Room for Improvement
Based on problems identified in User Experience Analysis
*Disclaimer: I'm not sure if the redesign has to be an improvement to the actual product but I believe that the service I have analyzed in this assignment is more than just the actual equipment but the whole system surrounding it. Hence, the improvements I have recommended are mainly on system designs rather than product design. For example, it would simply be too easy to suggest to use a machine that can do both washing and drying.
Redistributing Demand
The main problem behind the lack of availability of machines during peak periods is simply due to the high demand during a particular time. I believe that user demand can be changed through monetary incentives.
For example, the company can provide discounts/incentives for users that use the machines at offpeak periods such as weekdays. Similarly, they could charge a higher cost for peak periods.
Not only would this help to smooth the demand for the machines over the week, it could also lead to lesser machines being required in the laundry room. For a dormitory like Edgerton that only has a maximum of 184 tenants, there is no need for an excess of 20 machines, as shown by how only 2-3 machines are utilized during offpeak periods.
With a proper redistribution of demand across the week, users would no longer have to compete for the usage of the machines. This would lead to greater satisfaction and a better user experience.
Communication and Alerts
During peak periods, users will likely encounter a scenario in which the previous user has yet to clear out his/her laundry after it has finished. With no way of contacting the previous user, they have no choice but to find an alternative machine.
The underlying reason behind this behaviour is most likely due to the previous user forgetting about their laundry. It is highly unlikely that users would purposely leave their laundry in the machine to deprive others from using it. Hence, a solution would attempt to solve the underlying reason by a better alerting system for the users.
Since the MIT Id card is primarily used for payment purposes, it would not be hard to pull the user's handphone number from MIT's database. To prevent concerns about data privacy, the machine would be responsible to send the alert to the previous user notifying them that their laundry is ready for collection and that another user would like to use the machine.
This meant that users would not need to continuously check LaundryView and would automatically receive alerts when their laundry is done. (LaundryView currently has an alert function but it requires you to login each time you do laundry and specify which machine is yours) By linking the phone number to the machine, Mac Gray would be able to enhance the user experience by ensuring timely alerts.
Better Reporting
As mentioned during the user experience analysis, there is a lack of incentive to report existing problems with the machines. Furthermore, there is a lack of communication on the working status of the machines to its users.
A free voucher for usage of the machines could be given to those that reliably report a machine. While it may seem to be cost more from the company perspective, this allows the company to react faster to machine problems leading to a better overall user experience.
Furthermore, the moment a machine is reported to be faulty, LaundryView should immediately reflect that the machine is down. Moreover, the machine should be automatically excluded from the pool of available machines (ie you can't activate it from the console). Through informing the users of the faulty machines, there would be less confusion and frustration among the users.