find that the user is a friend of the person in charge of promotions. Curby uses this as an opportunity to network and feels better about earning that promotion.