Zoom Pod User Experience Research

HCDE 313 Class Project

Methods: Field Study, User Interviews, Surveys

Timeline: March - June 2024

Tools: FigJam, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms

What are Zoom Pods?

They are private soundproof booths that were introduced to UW libraries as buildings began to reopen in 2021. They are designed to accommodate students' need for private spaces to take online classes and appointments.

What’s the problem?

As someone who frequently has team meetings online, I’m constantly looking for good places on campus to take Zoom calls. However, while I have used the Zoom pods a few times, they are almost always full when I actually need to take calls. After talking with other students, I discovered they also had similar experiences.

While I struggled with Zoom pod access, I wanted to investigate the broader needs of students for these spaces

Through my research, I discovered that:

  • In 2022,  over 40% of Washington College students reported that they were enrolled in a distance education course, one that uses technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from their teacher [1, 2].

  • After the buildings on campus began to reopen in 2021, the UW Libraries stated that students had expressed a need for “individual and quiet space for Zoom classes and online appointments” [3].

  • Many UW services, including academic advising, office hours, counseling sessions, a crisis line for students, and more have online meetings via services such as Zoom. Many of the topics discussed in these meetings may be private or sensitive.

Students have a clear need for private spaces on campus

How can we improve the user experience for Zoom pods in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library (OUL) at the University of Washington (UW)?

Research Process & Methods

This research study took place in three consecutive phases: Field Studies, Interviews, & Surveys.

why start with a field study?

The Zoom pods operate on an honor system.

Although there are general guidelines—such as limiting use to under 60 minutes and reserving pods exclusively for online meetings or phone calls—these rules are not strictly enforced.

I conducted a field study to observe how users actually interact with the pods, recognizing that their real behavior may differ from their self-reported behavior.

The goal was to minimize social desirability bias by observing natural use without participants being aware they were being watched.

Deep hanging out

My overall approach to these sessions was a type of observation called Deep Hanging Out, an observation method that utilizes focal points to narrow the focus of the observations. I focused my field study on understanding the built environment, users’ media consumption, and general traffic around the booths.

  • For this project, I wanted to evaluate the effectivenss and comfort of the current Zoom pods. This includes the layout, size, and features such as outlet aceess, lighting, desk space, etc.

  • Here, I wanted to determine what activites, wensites, and other platofrms students were engaging with while using the pods.

  • My final goal was to assess the demand for the service by recording the number of students who attempted to access and successfully used a Zoom pod, as well as by tracking how long each pod was occupied and how long it remained vacant between uses.

I conducted three separate one-hour field studies. Observation sessions were held in the OUL, and study participants included anyone who accessed or attempted to access a pod during the three sessions.

Notes were taken on a Google Doc and were reviewed and reorganized immediately after each session to ensure clarity. After all three sessions, I used thematic analysis to identify patterns in participants’ behaviors.

Findings

WAIT TIMES

Many users had to wait nearby for a pod to become available. If one was open they would often engage in non-call-related activities before they were observed accessing a video platform.

HEADPHONE USE

While Zoom pods are designed to be soundproof, many students wore headphones while using the pods. This occurered regardless of whether or not they were on a call

ACTIVITIES

While the Zoom pods were designed to be a private space to take calls, many students were completing other tasks that did not involve taking a call

Based on these findings, while many students use the Zoom pods, there are still areas for improvement, specifically surrounding their use and availability, and headphone use. While these findings are interesting, they are inconclusive and require additional research to comprehensively understand the problems and approach potential solutions.

Limitations:

  • Due to the nature of the study, we do not know the participants' thoughts or intentions that influenced their behaviors

  • The number of sessions as well as the length of each session, was limited  

SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

The interviews conducted were semi-structured. This style was selected because it allows the interviewer to ask follow-up questions and encourage participants to elaborate on their responses. This helped to ensure that I collected comprehensive data that was representative of the interviewee's experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Further, using a semi-structured interview style allowed me to deviate slightly from the outlined questions and the question order to better facilitate participant needs and responses relative to their experiences and background.

Participant recruitment was completed through my social network of other current UW students. For the interviews I had specific inclusion criteria.

  • Participants must be current students — The Zoom pods are located in a library that can only be accessed with a current Husky ID, meaning that the primary users of the pods are current students.

  • Participants had used a Zoom pod in the last 6 months — It was important to ensure participants had first-hand experience with a Zoom pod. I set the time frame to the last 6 months to help participants accurately recall their most recent experience.

  • Participants had at least one online meeting a month - This ensured participants had a valid reason to use the pods, allowing them to share the factors that influenced their decision to use or avoid using a pod for meetings

After each interview, I created a transcript using Otter AI, then reviewed and revised it for clarity in Google Docs. I coded the transcripts qualitatively, using the comments feature to mark codes. These codes were then organized on a FigJam board to identify themes. As I analyzed the codes, I added a section to the board to highlight connections across themes and individual codes.

Affinity Diagraming for Interviews

Discussion, Limitations, & Next Steps

By conducting semi-structured I was able to probe participants and ask about the factors that influence their use of the pods. The unreliable availability of Zoom pods decreases the ability of students to realistically access the pods and both the location and certain features of the pods decrease user privacy and opportunities for use.

Limitations:

  • The largest limitation of the interviews was the number of participants. While UW Seattle has approximately 50,000 students, only three were interviewed meaning the findings represent only a small fraction of student opinions and experiences

  • As I gained more experience interviewing, the length and depth of conversion increased, meaning that the first interview conducted was less comprehensive than the last

Next, I plan to assess the effectiveness of potential solutions through a survey. With a larger participant pool, the survey results will better represent the student body. During recruitment, I discovered many students had never used the Zoom pods, often citing them as consistently full. The survey will explore the extent of this issue and assess whether my recommendations could help students who previously felt unable to access the pods.

CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS

Gaining a Deeper Understanding

While the observations from my field studies offered valuable insights into user behavior, the nature of the deep hanging out field study limited my ability to interact with participants, preventing me from understanding the reasons behind their behavior or their feelings about the experience.

To bridge this gap, I conducted interviews that explored the factors that influenced the observed behaviors.

Findings

Not reliably available

“...I think I kind of expect them to be busy. So maybe mild disappointment, if it's like a meeting I have to go to, it is, I think, because I don't depend on them to have a meeting, I usually have another spot or I've learned pretty much not to go to them for meetings anymore (Interview 1, 10:46).”


In all three interviews, participants noted that the Zoom pods are usually full, making them unreliable for online meetings. As a result, they avoid depending on the pods, as there's no guarantee one will be available when needed. Despite being designed for online meetings, the pods’ availability often doesn’t meet students’ needs. One participant even reported feeling anxious while waiting nearby, worried about being late for their meeting.

Effectiveness of Features

“I was taking a language class so what if I needed to practice out loud but didn't want to take a whole study room (Interview 1, 4:38)”

“Yeah, I like watching something, being on my phone, just wanting a quiet place to just sit…I watched it there because I don't always like to use my AirPods (Interview 3, 12:19).”

Though designed for online meetings, several interviewees also used the Zoom pods for other activities, both academic and recreational. Two participants mentioned using the pods to play music and shows aloud without headphones, while another appreciated having a private space to rest. While features like soundproofing make the pods suitable for various activities, some aspects, such as the chairs, make them less comfortable for non-meeting use.

Location Reduces Privacy

“And I also get conscious when people watch me and so I feel like going into that Zoom pod kind of puts you in this, like Limelight, where you're supposed to, I feel like people are watching you… so just the idea that people watching me takes away from the comfort of people not being able to hear.  And so, in my mind, that's counterintuitive (Interview 3, 13:07).”

Participants were generally satisfied with the pods' soundproofing and used headphones for better audio or added privacy. While all emphasized the importance of privacy for their meetings, one participant noted that the clear doors and current pod location reduced the space's privacy.

Methods

This survey was conducted via Google Forms.  This platform was selected because results can be sorted by individual participant responses. Further, it allows me to restrict who can respond to the survey to only those with a UW email. This will help to ensure that the survey participants meet the inclusion criteria of being current students. The survey ran from Thursday, May 29th through Sunday, June 2nd, garnering  20 total responses. 17 of the 20 participants met the established criteria and their data was analyzed for the results of this survey.

Participants came from 3 main sources including my personal network of other current UW students, UW’s Society of Women Engineers, and the UW women’s club soccer team. 

Spreadsheet of Survey Responses

Pivot Table for Need for Private Spaces on Campus & Current Living Situation

WHY

SURVEY?

A Numbers Game

During recruitment, I discovered many students had never used the Zoom pods, often citing them as consistently full. The survey will explore the extent of this issue.

Additionally, conducting a field study and interviews led me to develop a series of recommendations to improve the user experience, such as implementing a reservation system. While these recommendations are based on previous user research,  I want to ensure that users find these recommendations effective before using resources to implement them. By surveying a larger group of students, I was able to gather diverse opinions and assess the effectiveness of potential solutions.