Workstation Reservation User Guide

 

Download the mobile app for making the reservations

These rules below can also be found in the "about" section on the mobile app.

Viewing Availability

  • Users can view all available seats in the “seat availability” mode.

Reserving a Seat

  1. Only available seats can be reserved.
  2. Reservations are made from a list of available seats (not on the map).
  3. Anonymous Reservations: The system does not associate usernames to reservations. Instead, each reservation is secured with a cryptographic hash based on the username and the reservation time.

Reservation Timing

  1. Before 9 AM: Reservations start at 9 AM.
  2. After 9 AM: Reservations start immediately from the time they are made.

Reservation Expiry

  1. Reserved seats must be occupied within 15 minutes of the reservation start time.
  2. If not occupied within 15 minutes, the seat becomes available again. 

Occupying a Seat

1. For Reserved Seats:

  •  Once occupied, the seat status updates to “Occupied” in the app.
  •  If the user leaves, the seat remains “Occupied” for 15 minutes, after which it becomes available again.

2. For Non-Reserved Seats:

  • If a user occupies a non-reserved seat, it immediately becomes “Occupied.”
  • When the user leaves, the seat becomes available 15 minutes after their departure.

Break Periods 

  • Users can take a break for 1 hour via their profile page to lock their reserved seat.
  • During this time, the seat remains reserved and cannot be reserved by others.
  • If the user does not return within 1 hour, the seat becomes available again.

Conflicts and Claims 

  • If a reserved seat is occupied by another user, the seat status shows as “Occupied”.
  • The original reserver can claim their seat by displaying their reservation from the profile page.

System Anonymity

  • Usernames Stored Separately: While the system stores usernames for authentication purposes, these are not connected to any specific reservation.
  • Reservation Privacy: Each reservation is associated only with a cryptographic hash generated from the username and reservation time. This ensures that no reservation can be directly linked to a specific user.
  • Secure Access: Users can retrieve their own reservations using their profile page but cannot view or claim reservations made by others.