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Paper Prototype

• Observations gathered over the last month
• Use and Help for people using the prototypes
• Requirements for sneakernet volunteer

Observations

(gathered over the last month of sneakernet)

The four "applications" supported by sneakernet (and drawn on the PaperPlates) were Suggestions, Notes, Supplies, and Scheduling. Here are observations on each of them:

• Suggestions (& discussion)

  The only plate used for discussion was the one in the kitchen. I think this was spurred by my writing a suggestion to get orange juice on it. It continued on its own and grew, though.

• Notes

  Don't know how much/little they were used for personal purposes (eg leaving note for someone who's out) since we couldn't easily record those. In general, my impression is that this only happened on office plates, and was not a generally accepted practice (since on at least two occasions notes left on the PALplate were not noticed despite several trips in and out of the office).

• Supplies

  The office plates were most used for supply requests. At the time, though, unlike printer supplies such as paper, I don't think there was an "obvious" place to go for office supplies ... there is now, and requests have gone down, but so has overall use of PALplates.

• Scheduling

  The office plates were most used for scheduling requests. This feature was under used, however, because of the fact that Sneakernet only runs once/day (according to verbal reports from users).

Othe observations:

• The meeting room and copy room plates were the least used of all 16.
• An unexpected "use" occured when a printer (typo) was having technical problems. Queries appeared on it's plate
• There was very little feedback from users. What little there was appeared at the beginning (requests for instructions) and in person (verbal comments).
• The office plates were often used for vacation announcements (although some people, despite having an office plate, pinned the announcements up elsewhere, on paper they provided themselves).
• Plates on staff (secretary, etc) doors were not used at all.

Use & Help

1. Use them any way you want.
2. Initial your notes (for logging & analysis). NOTE: this is voluntary.
3. Notes
   • Notes can be delivered to places, or left where you write them.
   • Delivery will be done automatically once each morning, or can be done by you personally.
4. Scheduling
   • Notes with time, date, and room will be picked up once each morning.
   • Meeting room reservations will be transferred to the calendar on Francoise’s desk, if there is no conflict.
   • Failure or success will be reported back to the PALplate at which the note was found.
5. Suggestions
   • This space is for suggestions and discussions.
   • Suggestions will be sent to the appropriate people.
6. Supplies
   • Specify name and urgency.
   • Written requests for supplies will be sent to staff.
   • Very urgent needs should be taken care of yourself by visiting the supply room in building 2.
7. In general, Sneakernet will take care of stuff that isn't urgent (ie, can be taken care of anytime in the next day or so). Urgent stuff, you have to do yourself.
8. The PI symbol on a note means that it has been read and dealt with by the sneakernet.

Sneakernet

• Each volunteer checks the PALplates one morning a week (preferably around 10am, but whenever you can do it is fine). You will get a reminder from me about this the day before.
  

  Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
  Jen (mankoff@...)	Naomi (naomi@...)	Eleanor (rieffel@...)	John (johnb@...)	Ben (arnette@...)

   

• Please check all PALplates for pens -- I've just discovered how easy it is to walk away with them.
• PALplates functions are notes, scheduling, suggestions, and supplies. The related tasks are as follows:
  • notes

    Mostly don't do anything with these. If they are addressed to a person, leave a note saying that they can only be delivered to a place. If they are addressed to a place, bring them there.

  • scheduling

    If both a conference room and time/date is specified, try to schedule that conference room for that time. If you succeed, move the note to the conference room that was scheduled. If you fail or succeed, leave a note at the PALplate where the scheduling request was made saying what happened.

  • suggestions

    If they look good or have generated alot of discussion, tell Elizabeth about them. If they're about PALplates, tell me about them.

  • supplies

    Bring supply requests to Elizabeth.

• Anytime you deal with a note, write the symbol for PI on it. Also write the date and the number of the PALplate where the note originated. If a note already has that symbol on it, you can assume it's been dealt with.
• If a note looks very old or is out of date, bring it to Jen (be intelligent about this).
• If you ever have a question, email Jen about it. Preferably, include the number of the PALplate where the problem occured.
• At the end of your loop, email Jen telling her you took care of everything (otherwise, if you can't make it, or haven't emailed her by noon, she'll do it herself).

Copyright © 1996 FX Palo Alto Laboratory, Inc. For problems or questions regarding this web contact Jen Mankoff. Last updated August 12, 1996.