How can the laundry experience at McCormick Hall improve?
For new users, understanding the different settings for the washing machines and dryers can be difficult. Even for old users, it's easier to gauge what the settings do from experience rather than completely understanding what the machines are changing for each setting. For example, when changing the soil level and type of clothes for the washing machine, the user only sees the cycle time increase or decrease by a number of minutes. What is the difference between those two settings besides just changing the cycle time? New users might not even realize that the number on the screen is the cycle time in minutes because there is no labeling or units. It's also difficult for new users to understand that each drying cycle is 17 minutes long. This is because the TechCash reader doesn't give this information when it asks for the number of extra drying cycles. The user only realizes after checking on the dryer again, which is after he/she has already started the machine. If the user wants to add more cycles, he/she would have to wait until the current cycle was over.
A solution to help users is simply providing more information in the appropriate places. For instance, instead of "SOIL LEVEL" the setting could be labeled as "CYCLE TIME," which would be much easier for the user to grasp what the setting is actually doing. There could also be an informative chart of what each setting means in practical terms, which would be located on the top of each machine so users can easily refer to it when doing laundry. There should also be a price chart besides the TechCash reader that lists the prices and time duration for each wash and drying cycle, so users are aware of what they are buying.
The laundry room is often in bad condition physically. There are piles of clothes everywhere, the room is musty and sometimes smelly, and the washing machines could use some cleaning. As we saw earlier, the washing machine dispensers are usually gross and filled with blue residue.
To combat the mess, rules could be implemented for users to follow. For example, there could be a rule stating that all clothes left in the laundry room on Sundays would be considered unwanted and would be either thrown away or donated. There could also be rules encouraging clean use of washing machines, such as checking the dispenser after each wash such that dirty dispensers or half-used Tide pods are not accidently left behind for the next user to clean up.
Users are generally satisfied with the TechCash reader when it's working. However, a broken reader usually results in inefficiency and frustration. Users would either have to retrieve quarters from back in their room or, if they don't have quarters, ask for quarters from other people or the front desk. I once had to travel all the way to the MIT Student Center to get quarters, which required me to buy something from the store.
Electronic machine malfunction is mostly inevitable, but the experience of getting quarters should be easier than it is. The front desk could perhaps keep a back-up TechCash reader to accept TechCash in exchange for physical quarters. If TechCash readers are impossible, then at least a supply of quarters should be available for residents to use just in case. One interviewee suggested a dedicated machine for providing quarters inside the laundry room.
When the laundry room is in high demand, there are often machines that are full but completed their washing or drying cycles. In a perfect world, everyone would take out their clothes on in a timely manner, but this is not always the case. Therefore, users often take out the previous user's clothes before using the machine. Then, he/she may email out or write on the whiteboard where the clothes are, but often there is no communication. Emailing out seems spammy and the whiteboard is incomprehensible.
This dilemma can be solved with an organized bin system. This system would comprise of labeled bins on two or three shelves. There would also be magnetic labels that correspond to each of the labels of the bins. Then, users can grab a bin to put clothes in, put it back on the shelf, and then stick the magnet on the machine to indicate which bin the clothes are in for the previous user to see later. When the previous user comes to retrieve his/her laundry, he/she can take the laundry from the bin and then put the magnet back to its original place. This system minimizes hassle and is much easier to understand and maintain than a whiteboard.