Lusine Kirakosyan

NYU Media Commons Booking Case Study

An in-depth look at my approach and results in this project


UX Design
2024, 3 month

Overview

At NYU, the Media Commons serves as a vital space for students to reserve rooms for recording their projects. However, the existing booking tool—built on Google Calendar—was confusing and inefficient. Users struggled with unclear booking statuses, fragmented calendar views, and a lack of real-time notifications, making it difficult to manage reservations smoothly.

As the lead UX designer on a team of developers and a project manager, I was responsible for redesigning the user experience, ensuring that the new system was intuitive, efficient, and tailored to the needs of students, administrators, and production assistants.



Goal

Redesign the Media Commons booking system to make room reservations clearer, more efficient, and user-friendly for students, administrators, and production assistants. The existing system, based on Google Calendar, lacked visibility, had a confusing interface, and created unnecessary friction in the booking process.




Define The Problem

Booking a room at the NYU Media Commons was intended to be a straightforward process, but for many users, it became a confusing experience. Students struggled with fragmented calendar views—each room selection opened a new calendar, cluttering the interface and making it hard to compare availability across rooms.



Once students managed to secure a room, another challenge arose: there was no clear way to track the status of their reservation. Was it confirmed, still pending approval, or declined? Users were left in uncertainty.

Additionally, the system lacked notifications, causing errors to go unnoticed. A simple mistake—such as selecting the wrong time—could lead to a failed booking, but students wouldn’t find out until they needed the room. On the admin side, the dashboard was cluttered and lacked structured views tailored to each user role, creating confusion and miscommunication among the team. This all led to frustration for everyone involved.


Solution

Creating a Seamless Booking Experience


To tackle these challenges, the redesign focused on three key improvements: consolidating the calendar into a single, intuitive view, integrating real-time notifications, and structuring the dashboard to support different user roles.

Understand the Users



I started by talking to students, administrators, and PAs to identify their biggest pain points. Through interviews and usability testing, it became clear that each user group had unique needs:

  • Students wanted a clear way to check availability, track their reservations, and receive updates.
  • Admins & PAs needed better tools to approve, decline, and manage bookings efficiently.



Armed with these insights, we designed a solution that streamlined the entire process.



Architectures and UX

Based on the insights gathered from the focus groups, interviews, and usability testing, we identified key areas for improvement.
To guide our design process, I framed our challenges as How Might We statements:

  • How might we provide students with a clear and easy way to check room availability and track their reservations? 
  • How might we give admins and PAs better tools to manage bookings and approvals efficiently?
  • How might we create an intuitive notification system that keeps all users informed of updates and changes in real-time?



User Flows and Sitemap


Booking experiance sitemap

Building upon the architectural goals defined in the "How Might We" exercise, I outlined key tasks and user flows that align with our users' needs and objectives. By mapping out these interactions, I developed a structured sitemap to ensure the most intuitive and efficient navigation experience.


Admin and PA sitmap
Keeping flexibility in mind for iteration, I used Flow Map to create wireframe sketches, visualizing potential screen layouts and refining the structure before transitioning into the UX design phase.


Process and Tools

During the wireframing and ideation phase, my focus was on simplifying the booking calendar while introducing role-specific dashboards. Given that the existing system was built on Google Calendar and followed material design principles, it was essential to maintain this design framework.

The challenge was to ensure consistency across all screens, as we had multiple pages involved in the process. This meant that while I worked on the new interface, I needed to preserve the established material design structure to keep everything cohesive and in line with the current website.

To kick things off, I created initial wireframes that focused on the first steps of the user journey, aiming to align with the team and ensure we were all on the same page. This was a critical first step in ensuring that the designs were clear and that we could make informed decisions as a team. The wireframes were grounded in the material design layout, which made it easier to follow the existing structure while introducing necessary changes.

We had specific use cases to consider: booking for 4 hours or less and booking for more. For reservations longer than 4 hours, students were required to fill out a form explaining their request, which added extra steps to the process. This restriction was important but also a bit inconvenient for the users. The initial iteration reflected these conditions and helped us clarify the process, but there were still areas for improvement.

After usability testing and gathering feedback, we realized that we needed to make the process even clearer for users. One key insight was that we needed to visually display the steps users needed to follow. To address this, I incorporated a status bar at the top of the page that outlined how many steps were left in the booking process and what the user could expect from the current page.

For example, when booking a reservation for more than 4 hours, we made sure users were aware upfront that additional details were required, helping manage expectations and reduce confusion.


Another significant addition was the introduction of the walk-in feature. Based on user feedback and repeated complaints, we observed that many students were often frustrated with not being able to make spontaneous walk-in bookings. This was especially common when rooms were empty, and students were eager to use them without a formal reservation. To address this, we added the walk-in feature, allowing students to book available rooms on the spot, which greatly improved flexibility and reduced frustration.

This iterative process helped shape a more intuitive, transparent system that balanced the needs of students, administrators, and PAs while remaining true to the material design principles. Each iteration brought us closer to a seamless experience that minimized cognitive load and made the booking process smoother for everyone involved.



During the wireframing phase, I focused on simplifying the booking system by creating role-specific dashboards for Admins, PAs, and Students. Since the system was based on Material Design, my goal was to retain the existing design style while organizing the information in a way that felt intuitive.

The biggest challenge was dealing with the volume of information that needed to be displayed. Admins and PAs needed access to details like student IDs, departments, and room reservations, but including all this on a single screen would overwhelm the users. To address this, I created a layout where less critical data could be hidden under a collapsible “More Info” section, making the dashboard cleaner and easier to navigate.

Three Use Cases
As we tested the wireframes and gathered feedback from real users, we realized the need for further iteration. For instance, after observing how Admins and PAs interacted with the dashboard, I reorganized the layout to prioritize the most critical tasks, like room management and reservation approvals, while grouping less urgent information in expandable sections. Each round of feedback helped us refine the user flow, ensuring that the system was both functional and easy to use.

We also introduced features like a walk-in booking option, based on user requests, which we integrated seamlessly into the interface. This iterative process allowed us to gradually reduce cognitive load while improving the overall experience for each user role.


DESIGN AND DEVELOMENT PROCESS


Building on the wireframing and ideation phase, I moved into the detailed design and structure planning. Since we were working within the Material Design framework, I ensured that every interface aligned with the university’s existing system while enhancing usability.

One of the first steps in this phase was creating a sitemap—a complete structural overview of the booking system. This helped the team visualize the entire platform, understand what we had, and accurately estimate the workload and time required for each screen. By mapping out the structure early, I ensured developers had clarity on future design implications and could work efficiently toward each deliverable.

With the wireframes and low-fidelity screens in place, I created user flows for each key use case, ensuring that every action felt seamless and logical. One major improvement was the introduction of a dedicated profile page for students. After completing their reservation, they could now track booking details, dates, and statuses—and, importantly, they had the ability to cancel a reservation without contacting an admin. This reduced unnecessary communication and empowered users to manage their own bookings.



In the booking calendar, I maintained a structured, intuitive layout to enhance clarity:

  • Top Section: Displayed the room name and department for quick reference.
  • Navigation Panel: Included "Back to Start" and "Next" buttons for smooth step progression.
  • Status Bar: Showed the total number of steps left in the process.
  • Pre-Booking Message: Reminded users they needed to complete a form before finalizing their reservation.
  • Calendar View: Showed all reservations in real time, making it easy to identify available rooms. Users could remove pre-selected options and apply filters to quickly find the space they needed.



For the Admin and PA dashboard, the biggest challenge was sorting and presenting information effectively. A key improvement was the integration of a check-in feature within the dashboard view, allowing staff to confirm attendance in real time.

Additionally, we restructured booking confirmation emails—previously cluttered and difficult to read—by implementing a clear hierarchy. This redesign made it significantly easier for users to scan key details without missing important information.




Final Outcome & User Satisfaction
 


Through multiple design iterations and continuous feedback cycles, we delivered a system that was clear, intuitive, and efficient for all users.




Key outcomes included:

✔ Improved Usability: Users could now navigate and manage bookings with ease.
✔ Reduced Admin Workload: Self-service features minimized unnecessary student-admin interactions.
✔ Better Visibility: The structured email and dashboard updates improved information clarity.
✔ Higher User Satisfaction: Post-launch feedback showed that students, admins, and PAs found the system far easier to use than before.

By combining structured navigation, clear UI hierarchy, and role-specific optimizations, we transformed the Media Commons booking system into a streamlined, user-friendly experience that met the needs of students and administrators alike.


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