1) Opportunity: The opportunity I am choosing to do is to solve the issue of parking on campus by creating an app or parking system to help cut down on search time for parking.
2) The 3 W's
- The Who: University of Florida Students
- The What: Students are having a hard time finding parking spots on campus and causes them to either be tardy or waste time.
- The Why: As UF went up in rankings, more and more students are coming and the school parking lots have not accommodated for such large masses of students.
- Testing the Who: Just about every student and faculty are affected by limited parking spots.
- Testing the What: Testing parking lots and parking garages are slightly different to test. Mainly because I have seen systems in garages that work and project the number of open spots and the total number right at the entrance of the garage. I have not seen this yet for just regular parking lots.
- Testing the Why: The students are wanting to have better parking accommodations for them to enjoy all of what UF has to offer them. They also want to be able to find parking on exam nights and exam season. It is already stressful to go to UF, now parking is just an added stress.
Interview 1: Geisha Caban, UF Senior, lives off campus
Me: Do you believe that parking is
an issue at the University of Florida campus?
Geisha Caban: Yes I do. Not only is
parking limited but the parking lots are located at inconvenient places, at
least for me and my classes.
Me: Why do you think parking is such
an issue at the university of Florida?
Geisha: UF has a growing population
with how prestigious it is. It just got ranked to 8th in the nation
so of course more and more people want to come here. Funding is used for
anything besides making parking lots/garages.
Me: Do you think a UF parking Garage
app would be useful in cutting down searching times for parking?
Geisha: Absolutely, yeah that would be
great. I would definitely use it.
Me: What do you think would solve
this issue?
Geisha: I think they should fund parking
garages that go up and not out to maximize the space there is.
Me: Do you believe that parking is
an issue at the University of Florida campus?
Jana Rochette: Yeah, because I
always go to park and I can never find a spot.
Me: Why do you think parking is
such an issue at the University of Florida?
Jana Rochette: Because I am
wasting my time cause I got to go extremely early to find a spot.
Me: Do you think a UF parking
Garage app would be useful in cutting down searching times for parking?
Jana Rochette: Yeah cause then I
would know ahead a time if I want to drive to a parking garage or not.
Me: What do you think would
solve this issue?
Jana Rochette: Your app you just
talked about seems like it would help.
Me: Do you believe that parking is
an issue at the University of Florida campus?
Aiden Agee: Yeah ever since I
was a freshman on campus parking has been a huge issue especially since I live
so far off campus and commute.
Me: Why do you think parking is
such an issue at the University of Florida?
Aiden Agee: I think its cause
this school got so good in ranks and now everyone wants to come and now parking
is scarcer.
Me: Do you think a UF parking
Garage app would be useful in cutting down searching times for parking?
Aiden Agee: Yeah it should
include on which decal is available too like how many spots are open for orange
decal, green, and red. That would make everyone’s life easier.
Me: What do you think would
solve this issue?
Aiden Agee: Maybe if UF would
invest in expanding garages or existing lots to allow more cars to park.
Me: Do you believe that parking is
an issue at the University of Florida campus?
Jenny Rafalovich: Yes. I always
have to fight for spots and I even have a scooter.
Me: Why do you think parking is
such an issue at the University of Florida?
Jenny Rafalovich: Because people
that live off campus try to find spots and people that live on campus always
have to fight for spots.
Me: Do you think a UF parking
Garage app would be useful in cutting down searching times for parking?
Jenny Rafalovich: I mean yeah, I
guess it would because it would be better then nothing.
Me: What do you think would solve
this issue?
Jenny Rafalovich: More parking
spots.
Me: Do you believe that parking is
an issue at the University of Florida campus?
Monica Farmer: It’s only an
issue for me when it is exam season cause that is when everyone is here and
trying to cram.
Me: Why do you think parking is
such an issue at the University of Florida?
Monica Farmer: Too many students
and not enough spots.
Me: Do you think a UF parking
Garage app would be useful in cutting down searching times for parking?
Monica Farmer: Only if it was
accurate and not slow like the buss app I use.
Me: What do you think would solve
this issue?
Monica Farmer: UF funds more
into creating or updating parking garages.
Summary:
Generally, my findings have concluded what I have already suspected. Students from all living conditions, off or on campus have concluded that parking is an issue. After interviewing students it seems as though an app would be something they are willing to use and see if it does help in finding parking. I did not know prior the interviews that even scooter parking can be sometimes of a hassle.
Hey Kristen, I really liked reading your post and your interviews with the different people and they seemed to have some great insight into this opportunity. The only thing I would comment on is your testing the who, I would disagree with saying almost every student and faculty are affected by parking spots. As a student who does not have a car here, parking has never been an issue for me and I know many other students who also don't have cars. But still this issue does affect so many students and I think this is a great idea of how to try and alleviate the problem.
ReplyDeleteHey Kristen! This is a great idea solely because I personally face this parking problem at least a couple times a week, if not more. Parking becomes an inconvenience for many and in my case has affected my time management between class and work. The university has taken much time to create a new garage, but has also displaced many others in the meantime. Parking has just always seemed to be an issue during the duration of my time at the university, so this would be a great opportunity.
ReplyDeleteHey Kristen. I chose this issue as one of my "bugs" on my bug list earlier in the month for one of our first assignments. I think this is a huge problem here at UF and it is something that greatly needs to be addressed. UF just added more parking to Norman garage, which is a step, but more needs to be done. An app is a great idea to help students out with parking, especially because every student is on their phones during the course of a day. With proper implementation and design, it can work!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen, I believe that you found an opportunity that a lot of UF students can relate too. Not only do I have trouble finding parking throughout the day, but especially when I am going to events at night its frustrating that I’m late due to parking. I also find it frustrating when sometimes I try to use the paid parking at the Reitz and there is an event that day that prevents me from doing so. An app would be a great idea to combat this.
ReplyDelete