CS2001 Task 5 Report Level 2 Group Project

3/26/2015 1238860 James Nehme

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this technical report is to reflect back on the group project that

we have been doing though the year. I will be discussing the technology and

organisation of this group. This report will also contain a research topic which

will also be discussed in detail. Our group came up with the idea of Kew

Gardens, which is a popular attraction. The purpose of this app was to allow

people navigate around Kew Gardens easily using the app to help them around.

The first process was to design the app and develop at least 3 screens for it.

After this, we had to connect our app to the database. This year was quite

challenging but together as group we were able to come through this and work

together. I have learnt a lot about android development, database, Jetty, UNIX,

MYSQL and servers which I think will be very useful for the future.

SECTION 1 TECHNOLOGY

What have you learnt about the technologies used?

In this project, I gained knowledge in how to use various technologies, such as

Java and XML, which I used to develop the app. I also learnt to create UML and

ER diagrams using Visio, and implementing the database with MySQL and

Jetty. Visio is a very useful application in creating these diagrams and no doubt

I learnt a lot from it. Before this project, I had no previous understanding in

how to create an application of my own. Nevertheless, through this project, I

have learnt to utilise these technologies as building blocks in the construction

of my app. When designing an app, it is important to first create UML and ER

diagrams so that they act as like a sort of blueprint to building the project.

Using this, I was able to develop the code using Java and XML. Once the app

was done, I had to implement tables into UNIX server. I used both MySQL and

Jetty to work with the server where MySQL was used to implement the tables

and Jetty was used to run the servlets. I learnt these technologies play a great

role in databases and that they are very key to today society. The technologies

that I have learnt about will be very useful for me in the future and will no

doubt benefit me greatly.

How did you connect your Android App to the server?

After the group created the servlets and tables, these were implemented into

the database server. Then I had to connect the Android app to the server. To do

this, I used a simple web view where I set the URL of a servlet to

183.62.91.3:8742/DB, which enabled the indicated servlet to load up. I believe

this was an easy and quick method. Though, I think another way to go about

this would be to use Http Client. This is because it is more secure and enables

you to connect with the servlets in a more direct way. I intend to experiment

with this method in the future.

What data did you generate and/or use? How was it used to support your

application?

I generated data such as the number of times a button is clicked. This is useful

as it tells me what the most popular feature is and how I can further develop

that part.

How would you develop you the project differently if you had to attempt a

similar project?

If I were to attempt a similar project again, I would implement a few changes

to my approach. First, to create the Android app, I would rather use JQuery

Mobile since it is much easier to use. The fact that many Android devices come

in different sizes and shapes with a range of different screen resolutions, it

would be better to use JQuery Mobile in making the app look more presentable

than using Java and XML. I would also create more diagrams, such as flow

charts to achieve a better understanding of what app I should create. This will

make the process of developing the app much simpler as I can look back at

these diagrams whenever I get stuck.

How did you use models and design patterns in your work? If you didnt,

could they have been used in any way?

I did not use design patterns in my report. Design patterns are general reusable

solution to a commonly occurring problem within a given context in software

design. They would have been very beneficial as I would have had a good idea

of how to better develop the. It would have also greatly speeded up the

development process and helped me to solve more problems.

What usability concerns do you have with respect to your target user type>

The main usability concerns I have regarding my app was whether it is easy to

use and navigate, as well as the overall design. My target user type is disabled

people. I believe that the app should allow these users to navigate with ease

and simplicity. Through my app, visitors to Kew Gardens will be able to easily

identify and locate events, facilities and shops. The user can select the required

location which automatically generates a map displaying the directions guiding

them to their respective location. During the design of a mobile application,

McCrickard (2012) argued that users with cognitive disadvantages preferred

applications that had larger interactive features, such as buttons, rather than

numerous options appearing on the screen [1]. Colour blindness is also a

concern of mine when developing my application as colour contrast of

backgrounds, texts and images have an effect on the users experience on the

application [2]. As a consequence these functions (larger buttons, attention to

colour) were implemented into the application.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design

SECTION 2 ORGANISATION

Did the project idea chosen work well for the group?

At the beginning of the project, the group had to gather in order to agree upon

a project idea. Each person within the group proposed an idea and then a final

vote was casted upon the most approved idea. A wide range of suggestions

were brainstormed, such as museums, theme parks, tourist sites. Eventually,

the final one approved upon was a popular touristic attraction, Kew Gardens.

Currently, Kew Gardens lacks any existing app that we know of. For such a

world famous garden, we thought it would be interesting to create an app that

serves as a helpful navigation tool, as well as comprising of important facts of

this particular venue. Within our group, we initially had a clash of opinions in

deciding a project idea. For example, an app for Thorpe Park was discussed, but

this did not suit each individuals taste in the group and it already had a large

number of apps developed for it. We finally settled on doing tourism.

Specifically, Kew Gardens was chosen as our venue, since everyone in the group

was familiar with the place and felt it would be exciting to develop an app

based on one of Englands most touristic attractions. One benefit of choosing

Kew Gardens was that it gave us the opportunity, as a team to spend the day

at the venue and learn what the app should consist of by experiencing the place

first-hand. We also were able to get good feedback from individuals that were

given short surveys which is discussed further in section 4.

How did the team meetings evolve over the course of the module (and were

they useful)?

At the beginning of the project, my group came together twice a week. This

included meeting at the library or during the lab sessions, and once with our

personal tutor. Initially, we had two meetings, where we needed to decide upon

our project idea and discuss our approach that we would undertake in the

development of the app. All of our meetings were organised well with each

member well informed about what was to be discussed. Meeting at the library

or during the lab sessions enabled us to discuss together as a group our ideas,

as well as resolving any issues one had. It was important that everyone was

able to contribute and was able to voice his or her opinion improving

communication within the group. Furthermore, it allowed us to learn from one

another, as well as learning what was required of the project. Additionally,

meeting up with our personal tutor allowed us to check whether we were on

the right track or not and gave us good feedback on how to improve and go

about our project.

However, over the course of the module, our meetings reduced in number, as

less group input was needed and it became more individually work oriented.

Everything had been discussed during the first few weeks of the project and

each individual within the group knew what the task comprised of.

Consequently, our meetings were quick consisting of us simply updating each

other and seeing whether anyone was experiencing any difficulties in the

project. From my point of view, it was good that we didnt spend a lot of time in

meetings as this was not necessary with the majority of the discussion having

taken place during the first few weeks of the project. Everyone was already

familiar with the projects tasks, and was designing and applying the features

and functionalities to the apps interface. Moreover, our meetings with the

tutor were not essentially done each week since there was not always a need

for them. Although the project became more independent, it still relied on us

working together as a team to accomplish final goals.

In general, meeting with the group and the tutor played a significant role in the

project. Meeting with the group presented me with many advantages, such as

improved communication. Increased communication within the group meant

meetings was effective in discussing ideas and planning our project. Group

meetings also gave me opportunity to hear other peoples views that

otherwise, I would not of thought of by myself and allowed everyone to

contribute towards the project. If I ran into any difficulties, I was also able to

ask one of my group members or tutor for assistance.

What were the benefits of using the group Wiki/Web collaboration tools?

The group Wiki/Web collaboration tools had many advantages for my group. In

my group, we set up a web collaboration tool using a free website called Trello.

Having a web tool helped make it easy for the team members to keep track of

the progress of the project. Through a web collaboration tool, we were able to

schedule meetings on a board, and highlight important information on the

project. Members could also share images of the screen they had designed and

gather feedback and ideas from the group. As well as this, we had a To do List

where certain tasks were listed and appointed to members. When a task was

completed, we could then check it off. Having this web tool played an

important role in allowing each member to access the project in a single place

online. As a result, this reduced our reliance on email as a communication tool

and this way a team member did not have to save work on a USB and the

chance of important documents getting lost was very low. Moreover, it reduced

the need to arrange meetings every time to discuss our project since it was

easier to review the work online. This was convenient for me as it was

sometimes difficult to organise a time that suits everyone. However, one

limitation was that we could become too reliant on it and not have enough face

to face meetings which were much needed after a long absence.

Overall, I would definitely use it in the future for team project as it enabled us

to keep well organised and steady in the project with team members allowed

contributing when regarded necessary.

How would you organise the team differently if you had to undertake a

similar project?

If I were to organise the team differently for a similar project, I would not

change it a lot and keep it very similar. With my teams organisation for this

project, I felt we worked well together and were able to get things done with

good time management. However, one thing that I would change would be to

split the team into two sub-groups and have each group work on a task, rather

than have every member on the same task. One example where this can be

implemented is the people who were strong at UMLs and Entity Relationship

diagrams could focus on completing and explaining that aspect of the project

to the rest of the group. Similarly, those who were stronger in coding could

work on the functionality of servlets and databases and do the same for the

rest of the group.

Another thing I would organise differently would be to have the leader assign

different roles to each member at the beginning of the project, rather than

having individuals volunteering as we progressed. This would add more

structure and organisation to the group if each member had clear targets and

knew what he or she was doing from the start. In addition, it would be more

beneficial to have roles appointed according to ones ability so fewer issues

would arise while a member was doing a role.

SECTION 3 PEOPLE

Was your team efficient and effective?

The team was effective and efficient throughout the year in working on the

group project. The attendance rate at our meetings was very high and the

communication was also strong. Meeting regularly allowed us to function

effectively as a group and allowed each member to express their idea and be

active in discussion. When choosing a good idea for our app, we brainstormed

ideas and chose an idea that we were all had common ground on. Having a

leader in the group also enabled us to make final decisions and not lose time by

taking too long to decide. Moreover, I thought having a team leader was

beneficial since our team objectives were well defined and we able to complete

the tasks on time. Additionally, my team was efficient, especially during

meetings where time was not wasted and each member came prepared with

ideas and what problems they wanted to address. When each member was

developing their Android screens, my team members assisted each other when

problems arose and helped guide each other in the development. As a result,

the project comprised of fairly high quality work showing how the team

performed efficiently.

How were tasks allocated?

Tasks were allocated based on who was willing to do what. For the first task,

the group had to decide what we are going to develop our app on. To do this

each group member wrote a list of his or her own idea. We then met as a group

and picked the best idea. When writing the minutes for our meetings, we

allowed a different member of the group to write it each time. This prevents

anyone being left out and allows everyone to actively engage in the group.

When it came to the database work, this was split accordingly to whoever

volunteers to pick what task. Some members was given the servlets parts while

others had to create the diagrams of the project. However, I didnt really think

that this was the perfect choice as it ended up with some people doing more

work than others. If I had to repeat this again, I would actively make everyone

have an equal amount of work to.

Did you have specific roles?

At the beginning of the project, there wasnt any specific role appointed to each

member, but over time we adapted to have certain roles. In me group, we had

a leader who would organise the team meetings and made the final decisions. I

thought this was good because this allowed our team to be organised and

more efficient. Over time, each person would volunteer for a specific task. One

member within the group was in charge of collecting the graphs and tables

together, as well as organising meetings with the personal tutor. My role in the

team, along with another member was to create the diagrams for task 2.

However, members in the group would assist in the tasks and help each other

making it more team work oriented at times.

What communication mechanisms were used?

A range of communication mechanisms were utilised by the group that we

found to be really effective. Developing a Facebook group was one method of

communication we used where we added each other on Facebook. Since its

very popular and most people are on Facebook, this was an effective method

for our group to communicate. Furthermore, we also exchanged phone

numbers, which is a standard way of communication. However, the most

effective communication method that we found to be was Whatsapp

Messenger. Creating a group conversation on Whatsapp Messenger where

each member was added enabled us to communicate as a group on our mobile

phones at any time and place. Also, being free and easy to use, I thought it was

the best communication mechanism. There is also no hassle in forwarding

messages to one another and the message always got to everyone. However,

internet access was not always available and this could cause communication

problems at urgent times. Overall, in this group we were all able to

communicate with each other very quickly and efficiently.

SECTION 4 RESEARCH TOPIC

Human Centred Design (HCD) is a design method that improves the usability of

the application for the user. It focuses on making the application as easiest to

use as possible for the user. This can work in favour and against the

application. The benefit of this is the user spends less time figuring out

functions and more time experiencing the application. However it ignores the

technology part of the application which makes it less innovative, causing a

counter balance within the application.

I assessed the usability of the HCD of my application with a survey. There are a

lot of benefits of questionnaires, such as the information can easily be

quantified and used to help me determine the most successful answers as

suggested by S.Ackroyd [5]. The results of my survey was successful and has

supported the ideas that were discussed, such as making larger buttons and

adding a voice-to-text feature. As Hugh Coolican suggests [3], only ask

questions that you want the answers for should be included. This is why I took

care in choosing what questions I want to ask and made sure they are

necessary. A set of questions were asked and the results were displayed in bar

charts or pie charts as they are easiest to understand (Hugh Coolican). The best

type of survey to conduct is one which has one dimensional answers and simple

questions as suggested by Lesley Andres [6].

Question: Do you prefer the application to have larger buttons on the screen?

Figure 2

Most users appear to prefer having larger buttons on their app which

supports McCrickard suggestion. 12 out of 15 people strongly supported the

suggestion which is 80% of the vote, while 3 out of 15 people supported it

which is 20% of the vote. The mean for this table is 4.8, while the mode is 5,

and the median is 5. Hence, this proves that making the buttons on my app

was important.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1 2 3 4 5

Do you prefer the application to have larger buttons?

No.ofpeople

Likert scale

Question: Would you find adding a voice to text feature to the app useful?

Figure 3

In this question, the majority seem to support adding a voice- to-text

feature. Out of 15 people, 10 people said yes which is 66.66%, 2 said no

which is 13.33%, while rest said I dont know which is 20%. These results

meant that adding a voice- to-text feature to my app necessary as it seems

the majority do want it. Likert questionnaires are beneficial as it allows you

to see how strongly people feel about the question (Likert, Rensis) [4].

Question: How likely are you to use an app when visiting an attraction?

10

2

3

Would you find adding a voice to text feature to the app useful?

Yes No I dont know

Yes = 10No = 2I don't know = 3

93

1

11

How likely are you to use an app when visiting an attraction?

Strongly likely Likely Uncertain Disagree Strongly disagree

Strongly Likely = 9Likely = 3Uncertain = 1Disagree = 1Strongly disagree = 1

Figure 4

In this question, the results show that the majority are very likely to use an

app when travelling. Out of 15 people, 9 people answered strongly likely

which is 60%, 3 said likely which is 20%, while the other choices had 1

person each which is 6.67% for each. The mean for pie chart is 4.2, the

median 5 and the mode is 5. These results show that a lot of people do use

an app whilst travelling.

Question: How many apps do you have on your phone?

Figure 5

In this question, the majority seem to have lots of apps installed on their phone.

Out of 15 people, 8 people said they have more than 10 apps installed which is

53.33%, 4 said they have between 6 and 9 apps installed which is 26.67%, while

2 said they have between 3 and 6 apps installed which is 13.33%. Moreover,

one person stated they have between 1 and 3 apps installed which is 6.67%.

These results show that people do use apps a lot and that they are very

important in todays society.

Furthermore, in applying HCD (Human centered design) to the theory and

design of my application, this has enabled me to connect with the user for their

0

1

2

4

8

How many apps do you have on your phone?

0 1 -- 3 3 -- 6 6 -- 9 >10

"1 - 3" = 1"3 - 6" = 2"6 - 9" = 4">10" = 8

specific needs and develop an effective prototype app. The application was a

prototype, but it can be further developed by physically implementing it,

designing and refining it. This will result in giving the application a much more

novel feel. Research used from literature helped identify what can and should

be focused on, whilst looking to design an application for a certain user type,

such as disabled people. Whether physically or cognitively; features have been

added and based on both cases.

During the process of creating the app, I have learnt several key factors

that are central to the design. Factors, such as the colour used and text size can

play an important role in impacting the experience of my specific user type,

disabled people. Enlarging the text and including the right colour combination

can improve the app allowing for a more coherent and clear message to be

communicated. I have also learnt that mixed media is a very efficient way of

enhancing the functionality of my app. Mixed media, such as videos and

pictures helps the user to understand the app more and allows greater insight

into Kew gardens itself. All this was key to developing a user friendly app.

Bibliography

[1] McCricken, D. (2012) Designing a Mobile Survey Application for People with

Cognitive Disabilities. [Online] p. 1-4.

Available from: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~mccricks/dis12-cogdisab/pos-

zhang.pdf [Accessed: 11/11/2014]

[2] Moscaritolo, A. (2013) Dots arrives on iPad. [Online] ABI/INFORM Global.

Available from: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/ [Accessed: 11/13/2014].

[3] Coolican, Hugh (2009). Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology

[Accessed: 21/02/2015]

[4] Likert, Rensis (1932). "A Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes".Archives of Psychology 140: 155. [Accessed: 23/02/2015]

[5] S. Ackroyd and J. A. Hughes, Data Collection in Context (1981) Longman.

[Accessed: 24/02/2015]

[6] Andres, Lesley (2012). "Designing and Doing Survey Research". London: Sage. [Accessed: 15/02/2015]

http://people.cs.vt.edu/~mccricks/dis12-cogdisab/pos-zhang.pdfhttp://people.cs.vt.edu/~mccricks/dis12-cogdisab/pos-zhang.pdfhttp://www.brunel.ac.uk/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rensis_Likerthttp://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book234957?siteId=sage-uk&prodTypes=any&q=andres