TravelTech
Group Members
Yuchen Feng, ycfeng@mit.edu
Timmy Galvin, tgalvin@mit.edu
Neena Parikh, nsparikh@mit.edu
Problem Statement
Fact #1The Problem: MIT students often travel to new places find themselves in new environments, whether it is for a summer semester in London or , an IAP in New York, or a summer UROPing in Cambridge. In each of these cases, there is a lot of planning to be done, contacts to be made, and a new network to be established. While some programs, such as MISTI, are very structured and provide students with living arrangements and a solid MIT network, other programs do not.
Fact #2: When people travel to new places they often crave a familiar face, at least at first.
Fact #3: MIT students currently do not have a tool to easily locate other MIT students when they are thrown into a new environment. As a result, MIT students often find themselves in a position where they want to reach out to other MIT students near them, but cannot do so easily. In addition to students, other MIT affiliates such as staff members may also want to identify groups of MIT students by geographic location. The staff members may want to email out region-specific information and refrain from spamming the entire MIT list.
Problem Scenario #1Example Problem: Sascha went to Germany last summer for an internship. Because she applied to a internship outside of MISTI, she does not have an established living arrangement or a list of MIT contacts who will be in Germany. She is looking for a roommate and a way to make friends in Germany.
Problem Scenario #2: Ella works for MIT Admissions and wants to organize a Meet and Greet for newly admitted prospective MIT students. She has already located an alumnus willing to host the event, but now faces the problem of advertising and inviting current MIT students. She wants to specifically target MIT students living within a 60 mile radius of the alumnus' house, but is at a loss as to how to do so.
Example User NeedsExample User Goals:
- Find a roommate who is at least an MIT student, if not someone in the user’s living group or a friend of a friend.
- Make travel plans such as sharing a cab.
- Find friends to hang out with and communicate with them MIT affiliates via mass messaging.
- Find a trustworthy network/group.
Obstacles:
- Scaling to other universities and networks.
- Attracting people to Travel Agent will be problematic at first because people have established networks on Facebook and will have no incentive to learn a new interface, register for a new account.
A Solution: A The Solution: TravelTech: a web interface that facilitates location of and communication with other students would be a useful tool. This project aims to create such a tool that will provide users with a way of coordinating and communicating with students near themMIT affiliates. TravelTech is designed for usage by MIT students, faculty, and staff. It allows users to find other MIT affiliates who will be in the same geographic location at the same time. Once other users are found, TravelTech provides easy means of communication within this group of MIT affiliates. It addresses the above-mentioned user needs by providing an easy to learn graphical user interface.