Introduction

In this MicroSprint, we followed the first 4 steps of the Design Thinking process (Empathize, Define, Ideate and Prototype). We still haven't covered the last phase, Test. In each section of this document you can find in order the deliverables and a description of what was developed.

Table of Contents

1. Selected Problems
2. Interview Structures
   1. University Gastronomy Offer
   2. University Marketplace / Bartering App
   3. Interactive Map Application
   4. Green Campus
3. Interview Summary
   1. Interview 1: Juan Diego
   2. Interview 2: Maria
   3. Interview 3: Laura
   4. Interview 4: Alejandro
   5. Interview 5: Nicolás
   6. Interview 6: Juan Camilo
4. Journey Maps
5. Brainstorming Process
6. Prototype

Selected Problems

After reviewing the different problems suggested by the class in the padlet, we selected these four in no particular order.

1. University gastronomic offer
2. University marketplace / Bartering app
3. Campus interactive map application
4. Green Campus

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Interview Structures

In this section, the interview template used for each problem are shown. Each template’s title shows the problem and the member assigned to it.

University gastronomic offer - Maria Castro y Juan Yepes

Part 1: Introduction

First Question: Can I record this interview? Make sure to ask this twice, once prior to the interview and once when in the interview.

• Welcome and Introduction:

  • Begin by introducing yourself and explaining the purpose of the interview. Ensure the participant feels comfortable and understands that their input is valuable..

  • Background Information: Ask the participant for some basic information about themselves (name, occupation, etc.) to establish context.

    • What is your name? How old are you? What is your current occupation? (University program and semester, work title, etc)

• Contextualize the Conversation:

  • Briefly explain the project or idea you're working on to provide a context for the discussion.
  • (Taken from course padlet): There are a lot of different places for eating breakfast, lunch, snacks, desserts or drinking some coffee around the university. But, is there a place where to find the diverse offer? The answer is sadly negative. This hinders the possibility of people to know new places, prevents gastronomic diversification and obstructs the growth of establishments with potential. Finally, nowadays the most powerful way in which a place can make itself known in the community is by voice to voice, using advertisements or being located in a concurrent place.

Part 2: Understanding Their Relationship with the problem

Routine in relation to the problem:

• Explore their routine to understand their activities in relation to the problem, how they come across the problem (what needs trigger it). Ask about their work, hobbies, and personal life.

  • How familiar are you with the current eateries and coffee shops around the university?
  • Can you name a few places that you consider to have a diverse food and beverage menu?
  • How many days of the week are you in the university? Of these days, how many do you eat at the campus? Describe your current routine surrounding lunchtime during school days.
  • When you buy lunch, how do you make the decision of where to go?

• Challenges and Frustrations:

  • Inquire about any challenges or frustrations they encounter in their daily life. This could be related or unrelated to the project you're working on.
  • Do you have any dietary restrictions? Can you share your experiences with finding diverse food options around the university? What challenges have you personally faced when seeking a variety of dining choices?

Identifying Current Problem Solutions:

• Current Pain Points:

  • Ask them to share any current pain points, issues, or problems they face in the context of the project or related areas.
    • In your experience, how has the lack of a diverse food offering impacted your daily routines or the routines of people in the university community?
    • Can you provide examples of situations where the limited food diversity around the university has been particularly frustrating or inconvenient for you or others?

• Previous Solutions:

  • Explore if they have tried any solutions to address these problems in the past. Understand what worked and what didn't.
    • What solutions or initiatives have been tried before to promote gastronomic diversification or support the growth of establishments with potential?
    • Can you highlight any successful approaches or strategies that have been effective in enhancing food diversity, even if on a small scale?

Digging Deeper:

• Impact on Their Life:

  • Understand the impact of these problems on their daily life. How do these issues affect them emotionally, mentally, or socially?

• Desired Outcomes:

  • Ask about the ideal scenario. What outcomes or improvements are they hoping for?
    • Do you believe there's a need for a centralized platform or system to inform the community about diverse dining options?
    • How do you think technology or innovative approaches could be used to promote a broader range of food choices?

Understanding Perspectives:

• Different Perspectives:

  • Explore if there are different perspectives on the problem. Do they think others might have similar issues, or is their experience unique?
    • In your opinion, how does the lack of diverse food options impact the overall gastronomic experience for students and the community?
    • Have you observed any changes in people's dining habits due to the limited diversity of offerings?

• Value Assessment:

  • Understand the value they place on solving these problems. How important is it to them personally?
    • What ideas do you have to encourage the growth of establishments with diverse offerings around the university?
    • How do you think technology or innovative approaches could be used to promote a broader range of food choices?
    • How effective do you think word-of-mouth is in promoting local eateries around the university?

Part 3: Closing

• Thank You and Next Steps:

  • Express gratitude for their time and insights. Let them know how their input will be valuable in shaping the project.

• Permission for Follow-up:

  • Ask if they would be open to further discussions or follow-up questions as the project progresses.

University marketplace / Bartering app - Laura Restrepo

Introduction:

• Welcome and Introduction:
  • Hello, how are you? I’m … and today I will be conducting this interview. Is it alright if I record it?
• Background Information:
  • Would you mind telling me a bit about your background, that is, your name, occupation, age, semester, career, etc. Contextualize the Conversation:
  • The questions I will be asking you concern a problem faced by university students, which is to buy or sell materials used for a class.

Understanding Their Relationship with the problem:

• Routine in relation to the problem:
  • How do you come across this problem? What is happening in your life when buying or selling materials becomes an issue?

Identifying Current Problem Solutions:

• Current Pain Points:
  • What do you find frustrating about selling or buying materials for university? What is annoying about the process previously, during and after?
• Previous Solutions:
  • Have you tried finding solutions? If so, what approaches have you tried?

Digging Deeper:

• Impact on Their Life:
  • How does this emotionally, mentally, or socially affect your life, or more specifically, your student life?
• Desired Outcomes:
  • What outcomes or improvements are you hoping for? What scenario would be ideal?

Understanding Perspectives:

• Different Perspectives:
  • Do you think other students are also having trouble buying or selling materials, or is your experience unique?
• Value Assessment:
  • How important is it to you that the problem is solved? Or, if you’re almost done with your degree, how important would it have been?

Closing:

• Thank You and Next Steps:
  • Thank you so much for your time and your responses, they will be of great help in our project.
• Permission for Follow-up:
  • Finally, I would like to ask your permission for a follow-up interview if my team and I do decide to work on it.

Interactive Map Application - Alejandro Salgado y Nicolas Klopstock

Legal Question:

• You have agreed for this interview to be recorded, am I correct?

Welcome and Introduction:

• Thank you for participating in this interview. Today, we'll be discussing the experiences and challenges of moving around the university campus, especially for newcomers. Provide context for the interview:
• Before we dive into the specifics, could you share a bit about yourself? Your name, occupation, age, and any relevant background information would be great.

Understanding the Experience of Moving Around Campus:

• How familiar are you with the layout of the campus? Do you feel that newcomers face challenges in navigating the campus?
• In your experience, what difficulties or frustrations have you encountered or observed when it comes to moving around campus?

Current Pain Points:

• Can you share some of the main issues you or others face in terms of finding classes, study spots, or a place to have lunch? Impact on Their Life:
• Considering your daily experiences, how does the challenge of moving around campus impact your day? Previous Solutions:
• Have you come across any solutions or strategies that individuals use to navigate the campus more effectively?

Sharing Experiences:

• Have you discussed these challenges with others? What are their experiences, and do they align with yours? Value Assessment:
• If a solution were to be implemented to help newcomers move around campus through localization and calculated routes, what kind of impact do you think it could have on your daily life and the lives of others facing similar challenges?

Permission for Follow-up:

• Thank you for sharing your insights. Would it be alright for us to contact you in the future for any follow-up questions or clarifications?

Green Campus - Juan Camilo Falla

Legal Question:

• You have agreed for this interview to be recorded, am I correct?

Welcome and Introduction:

• Provide context for the interview, ensuring the interviewee understands the context and that he/she will be asked regarding the Green Campus in the university. Background Information:
• First of all, please tell us about yourself (name, occupation, age, etc.)

Understanding the Experience of Moving Around Campus:

• Are you aware of any “green” initiatives that are promoted by the university? In case of a positive answer: How did you become aware for these initiatives?
• Taking into account your background, how do you feel about these initiatives? Is there anything that causes frustration?

Current Pain Points:

• What are your main issues regarding sustainability initiatives and events in the University? Impact on Their Life:
• Considering your daily experiences within the university campus, how does the lack of visibility of these initiatives affect you? Previous Solutions:
• How have these initiatives become visible for you?
• What is the ideal solution for you, and what needs should be met?

Different Perspectives:

• Have you spoken to others regarding these problems?
• Are other people’s experiences similar to yours? Value Assessment:
• What impact could a solution to these problems bring to you?

Permission for Follow-up:

• I would like to thank you for your participation. In case it is needed may I contact you in order to solve further doubts?

Interview Summary

The following summary audio is a podcast-like summary in which we explain how all of the interviews went and the most interesting insights about each one. The way we distributed the 4 problems is presented on the next section. We decided to do it this way since the instructions are that each problem must have at least one dedicated interview.

Individual Interview Audios

The following folder contains all the audios and the summary with their modification date. They can also be listened to individually with the links the following table.

Interviewer	Audio File
Juan Camilo Falla	green-campus
Juan Diego Yepes	gastronomy-A
Maria Castro	gastronomy-B
Laura María Restrepo	marketplace
Alejandro Salgado	interactive-map-app-A
Nicolás Klopstock	interactive-map-app-B

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Interview Situations

Each member follows the 4 Situations and What? How? Why? Who? process of analysis for the problem individually selected.

Interview 1 - Juan Diego Yepes - University gastronomic offer

Situations	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	A person is decides to attend their favorite restaurant for lunch on a regular day, because they crave a familiar taste.	Said restaurant appears to be very crowded, with a line of at least 20+ minutes.	Since it’s mid-day, this is peak time for lunch, and this restaurant is very well known so naturally it is full. People are grumpy and hungry.	Young student, has a class to attend to in half an hour and is not very pleased on this situation; but decides to stay rather than try any other unknown restaurant to them.
2	A person with a dietary restriction (veganism) did not bring food from home this time and is looking for a place to eat out on campus, so they decide to search online.	They appear to be stressed due to the lack of centralized and updated information on dietary restriction-friendly options, the person explores tools like Google Maps, TripAdvisor, and Instagram pages.	Dietary restriction-friendly restaurants are scarce in Colombia, making it challenging to find places with menus that accommodate specific needs.	Young student, always brings lunch since eating out is very hard. The times that they need to eat out are very stressful and sometimes mean compromising a balanced diet (like excluding protein, repetitive meals, etc)
3	A person is trying to do a meal planning for their week. They have budget and time restrictions, but still need to eat out every day	They have two go-to restaurants, to which they will alternate every day of the week. Although this decision offers familiarity and speed, it also means compromising variety and exploring new options.	For the busy student juggling two majors, efficient time management is crucial. The burden of deciding what to eat is amplified by their tight schedule.	Young student, doing two majors and with a very busy schedule.
4	A person is very enthusiastic about a new place they found for lunch, and are sharing it with their friends since the place was so great.	The enthusiastic young student recommends a new lunch spot to friends not only for its delicious food but also because it's less crowded and provides speedy service.	The restaurant offers a membership card, giving the person a free meal for every 8th order, contributing to the positive experience and loyalty of the customer.	Young student, has a class to attend to in half an hour and very pleased on this situation; they were glad to have made this choice this time.

Interview 2 - Maria Castro Iregui - University gastronomic offer

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	Person with limited lunch break deciding where to buy good.	They feel like many lunch places are not every efficient and feel stressed about having to wait and possibly not being able to eat calmly. They wish they knew of more places because their usual to-go place is far.	There are lots of people during lunch rush hour. Also, they might not know about places with to-go options or places that are close to where their next class is.	Second semester student, about 19. They have a very bad schedule, and are worried because nearly every day they only get half an hour for lunch. They live by themselves and don’t know how to cook.
2	A group of 6 friends is trying to pick somewhere to eat. They have 2 hours for lunch and are arguing about where to go.	They are a bit tense because everyone has a different idea about where they want to go. They feel like it’s too complicated to make a decision.	They all have different tastes and want to have a good lunch. Each of them also knows about particular places that other’s don’t and might not trust them to go.	22 year old, last year student at the university. They feel very strongly about the options they already know in the university and don’t want to change.
3	Person arrives at a new place to eat they saw while walking around, and stands in line. Once inside they see that the floors aren’t very clean, the produce is all left out in the open. They don’t have time to go anywhere else.	They are concerned about the quality of the food they will be eating. Particularly, they are worried about getting food poising and missing an important exam on the next day.	Since it was a somewhat new place, they had very little information about it. Maybe they assumed it would be good quality because there was a big line outside.	18 year old male student. It is only their first semester in the university, so they don’t know much about campus. He really wants to get good grades and not miss any classes.
4	Vegetarian person tries to find a more diverse offering of food around the campus.	They are resentful of always having to go to the same couple of places and that her only option is usually more expensive and a very basic meal.	They are tired of always having to go to the same places that offer very basic and carb heavy vegetarian options. They wish they knew of more places apart from the usual two she found through word of mouth.	Young adult, studying at the university. She has been vegetarian since 7 years old. She’s struggling to maintain good eating habits without having to make food for herself (which is very time consuming)

Interview 3 - Laura Restrepo - University marketplace / Bartering app

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	Students are looking to sell materials through student-led pages.	They have reached the admins. of student-led pages to see if they can help them promote the materials. They are agitated because they bought too many.	Student-led pages let them get in contact with people from the same university who might take the class.	Senior student who is about to graduate and already took the class that needed the materials.
2	Students are looking to buy second-hand materials that will be used in a class.	They have reached the admins. of student-led pages to see if they can help them find people selling. They are desperate because the semester is about to start.	Student-led pages let them get in contact with people from the same university who already took the class.	Low-income student who cannot afford to pay much for the materials.
3	Students are selling materials on their own.	They have created social media accounts to promote the materials. They are annoyed because managing these accounts is tiresome.	Student-led pages have ignored their messages or haven't been helpful (e.g., they've only posted stories which only last 24 hours).	Medium-income junior student who could use the extra money.
4	Students are buying brand-new materials.	They are browsing the web to compare prices between stores. They are bothered because they wish there were cheaper alternatives.	They are not aware that student-led pages exist and, since they are not affiliated with the university, they have not found them on official sites.	Freshman student who is about to start college.

Interview 4 - Alejandro Salgado - Interactive Campus Application

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	Trying to get to class from one building to another.	They look worried that they are going to get late to class.	The campus is really big and students, normally in their first semesters, have consecutive classes that are in classrooms far apart but don't know the best route.	Students of Universidad de los Andes who are going to class.
2	Waiting in line to enter a building.	They look stressed because they are waiting still and need to get somewhere.	A lot of people need to get to class and there are only a few entries to some of the buildings, even to use stairs or the elevators. Also, they don't know at what times there is much traffic.	Students of Universidad de los Andes who are entering buildings in traffic hours.
3	Searching for a table to eat.	They look bored while looking around several places with their food getting cold.	There is a lot of people in the university and not enough distribution of places to eat within the most concurrent locations from students (ML, SD, RGD).	Members of the Universidad de los Andes that are trying to take their lunch.
4	Looking for a place to study calmly.	They look tired and worried about studying while walking.	There are a lot of people studying and some tables that should be used for multiple people being occupied by just one. People don't know many places to study.	Members of the Universidad de los Andes community that want to sit down and study.

Interview 5 - Nicolás Klopstock - Interactive Campus Application

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	Running from one place to another.	They are stressed out because they have to run from one class to the other in less than 10 minutes. No one wants to be late.	Some classes are far away from one another. Sometimes they have class in the RGD building and the next is in the TX building. They have to go from one to the next in less than 10 minutes.	Students of Universidad de Los Andes who have many classes without “blocks” of free time
2	Trying to find the right classroom at the beginning of the semester.	They have to get early to the campus to look for the classrooms before their first class.	There are maps made by the university, but they aren’t very clear. You can’t properly see which classroom is which.	Students of Universidad de Los Andes who have classes in campus.
3	Waiting in line to use an elevator or even to enter a building.	They’re again stressed out because they don’t know how long it’s going to take to get to the classroom.	There are times where the university is full of students, all of which are casually going to the same place at the same time.	Students of the Universidad de Los Andes who want to get to their respective classes.
4	Trying to find a free space to hang out.	There are times where students want to be quiet and rest until the next class.	There are a lot of students simultaneously on campus. There are, also, a lot of places to sit and hang out, but while you look for them, time passes and now it’s time for your next class.	Students of the Universidad de Los Andes who want to hang out.

Interview 6 - Juan Camilo Falla - Green Campus

Situation	What?	How?	Why?	Who?
1	The waste disposal sites within the university.	They are frustrated because usually there are only two types of trash and usually they are forced to mix two types of residue.	Not all locations allow for students to dispose of their waste material in an adequate way. The best practices suggest that there should be at least three categories for the waste: recyclable, organics, and non-recyclable waste.The university usually has only recyclable and non-recyclable trash cans.	Students of Universidad de los Andes who are interested in following sustainable practices.
2	The sustainability events and initiatives promoted by the university have low visibility and participation from the community.	Users who wish to participate in such activities feel frustrated because they aren’t aware of the events / initiatives and don’t participate in them.	The information is available, but usually the communication method is not perceived by large amounts of people.	Students of Universidad de los Andes who are interested in following sustainable practices.
3	There is a small amount of people that are aware of the sustainability events.	The members that are aware of the activities are frustrated because there is a small number of participants.	The awareness they have gained comes from being highly involved in one of the initiatives or through speaking to other people in the university.	Members of the Universidad de los Andes community that have a passion for sustainable practices and are actively searching for initiatives.
4	Few members, especially students, are aware of the University’s sustainability reports.	The reports are published on an annual basis in the universities home page, but the document has low visibility. There is frustration due to the lack of visibility.	There is no frequent reminder or publications of the sustainability strategies through channels that are more frequently used by the community	Members of the Universidad de los Andes community that have a passion for sustainable practices and are actively searching for initiatives.

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Journey Maps

Once the insights of the interviews were obtained, we discussed which problem could we develop. We selected the Gastronomy Market Problem. Then, for the journey map, we decided to identify two types of users and describe their current journey map. Mariano is a student with little to no time, while Lesley is a vegan who can’t make their own lunch.

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Brainstorming Process

For the brainstorming process, we held an online meeting where we shared the insights we gathered from our interviews. Afterwards, we voted on a poll to decide which problem to focus on.

Once we made the decision, we started writing on an online board several ideas on how we could solve the problem.

Then, we grouped them by theme:

Note: the title of the board had our old team number.

Doing this grouping made us realize that there were some ideas that appeared more than others, so we came to the agreement that these were the ones we should work on and develop, and the others can be nice-to-have's or extra features.

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Prototype Video

In this section, we built a prototype of an app based on the problem we selected (Gastronomy Market Problem). For this, we held an online meeting and used Figma. Finally, we recorded a video explaining the features and navigation. The links to the prototype and the video can be found below:

Figma Prototype

Video Prototype

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