Scheduling Software: Acuity

Acuity, also called Squarespace Scheduling, is the participant scheduling system that is used in the lab. On this system, each tester gets their own calendar which (when shared with them) can be updated by them or by the lab manager. Typically, the lab manager will create everyone's basic hours, and testers can make occasional changes if they know they will be away a certain day, or wish to switch shifts with another tester. If a tester has any major scheduling problems, they should still contact the lab manager so that they can come to a solution (i.e., they will be away for vacation, they can no longer test on the day they were scheduled, etc.).

Each study will also have its own "appointment type". Testers will be assigned to the appropriate appointment types by the lab manager, so that each study has enough testing coverage. Note that if a study tests in multiple languages, each language will have its own "appointment type". Links to the appropriate appointment type will be sent to parents when booking a study, so it is very important to keep the schedule as up to date as possible.

If two testers have availbility on the same day, at the same time, it is very important to ensure that two sessions can't get booked at the same time (unless this is the intention). To do this, there are settings to restrict the number of appointments that can be booked in a specific "Room/Resource". For example, if one study uses the eyetracker, and another uses only a tablet task, these appointments could be run simultaneously using our two family greeting rooms. However, if two studies need the eyetracker, we would need to ensure that they do not have overlapping appointment times by indicating in the Rooms/Resources tab that these specific studies require the eyetracker, and we only have one.