This is an important topic that how to reserve the meeting rooms and keep the efficient utilization in a company with 1,000 employees which has 200 meetings per pay.

在一个拥有 1000 名员工、每天 200 场会议的公司，会议室的预定和有效利用是一个重要的议题。

In this Design Exercise, I conceptualized a system designed to provide a convenient meeting room experience and to increase the effective utilization of the room as much as possible. In a typical meeting, the process from reservation to use will benefit from the mechanisms of this system.

在这个 Design Exercise 中，我构思了一套系统，旨在提供方便的会议室使用体验，并尽可能提升会议室的有效利用率。以一次典型的会议来说，从预定到使用的过程，都将因为这套系统的机制而获益。

Understanding the Problem

理解问题

The challenge & goal

挑战和目标

The company has a complex situation. There are 1,000 employees worked in a five-story building, with 200 meetings per day. There are various types of meetings (large and small, formal and casual), and the equipment configuration of each meeting room varies. It sounds a bit difficult to reserve meeting rooms that meets employees’ needs in such a complex situation. As an employee of a company that has been in a similar situation, I know a little about the reasons for this, including the pain points of meeting room reservations and the unexpected situations that reduce the efficiency of meeting room utilization. However, I need to confirm my observations.

这家公司的状况复杂。1000 名员工都在一栋 5 层的楼里工作，每天有 200 次会议。会议的类型多样（有大的小的、正式的和休闲的），而每个会议室的设备配置也不尽相同。要在如此复杂的状况中订到满足自己所需的会议室，听起来就有点难度。作为曾经经历过类似状况的公司员工，我略知其中的原因，包括会议室预定的痛点，以及那些降低会议室利用效率的原因。不过，我需要证实我的观察。

My main goal is to make it easier for employees (hereinafter referred to as “users”) to reserve meeting rooms, while enhancing the effective utilization of the meeting room as much as possible.

我的主要目标是让员工（以下可能称为“用户”）更方便地预定会议室，同时让会议室有尽可能高的有效利用率。

This is the design process used for the Design Exercise.

这是 Design Exercise 采用的设计流程。

Please note that since this is a Design Exercise, the process will be conducted in a simulated manner. For example, I will not be able to interview real users, but will have to take a similar approach to interviewing users who have experience using the meeting room.

请注意，由于这是一个 Design Exercise，因此过程将以模拟的方式进行。例如我无法访谈到真正的用户，只能采取类似于访谈有会议室使用经历的用户的方式。

Testing Pain Points

测试痛点

Talk with users who have experience using the meeting room

与有会议室使用经历的用户聊天

To get some real-world insights, I conducted qualitative interviews with friends who had experience using the meeting rooms, either in person or by online chat. The questions focused on 3 main areas.

为了获得一些实际情况，我和有会议室使用经历的朋友以当面对谈或在线聊天的方式，进行了定性的访谈。问题主要集中在以下三个方面。

The purpose of the meeting rooms, or the types of meetings
会议室的用途和会议性质
Possible frustrations with the process
使用过程中可能遇到的挫折
The preferred features in the existing process
现有流程里喜欢的特性

The following are excerpts from the interview. The English provided here is translated from the original Chinese.

以下是访谈的摘录。此处提供的英文是从中文原文翻译而来。

When do you usually use the meeting room?

你一般什么时候会用会议室？

What frustrations (if any) have you experienced in reserving and using meeting rooms?

你在预定和使用会议室时遇到了哪些小挫折（如果有的话）？

What are some of your existing reserving process that make you feel good?

你现有的预订方式有哪些让你觉得不错的？

In each interview, I went into the details of the situation they were describing. I wanted to hear the background and context of what really happened, and to verify my suspicions about the motivations of their behavior.

在每次访谈中，我都会深入了解他们所说的情况的细节，我想聆听真实发生的事情的背景和经过，并验证对于他们行为动机的猜想。

I have gathered the following insights.

我收集到了以下见解。

Disconnect between plan and reality

计划与实际情况的脱节

Users are annoyed when they need a meeting room urgently but can’t reserve one, and when they find that many rooms are empty.
当用户急需会议室却订不到，同时发现许多会议室置空时，他们会感到恼火。
Users are frustrated when errors occur and there are no simple corrective actions.
错误发生并且没有简单的纠正措施时，都会令用户感到挫败。
It can affect the efficiency of both parties that delay a meeting accidentally and rush to wrap it up when the next meeting’s attendees arrive.
不小心拖延了会议时间，并在下一场会议的与会人员到来时匆匆收场，会影响双方的效率。
When meetings do need to be extended, attendees of the next meeting may need to wait at the door or return to their personal work area first, which causes problems for them.
当会议确实需要延长时，下一场会议的与会人员可能需要在门口等待或者先返回个人工作区，这对他们造成了麻烦。

A simple task but a longer process

简单的任务却需要更长的过程

Users have become accustomed to the innovation of modern applications and are frustrated with the traditional complex interface and processes.
用户已经习惯了现代应用程序的创新，对传统的复杂界面和流程感到沮丧。
When users find an empty meeting room nearby and want to use it immediately, they still have to log into the system to reserve it first to avoid other people reserving it. But at this point it already seems cumbersome.
当用户找到附近的一间空会议室并想要立即使用时，还是要先登录系统预订，以避免其他人预订。但在此时已经显得很麻烦。

Automation efficiency needs to be improved

自动化效率有待提升

When conference services are needed, communication with the logistics department adds to the cumbersome feeling of meeting room reserving.
需要会议服务时，与后勤部门的沟通加重了会议预定的繁琐感。

Some Discoveries

一些发现

Discoveries related to user expectations

与用户期望有关的发现

User expectations change with the scenario

用户的期望会随场景而变化

The same reservation system may be perceived differently in different scenarios. When employees reserve a meeting room for a meeting to be held later, they will calmly and carefully reserve it. but if they are already standing at the meeting room door, they will find the reservation system cumbersome because they need to log in and then find the current meeting room from a complex set of meeting room options.

同样一套预订系统，在不同场景下用户对其感知可能不同。当员工为稍后进行的会议预订会议室时，他们会心平气和地认真预订；但如果他们已经站在会议室门口，则会觉得预订系统非常繁琐，因为他们需要先登录，再从复杂的会议室选项中找到当前的会议室。

Behind the “how” described by users may lie a very different “why”

用户描述的“how”背后可能隐藏着截然不同的“why”

Users express a desire to monitor those who miss appointments and to reduce non-compliance through punishment. They usually think this way when they find out that a meeting room is available but they couldn’t reserve one, and they are in a state of annoyance. The reality is that as long as they can reserve a meeting room, it doesn’t really matter if someone else breaks a contract or if they are penalized.

用户表示希望监督那些爽约的人，通过惩罚来减少违约。他们通常是在发现有空会议室而自己却订不到时会有这种想法，此时他们处于恼火的状态。而实际情况是，只要他们能订到会议室，其他人爽约和惩罚与否其实无关紧要。

Deeper Insights

更深入的见解

Develop design principles

制定设计原则

Before proceeding with the design, it was important to define the way to measure success and to understand the scope of the design. I wanted to be able to maintain a direct relationship between the findings and my design. Therefore, I created the key principles to be used in the design.

在进行设计之前，重要的是定义衡量成功的方式，并了解设计的范围。我想让调查结果和我的设计之间能保持直接的关系。因此，我创建了在设计时要采用的关键原则。

HMW - Better adapted to the dynamic nature of real-world situations and human-generated errors? - Intuitive
HMW - 更好地适应实际情况的动态性质和人为产生的错误？- 直观的
HMW - From reservation systems to maximizing the workload and time savings of meeting lifecycle management? - Efficient
HMW – 从预订系统到最大程度地简化会议生命周期管理的工作量并节省时间？- 高效的
HMW - Present content in an easy-to-understand and scalable way? - Simple
HMW – 以易于理解和可扩展的方式呈现内容？- 简单的
HMW - Engage naturally with users within their scenarios? - Familiar
HMW – 在用户的场景内与用户自然接触？- 熟悉的
HMW - Guiding users through the right actions upfront rather than mending them at a later stage? - Positive
HMW – 通过前期的引导令用户做出正确的行为而非在后期亡羊补牢？- 积极的

I conceptualized solutions that could solve the problem, while requesting feedback from the users to narrow down the best solution.

我构想了可以解决问题的方案，同时请求受访者的反馈，以缩小最佳解决方案的范围。

User Tasks

用户任务

The logic behind the platform

平台背后的逻辑

The life cycle of a meeting room and its agenda

会议室及其议程的生命周期

Reserving a meeting room

预定会议室

Extending a meeting

延长会议

Reminder with check and confirmation - Proactive cancellation of a meeting reservation

提醒与检查确认 – 主动取消会议预订

Release by logistics or other users - Passive cancellation of a meeting reservation

后勤或其他用户释放 – 被动取消会议预定

Design

设计

Provide interaction solutions for key user touchpoints

为关键用户触点提供交互方案

Provide a great meeting room reserving experience

提供良好的会议室预订体验

This system will provide a dedicated entry point and user interface, and will enable information interaction by connecting to internal company systems such as email, calendar and contacts, thus also avoiding changes to the existing IT management. Please note that content triggered by company systems will not be included in the scope of this design, such as email notifications that are automatically pushed after a schedule is created.

这套系统将提供专门的入口和用户界面，并通过连接公司的邮件、日历和联系人等内部系统以实现信息的交互，这样也能避免更改现有的 IT 管理方式。请注意，由公司系统触发的内容将不包含在本设计的范围内，例如日程创建后自动推送的邮件通知。

I wanted to create a solution that could combine user flow and task flow, meeting both the user’s habits and the system’s requirements. This approach would also help me think about the content of each interface and how the system would react to the desired actions and make improvements as a result.

我希望创建一种可以结合用户流和任务流的方案，同时满足用户的习惯和系统的要求。这种方法还能帮助我思考每个界面的内容，以及系统将如何对所需的操作做出反应，并由此做出改进。

Initially, I wanted to divide the meeting rooms into specific categories by configuration based on the type of user meeting, and automatically assign the rooms by selecting the type of meeting, and only reserve the rooms that fit the type of meeting. However, I soon realized that this did not really improve utilization efficiency, but rather went against the dynamic nature of the actual situation. Because even for the same type of meeting, the respective needs for meeting room configurations are diverse, and because users are occasionally comfortable meeting in rooms that don’t exactly match, they want some room for variation.

起初，我想根据用户会议的类型，将会议室按配置分为特定的几种类别，并通过选择会议的类型来自动分配会议室，并且只能订到适合会议类型的会议室。但很快我发现这并不能真正提升利用效率，反而违背了实际情况的动态性质。因为即便是相同类型的会议，各自对会议室配置的需求也是多样的，并且用户偶尔也可以接受在不完全匹配的会议室中开会，他们希望有一定的空间来变通。

Therefore, I decided to leave the choice to the users and help them find the meeting room they want more efficiently by presenting information in a more intuitive way.

因此，我决定将选择权交给用户，通过更直观的信息呈现，帮助用户更高效地找到满意的会议室。

I divided the reservations into two categories, “By Time” and “By Meeting Rooms”, according to the factors that users consider first when reserving a meeting room.

我按用户预订会议室时首要考虑的因素，将预订分为“按时间”和“按会议室”两类。

Note: The Interaction Experience based on a Figma file is shown in embedded form below. Please click the full screen button to see the full content. You may need to wait for the Figma content to load before you can view it, you can also open the Figma file.

注意：下方以嵌入式形式展示基于 Figma 文件的交互体验。请点击全屏按钮，来查看完整内容。您可能需要等待 Figma 内容加载完毕方可查看，您也可以打开该 Figma 文件。

Reserve by time

按时间来预订

Select the start and end time of the meeting

选择会议的起止时间

The appropriate option will be displayed automatically, depending on the time.

将根据当时的时间，自动显示合适的选项。

Further selection of eligible meeting rooms

进一步选择符合条件的会议室

Users can further filter the meeting rooms by floor, capacity and equipment configuration. Each meeting room option displays the detail information.

用户可按楼层、容纳人数和设备配置要求来进一步筛选会议室。每个会议室选项都会展示相应的信息。

Or, reserve by meeting rooms

或者，按会议室来预订

While viewing the available time of the meeting room, the users can select the time range they want to schedule directly on the timeline.

查看会议室可用时间的同时，可直接在时间轴上选择要预定的时间范围。

Whichever of the above two methods you choose, the users will be taken to the same next step to complete the creation of the entire schedule.

无论选择以上两种方式中的哪种方式，都会进入相同的下一个步骤，以完成整个日程的创建。

At the same time, the requested meeting services will be automatically pushed to the back office and scheduled automatically.

同时，要求的会议服务将会自动推送至后勤部门，并自动安排。

Proactively release potentially available meeting rooms through alerts & confirmations before the meetings start

通过会议前的确认，主动释放潜在的可用会议室

Users can receive a same-day reminder confirmation at 8:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting and can simply release the room if they want to cancel the meeting that day. This helps keep the meeting room up-to-date that day to free up space for users who really need it.

用户可以在会议当天上午 8:00 收到当日提醒确认，如果当天要取消会议，可以直接释放会议室。这可以帮助当天的会议室保持最新的状态，以腾出空间给真正有需要的用户。

In the reminder before the meeting starts, users who have reserved a meeting room can also give feedback on whether to cancel based on the latest status. And general attendees can also prepare for the meeting in advance because of the reminder.

在会议开始前的提醒中，预定会议室的用户也可以根据最新的情况给出是否取消的反馈。而一般的参会者也能因为提醒而提前做好参会准备。

Release the meeting room via NFC at the meeting room door

在会议室门口通过 NFC 释放会议室

Of course, users may also not actively cancel a meeting room reservation. At that point, the critical issue can be resolved as long as the user who actually needs to use the meeting room has a way to correct this error and reallocate the resources to themselves. This is helpful for users who need to use the meeting room immediately at the moment.

当然，用户也可能不主动取消会议室预订。这时候，只要真正需要使用该会议室的用户能够有办法纠正这个错误，并将资源重新分配到自己身上，即可解决关键问题。这对于当下立即需要使用会议室的用户来说很有帮助。

When the users need a meeting room on short notice, you can use your phone near the door of an empty meeting room nearby to approach the NFC tag and quickly reserve the room. This method also allows you to release unoccupied rooms that have been reserved (after 5 minutes of the start time).

临时需要会议室时，可以在附近的空会议室门口使用手机靠近 NFC 标签，并快速预订会议室。通过这方法，也可以将已经被预订但无人使用的会议室释放出来（在开始时间的 5 分钟后）。

Reduce delays and bring convenient flexibility with end-of-session alerts

通过会议结束前的提醒减少拖延，并带来便捷的弹性

Remind the meeting creator 15 minutes before the end of the meeting so that the pace of the meeting is reasonably controlled and the probability of delaying the meeting is reduced.

在会议结束前的 15 分钟提醒会议创建者，以便合理控制会议节奏，减少拖延会议的概率。

Of course, if a meeting does need to be extended, it can be conveniently extended if conditions allow.

当然，如果确实需要延长会议，也可以在状况允许的情况下，方便地延长会议。

Visual Effect Preview

视觉效果预览

A High-fidelity Screen

一个高保真界面展示

You can view the interface design in Figma.

您可以在 Figma 中查看该界面设计稿。

Final

最后

Shortcomings and improvements

不足之处和改进

Due to time and external constraints, some sessions were not conducted very adequately, as well as some design solutions were not in-depth enough. These shortcomings include:

由于时间和外部环境的限制，有些环节没有很充分地进行，以及有些设计方案不够深入。这些不足之处包括：

Not enough types of users were interviewed. Wanted to explore the needs more deeply by learning more facts.
访谈的用户类型不够多。希望通过了解更多事实，更深入地探究需求。
Mock interviews were not in-depth enough. I hope that the face-to-face interviews will allow users to make a real meeting room reservation and get more exact information through observation.
模拟访谈不够深入。希望通过面对面访谈，让用户进行一次真实的会议室预订，并通过观察得到更加确切的信息。
The functional design is not yet complete. For example, providing an overview of the schedule of all meeting rooms in the conference system, providing NFC signage at the entrance of the meeting room, introducing appropriate security mechanisms for NFC operation, etc.
功能设计尚不完整。例如在会议系统内提供所有会议室的日程总览、提供会议室门口的 NFC 提示牌、为 NFC 操作引入相应的安全机制等。
The implementability of the solution has not been proven. The solution involves the working style of the employees (including the collaborative logistics department), the technical architecture of the IT system, and the procurement of the company’s equipment, which requires more in-depth communication to ensure that the solution is implementable.
方案的可实施性尚未考证。该方案涉及到员工（包括协同的后勤部门）的工作方式、IT 系统的技术架构、公司设备采购等，需要经过更深入的沟通才能保证方案是可实施的。
The testing process was inadequate. No real tests could be conducted yet.
测试过程不够充分。尚无法进行真实的测试。

If I could continue this project, I would refine the above deficiencies and:

如果可以继续这个项目，我将完善上述不足之处，并且：

Create high-fidelity, interactive prototypes (including reservation platforms, NFC-tagged signs on meeting room doors, notification features, etc.) and test them thoroughly to identify issues and improvements.
制作高保真的可交互原型（包括预订平台、会议室门上的 NFC 标签告示牌、通知功能等），进行充分的测试，从中发现问题并改进。
Collaborate with relevant departments within the company and conduct small-scale trials within the company.
与公司内部相关的部门协作，在公司内部小范围试运行。
Collaborate with relevant departments within the company, such as IT and HR, to customize employee training related to meeting room reservations, including deployment and usage of related equipment and software.
与公司的 IT 和 HR 等相关的部门协作，定制与会议室预订有关的员工培训内容，包括相关设备和软件的部署及使用方式。

Reflections

感想

Doing this Design Exercise made me realize once again that the user is indispensable in design decisions. Always focus on the user, put the user at the center, listen and experience the user’s feelings, in order to have the opportunity to truly understand the user and thus provide design solutions that meet the user’s needs.

做这份 Design Exercise 让我再次意识到用户在设计决策中是不可缺少的。始终围绕用户、以用户为中心、聆听并体会用户的感受，才能有机会真正理解用户，从而提供满足用户需求的设计方案。

What surprised me was that there is still a lot of room to improve the work scenarios that we all take for granted, and that some small changes can have a huge impact.

令我惊讶的是，大家习以为常的工作场景，竟然还有很大的空间可以提升，一些微小的变化就可能产生巨大的影响。