Week 10

The mobile application is finished. It has been through three total rounds of testing, including two rounds of beta testing by Drexel student volunteers. The students gave several suggestions in the first round of beta testing, which included making the application blue and yellow (Drexel's colors) instead of black and white. Ultimately, the student testers gave the application an average rating of four stars. All testers who had smartphones said they either would or were likely to use the application if it became available on the Android Market. 

During testing, users had several suggestions on how to improve the application. The next version of the application would likely be an intermediate update between major updates. More information could be added to the General Information and How to Get to sections, and a search feature could also be implemented. The first major update could have two entirely new sections. Originally, the design plan included a section of maps for each building, but the company who made the blueprints was extremely difficult to find. Given enough time, it would be possible to get copies of the floor plan for each floor in every building and add them to the application. The other section would be a Suggestions Box containing a form for the user to submit bugs and suggestions to the developers. The next major update could include a copy of Drexel’s Master Plan for the campus construction for the next few years. Even later versions of the application would need to include updates on the information and the map sections. Eventually the application could even be expanded to Apple’s iOS.

In the future, we are seriously considering releasing this application on the Android Market. This would involve a bit more revision from a technical standpoint and possibly condensing some information sections, but according to our testers there would certainly be a market for it. 

Please visit our Deliverables page to read the final report and see our research poster.

Week 9 Part 2

As of Tuesday evening, the Maps section has been integrated into the rest of the application - the entire mobile app is present and working! After Maps was added, the application was downloaded onto the smart phones of the group members and is currently undergoing testing. As each student finishes testing, he or she is asked to fill out the survey.

The main issues users have noted so far are that the Maps section starts at a global zoom level and selecting certain items in a subsection of Drexel 101 causes a force close. This is because the information in that subsection is in the process of being updated. The Map zoom has yet to be set because, prior to beta testing release, it was being debugged. Two other tasks that need to be accomplished for the Maps section are the addition of more data points, which is a simple matter of data entry, and a change of icon. The current icon is the standard Android Droid icon.

Here are some pictures of the newly added Maps section!

Figure 1: This is a view of most of the campus.

Figure 2: A view of the campus with the dorms at the top of the screen.

Figure 3: A view of the dorms at the highest zoom level.

Figure 4: A view of several academic buildings at the highest zoom possible.

Week 9 Part 1

As of right now (Tuesday afternoon), we are in the midst of several different tasks. Most of the errors from the alpha test within the design group have been fixed and the last bits of information are being added. Tonight the Maps section will finally be integrated into the rest of the application. After this, beta testing will begin with our fellow classmates. After each student tests the application, they will be asked to fill out this survey. We plan to test the application with up to 60 students, so this should give a good variety of feedback and find any bugs in the program.

After the beta testing, appropriate changes will be made to the application. If  not many changes need to be made to the application, we might try to make a unique icon for the application. As of right now the icon is the default Android icon - the green Android Droid peeking out from the bottom right corner on a white background.

The final report is being written and revised right now and two of the sections, Conclusions and Future Work, will be posted upon completion. Results from the beta testing will posted on Friday.

Week 8

Testing commenced this week!

We figured out how to download the app onto a phone straight from the laptop. Here's what the main menu looks like:

Figure 1: This is how our application looks on a phone.

We tested the application within our own group. In the process, we found a few errors.

Figure 2: A force close error screen.

The error screen in Figure 2 occurred when we attempted to access one of the checklists in the Freshman 101 section led to a force close. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the application works in both landscape and portrait views. Examples are in Figures 3 - 6.

Figure 3: A checklist in landscape mode.

Figure 4: A checklist in portrait mode.

Figure 5: An expandable list in portrait mode.

Figure 6: An expandable list in landscape mode.

At the conclusion of our testing, we come up with a short list of things to improve. The most important items were to fix the force close error for the checklist, to get the checklists to save on their own, and to increase the size of the text in the expandable lists. Minor items included adding supplementary information and checking for grammar and spelling.

The Maps section has not been integrated into the application yet, but it is in its final stages of debugging and will be integrated and tested this week.

Week 7

Drop down menus were added this week for the General Info and How to Get to sections of the app. As a programmer, it takes less work to set up a drop down menu than to set up a menu interface, at least in the style we've been using.

Each interactive item set in a mobile app requires its own class. A class defines instances of objects that have properties and methods of that class. For example, the class "Book" would define the methods and properties of all "Book" objects. An object is a structure of data. Each object has to be constructed before it is used. That is, a method needs to be referenced to set up the object before anything can be done with the object in the program.

In the current menu-interface style, each clickable item on a menu must have its own separate class. When the item is clicked, it references that class. This opens a new menu with more classes for its items. For the Freshman 101 section, each class uses a XML setup to display a checklist.

However, for the General Info and How to Get to sections, this approach would not work. Each place or office has its own set of information and directions, and it would be impractical to create a new class for each and every place mentioned in the app. Instead, when the user reaches the section's sub-menu and clicks on a category, he will be taken to a drop down menu for that subtopic. Clicking on a place will expand the menu to display the information or directions, and clicking again will minimize the menu.

Figure 1: Example of the drop down menu interface.

Figure 1 shows an example of the drop down menu interface. This is the Sports subtopic of the How to Get to section. The directions for travelling to each destination are in the expandable portion of the drop down menu.

Week 6

It has now been several weeks since the start of the project. As mentioned in a previous post, all the menus are in place. Research for all sections has been completed and team members are in the process of formatting the info for the application. They will most likely use XML files. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. This means it gives structure and definition to the text and display the user sees. It reads more like human speech than other programming languages (like Java) but is still "machine readable." The Android SDK uses Java files to do the main tasks of the program, but XML files provide the visual setup.

Each subtopic within a section will use a separate XML file. Since the General Info, Drexel 101, and How To Get To sections will all list the information, they will use similar XML layouts. The Freshman 101 section will have a separate layout for checklists. The Maps section will use XML files to format the different overlay layers.

Figure 1: Accepted Students Checklist

Figure 1 shows one of the checklists in the Freshman 101 submenu. Each item is clickable - that is, when clicked, the checkbox next to the task will show a green checkmark. The user can save his progress manually by clicking the Save button at the top of the page.

As of right now, the Freshman 101 section is nearly complete with separate checklists for Accepted Students, International Students, Transfer Students, What to Bring, Tips for Move-In Week, and Tips for Freshman Year. The menus have been laid out and information has been compiled for the General Info, Drexel 101, and How To Get To sections, but they have yet to be implemented cohesively into the app. The Maps section is currently facing a few technical difficulties but should be up and running by this Friday before class.

In Week 3, a project timeline was posted on the Project Overview page. Since has been a few weeks, it is time for a reevaluation of the proposed timeline.

Figure 2: Revised project timeline.

Figure 2 shows a modified version of the timeline. Learning how to program in the Android SDK took a little longer than expected, but it took less time than expected to set up the overall design of the app. This week and next week the sections will all be added to the app. Testing will commence this week, with the first round of testing being within the design group. Later rounds of testing will be performed by volunteers outside the project group. By the end of Week 9, the app should be finished, although the group will still have a short amount of time in Week 10 to do any final debugging. 

Week 5

Our menus are established! This means we have the overall flow of our application in place. Now, for four of the sections, team members are in the process of compiling research and entering it into Eclipse. The fifth team member is working on adding appropriate layers to Google Maps.

The overall flow of the application can be simplified to a flow of Main Menu --> SubMenu --> Information/Directions/Checklist. For the Maps section, from the Main Menu the user will be taken directly to a Google map. On this screen, the user can choose the types of filters he wants to see.

Most of the information for each section has been gathered, but it has yet to be added to the application.

Here are some pictures of our menu system:

Figure 1: Main Menu

Figure 1 shows the main menu that the user sees upon start up.

Figure 2: Freshman 101 Menu

Figure 2 shows the menu the user sees after clicking "Freshman 101" from the main menu. There are currently six checklists, but that is likely to change as information is added before class in Week 6.

Figure 3:  Another Subtopic Menu example

The subtopic menus all  follow the same format, as seen in Figure 3. Each link, when clicked, will take the user to a page of all the relevant information.

Figure 4: Filler Page

Since not all the information for the individual sections has been added to the app yet, the links on the submenus take the user to this filler page seen in Figure 4. The filler pages will be replaced with informational pages in teh next week or so.

Week 4

The tutorials continue... Our goals from last week were a little too ambitious, especially when it was decided to add ten more videos mid-week to bring us to a total of sixty videos that were assigned for today. Several group members faced technical difficulties this past week too, such as Java projects that wouldn't compile or run with no obvious explanation.

Computer programs are written in programming languages, but computers cannot understand programming languages. For the computer to understand the program, the code must be translated from source code (written by a user in a programming language) to machine code (a format the machine can understand).  Once the code is compiled, it can be run.

Another issue was the AVD (Android Virtual Device) simulators. When setting up a new Android program, the user must select the Project Build Target, which essentially means the user must pick which Android Operating System platform to use. In order to use a certain platform, the user must have the correct libraries downloaded in the SDK Manager.

Then the user can set up the proper Virtual Device.

When run, the AVD looks like this:

As of class this week, everyone had covered the tutorials that show how to make a loading screen, how to add sound, how to set up a menu, and how to make and run a simple "Add 1/Subtract 1" program. By next week we expect to have a skeleton program of the entire project with active development going on in each of the five sections. One group member already has programmed and implemented a menu for a section.

Week 3

This week we made sure the Android SDK and Eclipse were installed and working on all computers. The Android SDK contains libraries, a debugger, and an Android phone emulator. There are also several examples of sample code. Eclipse is the IDE (integrated development environment) that uses the libraries that allow us to program specifically for Android. Libraries are collections of programming code that, when referenced correctly, can be called upon by the programmer. 

We developed a basic outline for the visual design of the app, specifically for the menu interface. Below is a sketch of our current proposed idea.

Clicking on an icon will take the user to a list of options for that section. For example, clicking on the Freshman 101 icon will take the user to a list with the choices "You've Been Accepted", "Before Arriving", "The First Week", and "The First Year."

For this week, team members were expected to watch the first ten videos on The New Boston online tutorials. The first three or four videos walked the user through downloading and setting up the Android SDK and Eclipse. The remaining seven videos gave step by step instructions on how to write a counting application with "Plus One" and "Minus One" buttons. After realizing how valuable the videos were, team members agreed to watch through Video 30 by our meeting Tuesday night and Video 50 by the beginning of next class.

The links to download the developer software and to the New Boston tutorials are posted on the "Resourses" page.

Week 2

Currently we are finalizing our design proposal. Look for it in the "Project Proposal" tab later this week. We will also be putting up references to a website with instructional videos that will serve as an intro to programming in the Android SDK.

Week 1

The purpose of this blog will be to track the development of the Drexel Guide mobile app over the next 10 weeks. This app, which will be developed for Android, will be a comprehensive guide for Drexel University's campus. The main sections of the app will include Maps, Freshmen 101, How to Get to... (a section explaining how to get around Philadelphia), and General Information.