Interactive Systems Design Project

11/1/16
Students Union Event Ticket Point of
Sales System
MS820 Interactive Systems Design – Project
Group 10
Diarmaid Ó Fátharta 12339126
Seamus Keating 07101515
Paul Molloy 15231289
Colum Coughlan 08320446

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Contents
Project Brief ........................................................................................................................... 3
Deliverable 1 Gathering User Requirements ............................................................................... 4
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4
Background to NUI Galway Students Union........................................................................ 4
Student Population ........................................................................................................... 5
Gathering User Requirements................................................................................................ 5
Online Questionnaire ........................................................................................................ 6
Informal Interviews .......................................................................................................... 9
Formal interviews............................................................................................................. 9
Online Research............................................................................................................. 10
Similar Systems ............................................................................................................. 10
Requirements Analysis ....................................................................................................... 16
Functional Requirements................................................................................................. 16
Non-functional requirements............................................................................................ 16
Deliverable 2 ........................................................................................................................ 18
User Profiles ..................................................................................................................... 18
Deliverable 3 ........................................................................................................................ 20
Alternative Scenarios ......................................................................................................... 20
Scenario 1: Machine does not dispense the ticket................................................................ 20
Scenario 2: User may reserve a ticket................................................................................ 21
Scenario 3: Machine dispenses a voucher to collect change at a later date.............................. 21
Scenario 4: Machine to dispense ticket with a notification to refund change to the customer.... 22
Scenario 5 : Points added to SU Card............................................................................... 22
Deliverable 4 ........................................................................................................................ 23
Storyboards....................................................................................................................... 23
Scenario 1 ..................................................................................................................... 23
Scenario 2 ..................................................................................................................... 24
Scenario 3 ..................................................................................................................... 24
Scenario 4 ..................................................................................................................... 25
Scenario 5 ..................................................................................................................... 26
Deliverable 5 ........................................................................................................................ 26
Paper Mock-Up ................................................................................................................. 26
User Feedback................................................................................................................... 29
Deliverable 6 ........................................................................................................................ 30

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Software Prototype Flowchart ............................................................................................. 30
Software Prototype Screenshots........................................................................................... 31
Running the Software Prototype .......................................................................................... 34
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 35
References............................................................................................................................ 36
Appendix I – Questionnaire .................................................................................................... 38
Appendix II - Interviews ........................................................................................................ 40
Interview 1........................................................................................................................ 40
Interview 2........................................................................................................................ 43
Interview 3........................................................................................................................ 46
Appendix III ......................................................................................................................... 49

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Project Brief
The Student’s Union run very popular weekly concerts throughout the year. Last year, they
introduced a web-based system for purchasing tickets, as too much personnel time was being
used in the sale of tickets. While the site is a big success, and has reduced the time spent on
sale of tickets, many of their customers don’t have credit/debit cards and so, can’t use the
system.
It was decided to develop a system of sales points where customers could purchase tickets
using touch screen technology, paying directly with credit/debit card or cash.
Customers would access the sales point, select the concert, specify the date (if the concert is
running over a number of nights, as sometimes happens with popular bands), type of tickets
(concession or full-price – concession tickets would require the scanning of a student card),
and the number of tickets required (a maximum of 2 for popular concerts). The Student’s Union
are concerned that they need a way of enforcing the two ticket rule for popular concerts.
Therefore, it is important that students cannot purchase more than two tickets for those concerts
by using the system multiple times.
Users could then pay either using cash or by scanning a credit/debit card. However, there is
some concern about the best way to deal with cash as there may be change required. It is likely
that they would be unable to keep the machine filled with change as many of the transactions
take place outside office hours. Some alternative ways of dealing with the cash were
considered:
● Printing out the details and bringing them to a person at a desk in the Student Union
Office to pay
● Having a member of staff “on-duty” to take the cash and issue change
● Giving the user credit rather than change
However, the students’ union is concerned that these approaches may not ideal and so more
research into the best way of dealing with cash is required.

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Deliverable 1 Gathering User Requirements
Introduction
An initial task to be undertaken before analyzing the user was to identify who the clients of the
systems would be. We gathered information on the organization, both the university and the
students’ union, and the student population that would avail of a ticket machine.
Background to NUI Galway Students Union
NUI Galway has a student population of almost 18,000 students (NUIG, 2016). The NUI
Galway Students Union (Comhaltas na Mac Léinn, OÉ Gaillimh) is the representative student
body at the university of NUI Galway. The SU also provide a range of services to the student
population, including three cafés’, student bar, shop, bookstore, tutors, life skill programmes
and lockers, as outlined on the website of the NUI Galway Students’ Union (2016). As part of
their services, the SU also provides some entertainment activities throughout the academic
year, which includes concerts, comedy shows, movie showings and quizzes. Depending on the
acts, concerts can be very much sought after on campus, with the events being advertised via
posters on campus, banner ads on the SU website, events page on Facebook, and further
mentions on Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.
According to the NUIG Arts Ents Facebook page (NUIG Arts Ents, 2016), who are hosting
Hudson Taylor in November, 876 people have expressed interest on the events page and 661
people confirmed to be going. Events, including concerts by the SU also signifies that there is
great interest in their events, such as the following
● Charity Christmas Day 2016 - more than 2,300 expressed interest in going. (NUI
Galway Students’ Union, 2016)
● Neil Delamere comedy gig - 330 people expressed interest in attending and was sold
out (NUI Galway Students’ Union, 2016)
● Outdoor Cinema - 822 attended and over 1500 expressed interest. (NUI Galway
Students’ Union, 2016)
The level of interest in these events demonstrates the potential demand for concert tickets and
the use of ticket kiosk based on campus.

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Student Population
Currently there are just under 18,000 registered students with NUI Galway, not all full-time
and on campus.
Male Female Total
Total number of full-
time students
6534 8045 14579
Total number of part-
time students
1037 1861 2898
Total full and part-
time
7571 9906 17477
The following assumptions have been made regarding the student population:
● Full time students are based on campus as classes are provided here during the
weekdays for full time courses.
● Part-time students are on campus only during evening times and weekends when classes
are delivered.
● Students are familiar with the SU’s existing services including the SU office.
● Students are issued with ID cards that are compatible with the vending machine to be
implemented as part of this project.
● Students can avail of and join the SU loyalty card scheme.
Gathering User Requirements
Following identifying our users, we set out to gather the system requirements by engaging with
the student population. This was done through the following means:
● Online questionnaire
● Informal interviews
● Formal Interviews
● Social Media Research

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Online Questionnaire
A questionnaire was created using the form builder Typeform. Users were invited to fill in the
questionnaire on a posting on Facebook. The questionnaire was also sent directly to a group of
people who fit into the user's demographics and who were registered students at NUI Galway.
The 62 respondents had a median age in the 24-39 age group (Figure 1). Of those who
responded 52% attended 2 or more concerts per year with 14% reporting over attending over 4
concerts per year (Figure 2). Below is the information we learnt about potential users and their
behaviors.
Figure 1: Age Groups of Respondents
Figure 2: Gender of Respondents
Figure 3: Rate of Concert Attendance

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Respondents indicated a bias towards the use of debit and credit cards. The high level of
acceptance of credit and debit cards for everyday payments is reflected in Figure 1 below. The
findings of the questionnaire reflect research which has found that the use of cards for personal
expenditure increased from 19% from 2005 to 33% in 2015 (Banking and Ireland, 2016). The
trend is toward the increasing use of credit/debit cards.
Figure 4: How often would you use your credit/debit card
The survey results also indicted a clear bias toward online transactions. Of those that
respondent that they would use their credit or debit card at least once per day, 95% preferred
purchasing tickets online instead of at a physical location. Figure 2 illustrates that 95% of all
respondents prefer the online purchases for concert tickets. Almost 50% of those that attend at
least one concert per year purchase or reserve a ticket more than 3 months in advance, 97%
online. This indicates that the audience for the application prefers advance online purchases of
tickets using debit or credit cards.
Figure 5: Ticket Purchase Locations

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User expectations of a ticket vending machine will be influenced by their experience of existing
ticket vending machines. Figure 5 illustrates that ticket vending machines are omnipresent with
98.4% of respondents interacting with ticket vending machines. 38% had experience of
purchasing tickets for train journeys using vending machines, indicating user acceptance of the
concepts of automated purchasing and a tolerance of the inevitable issues that may arise when
relying on automatic vending machines.
Figure 6 Experience of Interacting with Ticket Vending Machines
An important consideration is the tolerance that users have for instances where insufficient
coins remain in the vending machine and no change can be provided. Respondents were asked
their preferred outcome when the vending machine dispensing concert tickets would not be
able to provide change. Figure 7 illustrates that 23% of respondents would prefer a person to
provide change immediately while 43% prefer the option of receiving a voucher that can be
cashed in at the Student Union Office within 24 hours. 14% would favour the option of
receiving credit in lieu of change. This reflects an acceptance by users of the concept of not
receiving change if it is not available.
Figure 7: Preferences when no change is available

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Informal Interviews
Informal interviews and conversations were conducted with various people, all of which fit
into the user’s demographics. These were casual conversations where we talked to people about
the project and received feedback from them. No notes were taken during these interviews.
For example, from one of our casual conversations, we found another possible scenario as to
why the user would be using cash as opposed to card. They said they sometimes receive cash
from their parents as they currently don’t have a part-time job and would ask for the money if
they didn’t have the time to go to the ATM. Users in similar scenarios would probably be using
this cash to purchase the tickets at a ticket kiosk.
Formal interviews
Based on the feedback from the questionnaire and the informal interviews, we could identify
which questions we would like to expand on and what issues needed to be understood better.
We explored what reactions users would have if the machine was out of cash and what solution
they would prefer. This allowed us to confirm which options from the questionnaire (machine
not to dispense ticket, to reserve ticket, to get ticket but receive change at SU office, etc.) the
user would prefer and for them to share new solutions that they deemed appropriate.
Almost everyone surveyed had a debit/credit card. Therefore, we wanted to find out under
which circumstances would they use the ticket machine and use cash. All interview details can
be found in Appendix B.

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Online Research
We performed online research in regards to the following topics:
● Ticket machines
○ We searched for tickets kiosks that were located in Galway for us to test. We
researched the websites and contacted multiple organisations, including Galway
International Arts Festival, City Link, GoBus, Irish Rail. When we identified
that Irish Rail had a similar system located in the station, we went to use the
machine and document the process.
○ Responses we received from organisations contacted can be found in Appendix
C.
● Concert Tickets purchasing
○ In order to understand the steps involved in purchasing a ticket for a concert,
we used Ticketmaster and the Roisin Dubh website. This allowed us to
determine the steps we would have outlined in the ticket machine.
● NUIG events
○ Using the NUIG Ents and the Students Union Facebook page, we saw the
variety of shows that are organised and the demographics of those that attend.
Similar Systems
We wanted to explore two kinds of system. First, it was necessary to use a ticket kiosk that
would function similarly to ours. From our online research, we found that Irish Rail had a ticket
kiosk that we could use and learn from. Secondly, the team agreed that we test a ticket
purchasing system from the customer's perspective to see what steps are normally included.
From gathering our user requirements, we now understand that users have prior knowledge
from using ticket systems such as Irish Rail, Luas, and car park ticket machines. We also
understand that users are well used to purchasing tickets online with majority of users attending
concerts more than 2-3 times per year and purchasing tickets online. We chose the Irish Rail
ticket machine and the Róisín Dubh online ticket purchasing platform to test similar systems.

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Irish Rail
Irish Rail provide ticket machines at their stations to provide commuters the choice to purchase
or collect pre-booked tickets upon arrival to the station. As part of our research we tested the
steps in involved in purchasing a ticket on the machine. The following are the steps:
1. Select the option to purchase train tickets from the initial screen
2. Search the location that you wish to travel to. This is done by inputting the first name
of the station you're looking to travel to.
3. Select your destination.
4. Select the type of ticket you require.

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5. Insert student number if you are a student.
6. Select payment option
As demonstrated above, the process of purchasing a ticket is completed in 6 steps and the steps
are intuitive, creating an easy and convenient user experience
Róisín Dubh
While the Róisín Dubh online ticketing system doesn’t reflect the user interface that will appear
on the ticket kiosk, it does show the steps we would assume to be included. The following are
the steps to be taken when purchasing a ticket on the Róisín Dubh website.

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1. Login into your Róisín Dubh account. (Alternatively if you don’t have an account you
sign up to create an account)
2. Once logged in, review the listings to choose your preferred event. This can be
performed by searching through the Listings sections or by inserting the name of your
preferred act into the search bar and pressing Enter.
3. You select Tix to begin the purchase of your tickets.

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4. The user selects the amount of tickets they wish to purchase and adds them to the cart.
5. User has an option to proceed to the checkout or continue shopping.
6. The user is shown the details of the purchase and can then select Checkout. You also
have an option to apply a discount code at this stage.

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7. Another screen appears that shows the adjusted prices if there has been any changes
and you then press Complete Payment.
8. You are then guided to the payment stage where you input the details of your
credit/debit card and select Pay Now when it has been complete.
9. Once the payment is confirmed, the user receives an email with the relevant details and
a code that they will use to access the event on the night.

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Following the gathering of our user requirements we could proceed to establish the
requirements of the system.
Requirements Analysis
As a result of the analysis of user requirements and comparisons with other systems the
following functional and non-functional requirements have been identified.
Functional Requirements
Process-oriented
● The system will allow registered NUIG students to purchase a concert ticket.
● User will receive a ticket/receipt following payment.
● User will receive a change slip when the machine is out of change (this will allow them
to collect the change from a dedicated SU shop/office)
● The systems should allow users to browse upcoming concerts that tickets are available
to purchase for.
Information Oriented
● The system should alert users that the machine is out of change when at the payment
option.
● The system should inform the Students Union staff that the machine is low in change.
● History of purchases will be made available showing concert attended, student ID,
payment method, time of transaction, duration of transaction.
● The system should record all sales transactions.
Non-functional requirements
Operational
● The system will be deployed using a web platform as the same system will also be
available online as well and there shouldn’t be any inconsistencies between the two.

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● The system will only accept Euro currency.
Performance
● Any interaction between the system and the user should not exceed 2 seconds.
● The system should be available from 8am-11pm where the facilities of the located ticket
machines will be open.
● Transactions shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes (this will need to be adjusted once we
test the paper-prototype with user0
Security
● Only the Students Union financial officer and approved administration staff can see the
records and reports created by the system.
● All regulatory safeguards will be utilised to keep a system secure.
● The system will only be available to use during business hours.
● User will be prompted to provide student ID and password.

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Deliverable 2
User Profiles
In order to design the system in accord with the requirements and expectations of users, we
needed to create user profiles that would be representative of the users. The user profiles are
made up of various characteristics from users we interacted with through the requirements
gathering stage. The following are the user profiles created:
Cassie
Persona
Postgrad student who also works
part-time in a clothing shop.
Loves skimming through lifestyle
blogs and looking for health tips.
Hates people who are rude.
“I like to have
balance in my life so
I always consider my
well-being as well as
my studies”
Personal details
Age: 22
Occupation: Student/Retail
Assistant
Relationship status: In a
relationship
Education: Arts, Currently
Masters
Nationality: Irish
Computer Skills
Has the knowledge expected of a
millennial: multiple social media
accounts, working knowledge of
Office, books holidays online.
Hobbies and
Society
She goes to the gym
regularly and does
yoga classes.
Volunteers at the
homeless shelter
when available,
usually twice per
month.

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Pedro
Persona
Erasmus student. Lives in city
center with 3 other exchange
students.
Loves playing music on guitar
and having meals with friends
“Galway is such a
vibrant city and I just
want to soak in as
much as I can while
I’m here.”
Personal details
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Relationship status: Single
Education: Erasmus History student
Nationality: Spanish
Computer Skills
Working knowledge of
Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
prefers to use Apple
products.
Hobbies and Society
He sometimes busks with a
musical group on Shop
Street. Enjoys exploring
other cultures and recently
started taking Irish classes.

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Deliverable 3
Alternative Scenarios
A number of scenarios for the purchase of tickets using cash or card capturing how the user is
expected to interact with the system have been created. These result from a review of the
requirements, particularly interviews with typical users. These scenarios are not mutually
exclusive, there are similarities in respect to the return of change.
Scenario 1: Machine does not dispense the ticket
The user approaches the machine to find a notification that as no change is available, it will not
be possible to purchase tickets using cash.
Advantages Disadvantages
User knows before even beginning the
transaction that there is no change available.
There is a chance the tickets will be sold out by
the time the user has the chance to get to the
SU office to make the purchase
Based on our feedback from potential users,
they would be very annoyed at this and would
prefer an alternative option

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Scenario 2: User may reserve a ticket
The user would find that as there is no change available they may reserve a ticket(s) for 24
hours and purchase the ticket in cash upon presenting a reservation slip from the machine at
the SU Office.
User provided with appropriate time to
purchase the ticket
Users could forget to purchase the ticket within
24 hours. In scenario where the tickets are
“sold out”, some of them simply might be
reserved and unavailable to purchase.
Less anxiety that the ticket will not be
available
Due to busy demands of students with college
life and part-time work, it might provide
difficult to collect the ticket within 24 hours.
Some might have taken their free time to go to
the machine initially.
Creates a positive user experience by giving
the user the flexibility of reserving the ticket or
availing of any other option available (getting
parents/friends debit card to pay online, going
to SU shop straight away)
Scenario 3: Machine dispenses a voucher to collect change at a later date
In this scenario, the user would receive a voucher that would entitled them to receive their
change from the SU office after receiving their tickets.
User has a longer time frame to go to the SU
office to collect the change, reducing their
need to worry.
The user might lose the change receipt and will
lose out on the money they have spent,
meaning they have been overcharged.
Users obtain the ticket immediately and they
won’t be worrying about not making it to the
concert.
If a high volume of users used the machine
using cash and availed of this option, it could
potentially mean more people going to the SU
office going to collect change, disrupting
normal service.

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Scenario 4: Machine to dispense ticket with a notification to refund change to the customer
In this scenario, the machine would issue the tickets and if change was due but not available
would notify the SU office by email that an amount may be collected by the customer. The
customer would collect their change at the SU office and there would be no need for receipt
Advantages Disadvantage
By providing their student ID at the SU office,
SU staff could identify the purchase and
provide the user with change.
Another form of confirmation might be needed
to confirm that the user actually did go to the
concert, rather than sold out at a higher price
and is also retrieving extra cash. This might
include having the concert ticket with you also.
No risk of losing the receipt and not receiving
change at all.
Minimum effort for user to retrieve change.
Scenario 5: Points added to SU Card
In this scenario, the change would be added to the student’s SU card which can then be
exchanged for food etc. at the SU outlets on campus
Reimbursing the user would be instant and
they could immediately use the card.
Not everyone has a SU card or have lost it,
therefore the prospect of getting points instead
of cash change would not be an attractive
option.
Reduce the amount of involvement by the SU. If the user used an excess in the payment due
such as a €50 and change due would be €30 for
example, it would take a while to use up all the
points, especially if the user doesn’t make
much use of the other SU facilities on a regular
basis.

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The scenarios as outlined above form the basis further interviews to be conducted with the
questionnaire respondents.
An initial and tentative view is that scenario three best represent user needs by:
● ensuring issuance of tickets at the point of purchase
● providing the convenience of collecting change at the SU office
We chose scenario 3 as opposed to scenario 4 as the requirement of the Students Union staff to
check the users change due to them and confirming details would possibly result in a decrease
of service quality at the SU desk due to demand of receiving change and the time required to
perform this task. Scenarios one, two and five were not suitable for a number of reasons. Not
all student use or like to use the SU card and may prefer not to have changed credited to it.
More importantly, receiving the tickets at the point of purchase is the central objective of
customers, which scenario three allows.
Deliverable 4
Storyboards
Using the scenarios, a number of storyboards relating to the process of purchasing a ticket using
cash have been produced.
Scenario 1
User goes to ticket machine
to purchase a ticket using
cash as they currently don’t
have a debit or credit card.
Before the user can begin,
there is a message displayed
on the screen to show there is
no change for cash
transactions.
The user goes to the SU
Office in order to purchase
the ticket.

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Scenario 2
Scenario 3
User inputs their option for
purchasing the ticket.
As the machine is out of
change, the user can select
the option of reserving the
ticket and purchase it at the
SU Office within 24 hours.
User goes to the SU Office,
hands in the reservation slip
and payment and is provided
with the ticket.
After the user inputs their
details and confirms, a ticket
is dispensed as well as a
change voucher.
As the user doesn’t have to
collect the change
immediately, they go to the
concert.
A day after the concert, the
user goes to the SU Office,
hands in their change
voucher and receives their
change after their account
and ID is confirmed.

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Scenario 4
After the user inputs their
details and confirms, a ticket
is dispensed and is instructed
to go to the SU Office to
collect the change due.
The user goes to SU desk to
collect their change.
The SU staff member checks
the system using the user’s
ID and name.
Once the SU staff member
has confirmed the user’s
details, they can dispense the
change/

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Scenario 5
Deliverable 5
Paper Mock-Up
As a result of user feedback gained from interviews held to review the storyboards, scenario
three has been deemed to be the most appropriate process model. Scenario three allows a user
who purchases a ticket(s) without change in the machine to be provided with a voucher. They
can use this voucher to retrieve their change from the SU Office.
The paper model is generated using Balsamiq and illustrates the user interactions.
When the user arrives at the payment
stage, they have an option to cancel the
transaction or receive the change as SU
points on their SU card.
If the user chooses to receive the SU
points, they will get confirmation that
their SU account has been credited.
Ticket is dispensed. The user can then user the SU points at
various SU facilities, such as Smokies
Café, to make purchases.

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This paper model forms the basis of a further discussion with users with the objective of review
the messages, text, layout and sequence of the process.
User Feedback
We went through the paper prototype with the user and asked for their feedback. This included
asking them to talk through what options they would select on the screen, was there anything
they would change, were there any improvements they would suggest. The following is the
feedback we received:
● A calendar would be two small to have on screen and to make selections.
● Users were confused whether the dates of the show would appear highlighted in the
calendar as it wasn’t signified in the paper prototype. They suggested something like a
dropdown or radio buttons would be more user friendly.
● It took a while for the user at step 5, as there were two instructions, both saying
signifying the same action to take, which was an error in the prototyping. They were
reading the text and making sure they would select the correct option if they were doing
this in a real-life scenario.
● Users said that a simplified version of the payment screen would be much better as it
would be too cluttered they said.

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Deliverable 6
Software Prototype Flowchart

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Software Prototype Screenshots
All the upcoming Galway concerts are presented in the Select Concert drop down on the
Concert Tickets Sales Point machine.
The user selects The Coronas concert. The band is playing more than one Galway date so the
user also has to select the date from the drop down and then press the “Next” button.
This concert is sold out so the message below pops up.

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The user selects The Blizzards concert. In this case there is only one date in Galway for this
band so the selected date of 26th
November 2016 appears automatically and is greyed out. The
user presses the “Next” button.
This concert is not sold out so the user can proceed to the screen below where the number of
tickets (either 1 or 2) and the ticket type (either full price or concession) can be selected. If the
ticket type selected is concession then a valid student card has to be scanned. Upon a successful
scan, the total amount to pay is displayed and the user can press the “Next” button.

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The transaction details are displayed so the user can see what has been selected and what the
overall amount to pay is. The user can now select the payment type (Cash, Credit Card or Visa
Debit). For our example the user selects to pay by cash. The user inserts a €50 note and then
presses the “Get Tickets and Receipt” button.
The machine is unable to dispense the €10.00 change necessary so a change docket will be
issued along with the tickets and the receipt. The change docket can be exchanged for cash
whenever the Student Union office is open. The acknowledgment of payment screen is
displayed below.

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Running the Software Prototype
Double click on the ConcertTickets.exe file to run the prototype (created in Visual Basic .Net Express
2010 version).
If you get an error message when running the prototype that mentions not having Visual Basic
Power Packs installed, then run the VisualBasicPowerPacksSetup.exe file which is also on the
memory stick. You should then be able to run through all the prototype screens from beginning to
end.
There is also a Visio flowchart on the memory stick that shows the logic and data flow used in the
software prototype.

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Conclusion
The project was initiated by conducting initial research on the university, the student
population and the Students Union organization. Once we knew who are population was, we
proceeded to identify users and select techniques to identify their requirements and needs. We
started by creating a questionnaire, which gave us a broad understanding of the user’s
requirements. Data and knowledge from the questionnaire was used to further explore
possible issues, scenarios and user preferences with interviews that were conducted. The
users selected for the interviews were selected by identifying characteristics that matched
with those of the possible users of the system. We also identifying two different systems that
had similar aspects to the system we were investigating. After all our requirements were
gathered, we listed the functional and non-functional requirements of the system that would
make for the foundation of our system when building.
In order to keep the design of the system user-centric, we created user profiles or two users
that would be used when considering various aspects of the system during development.
Next, we outlined various scenarios and created a storyboard for each one. This allowed us to
choose the most appropriate scenario that would benefit the user the most.
Once we had our scenario chose, we proceed to design the prototype. We began with a paper
prototype and gathered feedback from users before proceeding with the software prototype.
The user’s feedback was implemented in the software prototype.

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References
Banking and Ireland, P.F. (2016) Increasing trend towards card over cash continues - banking
and payments federation Ireland. Available at: http://www.bpfi.ie/news/increasing-trend-
towards-card-cash-continues/ (Accessed: 14 November 2016).
Constitution Of NUI Galway Students' Union. 1st ed. Galway: NUI Galway Students Union,
2016. Available: http://su.nuigalway.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Constitution-2011.pdf
Last accessed: 29th October 2016.
NUI Galway. (2016). Interesting Facts. Available:
http://www.nuigalway.ie/royalvisit/interestingfacts/. Last accessed 29th October 2016.
NUI Galway. (2016). Interesting Facts. Available: http://www.nuigalway.ie/about-us/who-
we-are/about-the-university.html. Last accessed 29th October 2016.
NUIG Arts Ents (2016) Hudson Taylor [Facebook] Avaialble from
https://www.facebook.com/events/587524961433533/?ti=as Last accessed: 16th November
2016
NUI Galway Students’ Union (2016) NUIG SU Charity Christmas Day [Facebook] Available
from https://www.facebook.com/events/1789520101319967/?ti=claims Last accessed 16tth
November 2016.
NUI Galway Students’ Union (2016) NUIG SU Presents Neil Delamere SOLD OUT
[Facebook] Available from https://www.facebook.com/events/652266878276125/?ti=cl Last
accessed 16tth November 2016.
NUI Galway Students’ Union (2016) NUIG SU Outdoor Cinema - The Lion King [Facebook]
Available from https://www.facebook.com/events/722352591237379/?ti=cl Last accessed
16tth November 2016.
Office of the Registrar & Deputy President (2016) Student Numbers for 2015/16, summary.
Available: http://www.nuigalway.ie/registrar/StudentNumbers.html Last accessed: 29th
October 2016

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NUI Galway Students Union (2016) SU Services. Available: http://su.nuigalway.ie/su-
services/ Last accessed 22nd October 2016)

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Appendix I – Questionnaire

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Comment: As there wasn’t option of allowing to put rankings as an answer to the form (e.g.
“Arrange the following steps in the steps you would appear them to be.”), we had to isolate
each step and for ask the participant every to assign the order to the task as they deemed
appropriate out of all the tasks outlined in question 12. We understand that this wasn’t best
practice as it can be confusing for the participant and has to scroll up to see what they have
selected previously in order to prevent duplicate tasks.

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Appendix II - Interviews
Interview 1
Location: Friars Café, Cairnes Building, NUIG
Time: 13:00 UTC
Interviewer: Diarmaid Ó Fátharta
User details
Participant: Cassandra Carr
Age: 22
Course: Masters in Accounting
Interviewer: So to start out, I will briefly describe the objective of this interview. Four our
module Interactive Systems Design, we have to gather requirements in order to build a
prototype for for a ticket machine that would allow students to buy tickets for upcoming
concerts at NUIG organised by the students union. This ticket would be focused on providing
students without a credit/debit card or who would rather use cash purchase tickets, as opposed
to the online ticket website. For this project, we have to consider the process of buying a ticket
via this machine, the needs of users, the flow of actions a user would take and the scenario of
what steps would be put in place if the machine ranout of change. Do you have any questions
before we begin?
Interviewee: No, that’s fine, I understand what’s involved now.
Interviewer: OK! So my first question is, what is the first thing you consider when going to a
concert?
Interviewee: The act is always my priority. I only go to concerts of acts that I am really
interested in. The only other time I would go to concerts without knowing the act is when I
would be invited to one.
Interviewer: When buying tickets, do you usually buy one for another person, even if you don’t
know anyone going yet, or would you buy one for yourself first?

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Interviewee: I would always buy two, yeah. You will always find someone to go with.
Interviewer: Would you say it’s fair then to have a maximum of two tickets allowed for every
student to purchase?
Interviewee: Definitely, you can always get another friend to buy the ticket also.
***buying ticket for someone else that has given you cash
Interviewer: In regards to a ticket machine, do you think swiping or scanning your student card
would be a better option rather than inputting your student ID to make sure a student buys one
ticket per concert?
Interviewee: I would say scanning the card would be handy since students always carries it
with them.
Interviewer: Can you think of any scenario when you would opt to use the machine to pay by
cash rather than using your card or paying online?
Interviewee: The only time I would consider is when I wouldn’t have my purse, which would
mean it would be probably stolen as I always have it with me. I guess another example if my
card was expiring and couldn’t use. Another example actually if I wanted to go to a concert
with more than one other person and I was asked to buy the other tickets for them. More than
likely they would give me the money to buy the ticket for them.
*you would need the student card
Interviewer: I hadn’t thought of that scenario actually! When you normally buy tickets, where
do you usually buy them?
Interviewee: If I am buying online, it is usually Ticketmaster . If the option is available, I always
go for buying tickets at a physical venue. I really like going to Zhivagos and having the actual
tickets in my hand, I think there is something really nice about it.

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Interviewer: Interesting. In regards to Ticketmaster, what is the thing you dislike the most about
purchasing tcikets on it?
Interviewee: I think its a really bad system. For example if you search by location to see what
is going on, it doesn’t order it properly. You really have to do your own search and flip through
multiple pages to get what you want sometimes.
Interviewer: Is there anything you do like about it?
Interviewee: I like the fact that you have a timer meaning that you have the ticket reserved for
that amount of time, allowing you to make the purchase.
Interviewer: Let’s say the machine is out of change, what would be your reaction to that?
Interviewee: Well I hate when it happens! I know for Bus Eireann machines if the machine is
out of change it will issue a receipt that tells you to retrieve the change at the ticket office,
which is only open from 9-6 so would be out of hours for people who work regular weekly
hours. It would be much better if you could go online to claim your credit.
Interviewer: In terms of the concert ticket machine, would you prefer to be given a slip to say
to collect your ticket and pay for it within 24 hours or for the machine to say it can’t issue a
ticket due to lack of change. For bothe scenarios, you would have to go to the Students Union
office anyways.
Interviewee: I would prefer if it was reserved for 24 hours. If everyone that is planning to go
to the machine to buy tickets, all go to the SU desk to buy tickets it will slow down the process.
If it's reserved, they might have it ready and you just need to hand in your slip with the money.
Interviewer: Would you want a progression bar to be used at the top of the screen to show what
step of the process you’re at?
Interviewee: Yea that would be good, and if it would let me go back to another step, that would
be very useful as well.

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Interviewer: How would you imagine the machine to look like? Would you imagine it to look
something like an ATM or perhaps something like the information stands location on the
concourse on campus.
Interviewee: I would imagine it to look like something similar to an ATM since it will be
dealing with and dispensing change.
Interviewer: Are there any location on campous taht you think the machine would be suitable?
Interviewer: I would say somewhere near the Bialann where you have a lot of footfall and
would be expect most students to be around at some point of the day. The SU shop might be
another option. I guess they wouldn’t want it to be too far from the SU office either as they
would be adding change.
****if located at the SU shop, the staff would be able to replenish the cash each time.
Interview 2
Location: Concourse, NUIG
Time: 14:00 UTC
User details
Participant: Serena Lawless
Age: 30
Course: Masters in Creative Writing
Interviewer: So I’m conducting this interview as part of the module Interactive Systems
Design. Our aim is to gather requirements in order to build a prototype for for a ticket machine
that would allow students to buy tickets for upcoming concerts at NUIG organised by the
students union. This ticket would be focused on providing students without a credit/debit card
or who would rather use cash purchase tickets, as opposed to the online ticket website. For this
project, we have to consider the process of buying a ticket via this machine, the needs of users,

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the flow of actions a user would take and the scenario of what steps would be put in place if
the machine ran out of change. Do you have any questions before we begin?
Interviewee: That’s OK.
Interviewer: OK, we’ll start now. Take for example the scenario that you go to the ticket
machine, and it is out of change, what would your reaction be?
Interviewee: I would be very annoyed. Depending on where I’m walking from inin the college,
I might have gone out of my way to get to the machine to make the purchase.
Interviewer:So you would be happy if you could reserve the ticket?
Interviewee: Of course, I think that would be good. I don’t know why it couldn’t be reserved.
Interviewer:And let’s say the you had the option of getting the ticket reserved for 24 hours.
This would encompass going to the machine, making your selection, but at the payment stage
the machine states it doesn’t have any change so it gives you a slip. The slip would be used to
collect your reserved ticket at the SU office. What are your thoughts of that?
Interviewee: Yea, that would be fine. Especially if it’s the case that it’s an act i’m keen to see.
Having teh confidence I would be able to still purchase my ticket the next day in the case that
the SU office is closed would give ease of mind.
Interviewer:And what if you would the ticket and be told to collect your change from the SU
office?
Interviewee: That would be great also! Even though the option would just be as good in my
opinion. Knowing me, I might lose the ticket to collect my change would be left short!
Interviewer:Do you have any suggestions of what might be another possible solution if the
machine runs out of change?
Interviewee: Keep change it! (laughs) Yea, it’s hard to think, I guess have someone there at the
night of the concert at least to provide change.

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Interviewer:We got some feedback from people who filled out a questionnaire we created and
it was obvious that everyone has debit cards. Can you think of any scenario where you wouldn’t
have your debit card?
Interviewee: Hmm...I guess the only reason would be if my card was stolen. I always have my
card, even even if I leave my house without my bag I would have the card and a fiver within
the case of my iPhone.
Interviewer:When buying tickets, would you often be buying tickets for yourself or someone
else?
Interviewee: Always for someone else also. I usually organise with someone to go with a
concert with me so I would buy for them also due to this.
Interviewer:From the top of your head, what comes to mind when you think about booking for
a concert?
Interviewee: I guess seating. When I was at the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London
not too long ago, I was very careful of the seats we chose so we got the best with the budget
we had. Date is very important as well. When going over to Harry Potter, we had to organise a
date that suited the three of us as we all other things going on. I had to make sure I had the
correct dates when making the booking.
Interviewer:In terms of having a postive experience with interacting with the system, what
features would you consider to create an enjoyable transaction?
Interviewee: Must be easy to use. I don’t want it to be an effort, just a few clicks and to have
my tickets. I guess to be able to edit as I go along in case I make any mistakes. I don’t want to
start all over again if something goes wrong.
Interviewer: Well thank you very much for your time, I greatly appreciate it!
Interviewee: You’re welcome!

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Interview 3
Location: Indreabhán, Co. Galway
Time: 20:00 UTC
User details
Participant: Cian Ó Fatharta
Age: 20
Course: Civil Engineering
Interviewer: So to start out, I will briefly describe the objective of this interview. Four our
module Interactive Systems Design, we have to gather requirements in order to build a
prototype for for a ticket machine that would allow students to buy tickets for upcoming
concerts at NUIG organised by the students union. This ticket would be focused on providing
students without a credit/debit card or who would rather use cash purchase tickets, as opposed
to the online ticket website. For this project, we have to consider the process of buying a ticket
via this machine, the needs of users, the flow of actions a user would take and the scenario of
what steps would be put in place if the machine ran out of change. Do you have any questions
before we begin?
Interviewee: No questions at the moment.
Interviewer: OK, we’ll get started then. As most people have a credit or debit card, we would
make an assumption that a ticket machine would be made available with those with only cash
on hand. Can you think of any scenario where you would be using cash for this machine instead
of a debit card?
Interviewee: I guess it would when I wouldn’t have enough money in my bank account, which
would be common with students. I’m currently don’t have a job and my savings from the
summer are in a savings account. I always don’t have the chance to get money out of my

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account so I would ask my parents for cash so that might be one reason I would have cash with
me.
Interviewer: If the ticket machine was out of change, would you prefer to get a slip to collect
your ticket at the SU office the next day with money or card, or to get the ticket at that moment
and to receive a slip to collect your change at a dedicated SU point such as their office or the
shop.
Interviewee: I would prefer the option to collect my change again.
Interviewer: Is there any reason for that?
Well in this case you’re not in any rush to get teh change. With teh other scenario you have to
get the ticket within 24 hours and if not you have to go through the process again.
Interviewer: That’s a good point. When going to concerts, do you sually plan ahead with friends
on the times, meeting point, etc.?
Interviewee: We would always plan ahead and usually buy individual tickets, unless someone
makes an offer to buy the tickets. It happens sometimes when the person is going to buy a ticket
and I would be too busy with college work to actually get the chance to do so, so they would
get the tickets for me and I would pay them back later.
Interviweer: In regards to the interface of the machine, would you prefer to have all the
ineracttino on the screen or to have physical buttons as well?
Interviewee: What exactly do you mean?
Interviewer: Take for example some ATM machines, they have physical buttons on the side
for you to make options such as withdraw cash or lodge cash. Other machines, the the Irish
Rail machine would have the buttons on the touchscreen that you would touch directly.
Interviewee: I understand now. Yea I would definitely prefer if the buttons were all on the
touchscreen. Sometimes with those physical buttons on the ATMs they don’t align with what's

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on the screen. Last week I was at a an ATM and I had to count the buttons on the side with the
options on the screen to make sure I selected the correct one!
Interviewer: What would you consider would make using this machine a positive experience?
Interviewee: I guess not to run out of money and always give change! I would say perhaps just
to have a simple experience, that I understand what to do, the selections are easy and clear.
Interviewer: Well thank you very much for your time, I greatly appreciate it!
Interviewee: You’re welcome!

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Appendix III
The following is the email that was sent to various companies and some of the responses
received.
“To whom it may concern,
My name is Diarmaid Ó Fátharta and I am a student at NUI Gaway studying a Masters in
Information Systems Management. I am writing to you to see if you could help in terms of
identifying a ticket kiosk that is located in the city.
As part of our Interactive Systems Design (MS821) module, we are required to prepare a
prototype for a ticketing system for on-campus concerts. Our first step in this project is to
conduct research on similar functioning systems. I would like to find out if there is a ticketing
kiosk that is located in the coach station in Galway? To clarify, I am referring to a system where
customers could go to the kiosk (mostly likely a touchscreen model) and select the route and
date of their travels.
Kind regards,
Diarmaid Ó Fátharta
M.Sc Information Systems Management
12339126 “
Responses
CityLink
From: Irish Citylink Information <info@citylink.ie>
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2016 3:57:31 PM
To: Ó FÁTHARTA, DIARMAID
Subject: Re: Ticketing Kiosk
Good Evening,

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No sorry we do not have one. I know Bus Eireann have if you have not already contacted them.
Best of luck with it all.
Regards,
Sabrina
Customer Service
Team
T: +353 91 564164
GoBus
From: GoBus - Info <info@gobus.ie>
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2016 12:00 PM
To: Ó FÁTHARTA, DIARMAID
Subject: RE: Ticketing Kiosk
Hi Diarmuid ,
Thank you for your email . Unfortunately there is ticket kiosk in Galway Coach Station , all of
our tickets are sold online or by the rep in the station /office. Bus Eireann operate ticket vending
machines(TVMs) in their stations where you can purchase advance tickets so hopefully they
will be able to help you .
My apologies that I cannot be of more help , and the best of luck with your assignment.

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Kind Regards,
Roisin
GoBus
Unit 1, Forster Court, Galway
T: +353 91 564600
E: info@gobus.ie
W: www.gobus.ie

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