MITRE@Work - Workspace Reservations

The Scenario

The MITRE@Work mobile app helps MITRE employees stay connected, providing easy access to key functionality and information from their personal and corporate mobile phones. Available on both iOS and Android, the app includes features such as timecard entry, a read-only calendar with meeting access, an employee lookup, help desk information, interactive building maps with directions, news, and more.

The most significant recent addition to MITRE@Work was a workspace booking capability. When MITRE transitioned to a hybrid work model, employees could only reserve desks through a vendor-provided web application. While accessible from corporate phones, this system required multiple logins and many steps, creating friction for users trying to quickly book a space. We wanted to provide a more usable and convenient option from any phone.

Workspace Reservations has become one of MITRE@Work’s most popular features, receiving praise from employees in a Return to Office survey.

My Role

As the UX designer for MITRE@Work, I led the design of our workspace booking feature to address these usability challenges. In addition to partnering with our product owner and iOS + Android developers, I also collaborating with the team building a parallel web version of 'Easy Reservations' to ensure a consistent experience and shared user preferences across platforms. Throughout the design process, I coordinated with leadership to adapt my designs as return-to-office requirements and procedures evolved, ensuring the feature would support our changing needs.

Source: MITRE

The initial concept for reserving workspaces with MITRE@Work envisioned scanning a QR code. However, we quickly identified key limitations with this approach: maintaining unique QR codes for thousands of desks would be unsustainable for us, and this model would restrict mobile users to same-day reservations only. While some employees wanted to book (or switch to a different workspace) after arriving at the office, many others made their reservations the maximum two weeks out to ensure they got their favorite office.

Early QR code ideas. Source: MITRE

During my design process I explored indicating availability and booking space from MITRE@Work’s indoor maps, like a popular feature in the vendor application. After evaluation, I determined this would be better positioned as a future enhancement and focused on simpler interfaces first to deliver core functionality more quickly and effectively.

Concept mockup for showing available workspaces and booking from MITRE@Work's maps. We already had a layer to show your colleagues on the map. Indicating availability for rooms with multiple desks was going to be a UI challenge here. Source: MITRE

The Workspace Reservation section ended up with three main features - a list of your reservations, the ability to check the availability of a room, and a workspace search:

Initial Reservations section mockup vs. production. As I refined the design I reordered sections, placing My Reservations at the top for quick checks of today’s room number. I also optimized the workspace search layout to accommodate longer site names and the lengthy floor 'numbers' we'd be getting from the vendor system. Source: MITRE

The ‘Easy Reservations’ workspace search allows users to efficiently find available spaces, filtering results by building, floor, and amenities such as the number of monitors or desk type. Users can also save up to three favorites to easily check if those spaces are available.

Easy Reservations results mockup and production favorites screenshot. Source: MITRE

I came up with the idea for Check Current Availability as a lower-tech alternative to the original QR code plan, enabling users to quickly determine availability by entering a room number. Users can also enter a partial number to check multiple offices at once (and see who is sitting nearby).

Check Current Availability required accommodating many states beyond simple availability. Draft mockup identifying all the options I'd need to document for the development team vs. a production screenshot. Source: MITRE

The My Reservations feature initially displayed your upcoming reservations with a simple cancellation option. However, with increased in-office days and tighter space constraints, leadership began requiring employees to check in to ensure offices were being used. I reworked the interface to incorporate more prominent buttons during the check-in window and designed corresponding notifications.

The notification timing required consideration of user behavior and negotiation with leadership. The original proposal was 8 - 9AM which was not going to be user friendly! I was able to get agreement to open check in at 4PM the previous day which encouraged timely cancellations (the true underlying goal) and enabled us to reach users when they were likely still working and able to assess their plans with reasonable certainty, avoiding pressure to check in while trying to head into the office.

Draft mockups of the My Reservations check-in enhancements and related notifications. The notifications needed to account for different iOS and Android action options as well as how text tended to be truncated. Source: MITRE

For more about the origin of MITRE@Work, our team's iterative process, plus the app's initial impact, see my wining submission for the Step Two Intranet & Digital Workplace Awards: MITRE@Work Award Presentation | MITRE@Work Award Entry