Notes so far:
A few simple use cases:
1) Me
Looking for a masters program:
Search/sort by:
Geographic Region,
Size of the City,
Ranking of the School
2) Ben
Goes to the site because "its cool". Expects:
Get the map
Ranking slider bars
Numbered or lettered according to ranking, if there is one
otherwise
Search for the city / name, sort based on proximity
Certain sized school
Update dynamically
3) Graham
Looking for a phd program:
Search/sort using:
quality of teaching
how published / cited people are
Specifics: program keyword searches ("computer audio", etc)
Size of the city, culture of the city
4) Titus
Ratios
Looking for a grad program:
Major Specializations
Admission requirements
Average GRE
Number of students
Religious/Political Affiliations
Number of plublications (Impact factor)
Cost
If there are "out of state" benefits
Regional Weather (how cold it is)
Extracurricular activities
USNews rankings
Tiers / Risk Minimization
Undergrad:
class size
Acceptance
Retention
Average GPA
Internet Connectivity / Most Wired / Restrictions (OS, Firewalls)
A "Good" search result: 20
Search by "course", like "Semiconductors"
Biases:
Computing Platform
Research groups
vocational vs theory
political
religious
GALA
Landscape:
buildings vs trees
city vs town
Where they go after school:
Grad programs
Companies (colleges that recruiters visit)
Startups