For every question in the Duderstadt Center, the new button system has made it easy to get an answer. Once pressed, the button, or the interface at the information desk in the Duderstadt Center that allows users to call for staff to help, sends a Slack message to a team of Duderstadt staff ready to assist users with whatever their needs may be. Nikki Hess, an IT Support Specialist at the Duderstadt Center, helped pioneer the project.
Kylie-Grace Mars-Snyder, the Associate Director of Information & Media Technology at the Duderstadt Center, originally started with the project, writing code from scratch to get a finished project out by a deadline. After meeting Nikki as a student working in the Visualization Studio, she decided Nikki would be a perfect fit for the second version.
“After talking to Nikki, it became clear that she would be pretty good at this project,” Mars-Snyder said. “She could take this and make it better, from that early fledgling stage.”
Nikki is a recent University of Michigan graduate who now works at the Duderstadt Center. She majored in Computer Science and is putting her degree to work. In a nutshell, her new system is simpler and more responsive for both users and staff.
“I started by focusing on just getting the functionality of the original buttons back into the project in Python, [the programming and coding software],” Nikki said. “I had to recreate what was there before and then add stuff on top of it.”
With the new system, much has been created. One of the biggest issues with the first button system was the lack of feedback for the user, often encouraging the unsure user to press the button multiple times. With Nikki’s version, the user receives direct confirmation that the call went through.
“So you literally just tap the screen and there we go,” Nikki said, while demonstrating the new button functionality. “Now, it says ‘help on the way,’ [it will] update when staff reply, and there [would be] a countdown for how long the message is on the screen.”
What’s more, this confirmation is easier on the staff, as well. Under the old system, each button press sent notifications to the Duderstadt staff. This detriment helped create the inspiration for version two, which now has a limit to the number of times a button can be pressed within a certain timeframe.
“There is now a rate limit on the device,” Nikki said. “Meaning, if you try to use it, within three minutes or so [of the initial press], it tells you, ‘hey, you’re going too fast.’”
Additionally, Nikki added an interface that allows for staff to respond to the call, even to tell the user who is on the way and when they’ll be there. This ensures clarity and communication between user and staff, allowing for a more seamless user experience.
With her new system, Nikki decided to add sound effects, as well. She used Logic Pro, a digital audio software that is used to make music, or in this case, a happy jingle when the help task has been completed.
“I went into Logic Pro, which is like GarageBand, but [slightly more] advanced, and I made custom sound effects for it,” she said.
The current button system uses more than five different software services, all of them interacting for ease of the user, and staff.
“It uses AWS Lambda, and a few other AWS services; SNS and SQS. Then it also uses the Slack API, and sends a message to our Slack channel,” Nikki said. “I have also looped in Google Sheets so that anytime a staff member wants to either change the configuration or look at when the button has been used outside of Slack, they can glance at it or change information as needed.”
However, some of these services were completely new to her, which she had to learn as she went.
“Interacting with AWS was a whole new experience for me,” Nikki said. “It is a very extensive system, so it is tough to get used to, but I am glad I learned it.”
Overall, Nikki Hess helped pioneer a system that is usable for all who come to the Duderstadt Center: especially for those who have needs of questions, safety, or just those who would like general support. Mars-Snyder said the ability to have student-led projects like Nikki’s is one of the things that makes the Duderstadt Center such a great place.
“That’s why it’s such a privilege to serve this building because when someone brings you a problem, it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small,” said Mars-Snyder. “You can actually do something about it.”
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Nikki Hess
Article by Emma Powell