Week 14: Preparing Presentation

Presentation is just around the corner so here is the link to my mobile app:  Hawaiian Kajukenbo Association Mobile App

Adjust your browser window size to fit app.

Week 13: Time to test

For the testing of my app, I wanted to grab people who is my "Target Market" so the people that will be mostly using the app.  Since my app is geared towards my martial arts school, I wanted people from that club to test it; so the instructors and the students.

My initial plan was to record them actually using the app between the two different interfaces.  However as things don't always go as planned, I was unable to get my test subjects available and was not able to record them.  After talking with Sam he suggested using Google Forms so I was able to create the questions that I was planning on asking the subjects as if I was going to record them.  

The two different interfaces that the subjects used was the Calendar view and the Agenda (list) view.  

Use the links below to view the Evaluation Responses.
Agenda View

Month View

Week 12: Evaluation Plan

Goals What do you want to learn? What concerns, questions, and goals is the test focusing on?

I want to know which interface is the most efficient and easiest to use for my events section.  Some of the concerns that I have are:  is it necessary to have both interfaces of the Events section (calendar view or list view).  The goals will be to see how fast the participants can navigate through the different interfaces and find certain events that I choose and give me details about the event. 

Participants Who will you recruit and how?

I will recruit students and instructors from my martial arts class; Hawaiian Kajukenbo Association.

Method Timing, Duration, Location, Process

I will give the participants a maximum duration of 3 minutes and I will time them to see how long it takes to find certain events for both of the view options.  The location of the test will be at the martial arts’ school. 

 

Tasks What will you ask participants to do? Make sure to align the tasks with your goals.

The tasks that I will have my participants perform will consist of them finding certain events that I created and also having them give me specific details of certain events that I select, such as: The name of the event, where the event takes place and what time the event takes place.

Measures Success criteria; Additional dependent variables; qualitative data (will you take pictures or record audio?) 

I will record each test with my video camera that will also provide audio. 

Which two interfaces are you going to test?

The two interfaces that I will be testing will be my Events section, a Calendar view and a List view.

What tasks are you going to have users perform?

The tasks that I will have my participants perform will consist of them finding certain events that I created and also having them give me specific details of certain events that I select, such as: The name of the event, where the event takes place and what time the event takes place.

What follow up questions will you ask them?

Some questions that I may ask when I test my app will be:  what did they like about the calendar view?  What did they like about the list view?  Which interface did they find to be easier to navigate through?  

Will you have all users try both prototypes?  If so in which order?  If not, how will you split them into two groups?

I think I will have all my participants tryout both of the prototypes.  The order will be:  The first participant will try out the calendar view then the list view, the second participant will try out the list view then the calendar view and so on.  I think I will split them into groups by having an adult participant and a child participant in each group. 

AGENDA VIEW

CALENDAR VIEW

Week 11: Implementation from week 1

This week I started kind of late with my alternate version of my app and finally got it to my programmer Makoto.  After chatting with Makoto via skype we have both decided that my alternate version looks better because it seems "cleaner".  Makoto and I have had a pairing session with our instructor on Saturday at 10am Hawaii time and discussed what the main plan for my Kajukenbo app.  After the pairing session I have realized that my main reason and its main use would be for the students and instructors to be kept in the loop with the upcoming events.

So far the alternate version is up but is currently in construction mode.  I am hoping by the end of this week I will have a 3rd party take a look and do some comparisons with the different versions of the designs.  I was busy this week working on the new graphics so the image below is what the new version will somewhat look like.

Week 11: Revealing More Information

For this week in the 4ourth Wiki Site our assignment was to look into the Revealing More Information section of the site to look for more patterns.  The patterns that I chose were the Returned Results and the Pop-up.

Returned Results
The 4ourth wiki site describes the Returned Results as a ,"list that will need to be selected, either as choices for another process, in order to view more details, or to start a process (such as navigating to the selection)."

Yelp on iOS

I love using yelp because it is a great app the lets you locate local business around your location.  This example shows my current location as a blue dot and in the search bar I typed in Sushi and the Returned Results shows other red dots with the nearest business that sells or serves sushi.
Yelp is available on iTunes here


Pop-Up
4ourth also describes Opening a Pop-Up, "can be allowed via a typical link, or as a result of other user or system actions.  There is no univerally-recognized design method to launch or make the user aware that the action will load a Pop-Up.

Seconds on iOS

To me this part of the app is annoying to me, everytime I open this app I always get this Pop-Up which is notifying me to turn my bluetooth on.  The first time I ran this app I canceled this notification but apparently this is the default notification.  I guess I could easily just go into the settings and turn on my bluetooth but I don't want to.  This is the free version of the app Seconds available on iTunes

Week: 10 Update on Hawaiian Kajukenbo App

The first 2 weeks of the app implementation seems to be going smooth so far *knocks on wood* dont want to jinx it.  So far Makoto and I seem to be in pretty good shape and seem to be on track.  The Home screen is up as well as the instructors page and I am very please with the quality of work that Makoto has been putting in.  Makoto and I have been in contact with each other almost everyday via skype and we are on the same page, though he has a lot of technical knowledge of programming that I am very very rusty with the terms and lingo.  Tomorrow I will get him an updated version of the banner in the home screen so the design matches the rest of the buttons throughout the app.

Here are Screen Shots of what we have so far:

HOME SCREEN

INSTRUCTORS PAGE

INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTOR PAGE

The Back and Home buttons will be changed for each page in the coming weeks but right now these will be used as place holders.

Week 08: Implementation

Late post:

For my mobile app I'm partnering up with Makoto and so far I am very pleased with the ideas that this guy has and I am very excited and can't wait for this app to be up and running.  Since he is the professional here, I have taken his decision to go with a web app which I'm totally fine with.

Here is what our work Schedule would be like:

Week 1:  3/24 - 3/31:  Review and discuss the details of the app (determine the resolution of the app to design towards.  Since it will be a web app the graphics will have have to accomodate different resolutions since every user doesn't have the same resolutions) so 1280 x 2560 is what I will design towards.

Week 2:  3/31 - 4/7:  Jump start on getting the Home Screen up (Layout/ Button Design), start on the instructors page with the button placement and button design.

Week 3:  4/7 - 4/14:  Get each individual instructor page up and start working on the events page with a list view that is clickable and able to add to default phones calendar

Week 4:  4/14 - 4/21:  Work on Photo gallery with a Cover Flow look (If there is time user able to upload own photos/ videos)

Week 5:  4/21 - 4/28:  Find a way to make the app work with facebook app to update status or post in Kajukenbo Facebook page

Week 6:  4/28 - 5/4:  Testing the app making sure everything works.

Week 7:  5/4:  Presentation day or Final app testing day.

Week 10: More Patterns

For this weeks assignment in the "Control and Confirmation" section of the  4ourth Mobile wiki site, I did the exact same process as I did in last weeks blog post, I grabbed my handy dandy iPhone 4s and looked through my existent apps to see which apps I had available to use examples for this weeks post.


Sign On
The 4ourth Mobile wiki site describes "Sign On"as giving authorized individuals access to a device or a site, service or application on the device.  There are also different variations to signing on to your device, such as entering text and or a numeric entry.

Credit Karma app

Credit Karma is an app that allows you to check you current credit score, which is really great and it keeps me motivated to keep my credit up, but besides that I really love the security of this app.  When this app is launched you are prompted to "Sign On" this is where you input your 4 digit pin code that you have set when you first set up the app, when you click on the first box to input the first digit of your code a virtual keypad is provided to input your code.  

Bank of Hawaii app

Bank of Hawaii is my bank and I really do love that they have a mobile app just like the other banks out there now coming out with mobile banking apps.  Just like Credit Karma where you are prompted to "Sign On" you input your username in the User ID box that is provided and a virtual keyboard is provided when you are about to log in.  

Confirmation
4ourth describes that Confirmation as a process in which you created that includes points where the user "must confirm an action or choose between a number of disparate (and usually exclusive) choices."

Bank of Hawaii app

For the Bank of Hawaii app I purposely entered an incorrect User ID for obvious reasons, I don't want to give out that kind of information, I mean I'm a nice guy but..... not that nice.  For education reasons I wanted to show what type of confirmation this app gives when an incorrect User ID is entered.  This Confirmation pattern shows an error which stops the process, so this the user a Pop-Up dialogue notifying the user that my sign-on was unsuccessful and contact customer support if I need assistance.  This makes the user think that something might be wrong, my User ID maybe? or maybe the app itself?

Dropbox app

One of my favorite apps to use is Dropbox, I really do like how the app gives you a Wait Indicator that means a task has started in this case I'm uploading a photo to my Dropbox and it gives a visual of how much further or longer it is going to take for the photo to be uploaded.

Week 09: Patterns

After going through the "Display of Information"  section of the 4ourth Mobile wiki site, I found some patterns in some of my own apps that I already have on my iPhone 4s, so I decided to share with you folks some of the examples that I found.

SELECT LIST

The 4ourth mobile wiki site says that, "You must allow the user to make a selection -- or several of them -- from any of the large, ordered datasets discussed in this chapter.

The applications of this are essentially limitless, and can be applied to the simplest and the most complex of representations, so can be used one way or the other for any type of implementation."

Select lists are usually displayed as a Grid and or a Vertical list.  The default iPhone Photos app displays their select list as a Grid, when you select the photos that you want, your selection turns semi-opaque with a red check mark on the bottom right of the photo.  Unlike the Photos app, the Dropbox app displays their select list as a Vertical List where you select the files that you want and on the left of the selection pops up a blue and white check mark with the title of the file highlighted in light blue color.  

Default iPhone Photos

Dropbox

     

 INFINITE AREA

4ourth describes the Infinite Area as a "complex and/or interactive visual information, which you should be presented as a single image, but is so large it must be routinely zoomed into so only a portion is routinely visible in the viewport."

The Photos app in the iPhone allows you view all the Pins in the viewport and when you zoom in more pins will pop up to show you where the photo was taken.  Maps in the iPhone is another default app in iOS that has this pattern of Infinite Area so, as you zoom in the more information is displayed, such for this app when you zoom in more detailed information is displayed, like street names or landmarks in the  viewport.

Default iPhone Photos

Default iPhone Maps

     

Week 08: Mobile Implementation/ Heuristic Evaluation

For this weeks assignment I am redoing my evaluation for Allison from Allison Unzipped  because I felt like I wasn’t as thorough as I could have been in my evaluation.  I just want to thank Allison again for connecting with me via Skype last week and helping me in critiquing my Balsamiq mockup MUCH MAHALOS!!!  Overall I felt her app was really thought through and it seemed as if she covered majority of her bases on the concept of her app.  

Consistency and Standards

Severity Rating:  0

The buttons throughout her app are consistent in her prototype, the buttons are located in the same place while going through each screen/page in the app, the user is not going to have a hard time trying to figure out what each button does or if they are going to mess up while in this app.

User Control and Freedom

Severity Rating:  2

I told Allison about this when I was conducting the evaluation; I think it would be a good idea if a back button was implemented so the user could go to the previous page just so the user has the freedom to do so.

Another thing that I recommended is that for the screens where users have to input text such as their names or the amount that they want to bid in the game, there should be an edit button as well, if there was a typo or if they entered the wrong amount to bid. 

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

Severity Rating:  1

I think that all of the dialogues that are in the app are useful and contain the right amount of information needed to get through the app in itself.   One recommendation though that I think is minor but I think it also could be useful, for the home screen I would add a how-to just in case people who want to play the game know how to play the game, like handbook where the rules are explained. 

Awesome Job Allison!! THANKS AGAIN

Here is the video from our evaluation

Week 07: Mobile Navigation Patterns

In my opinion the design of the app is what makes it stand out compared to other apps out there.  From the link that was provided to us for our assignment this week http://www.mobiledesignpatterngallery.com I found 3 of them that I sort of really liked.  2 of the patterns that I found were from the Tab Menu and the last pattern that I really liked was from the Spring Board.

Tab Menu:

Spring Board:

The reason why I picked these patterns is because, thinking for my own mobile app, Im trying to figure out which one of these patterns would match my mobile app.  All of these patterns seem very simple and clean, everything is perfectly spaced out, the colors match each other and the text is very readable.  My mobile app doesn't have that much content and much buttons and Im thinking of possible redesigning my layout to one of these patterns.

Week 07: Heuristic Evaluations VIA SKYPE

I have never really used Skype before and wow this thing came in handy.  I got in touch via Skype with two of my peers Chris Wheeler and Allison Diller within the same day and I was able to conduct Heurustic Evaluations of their Apps and they also did one for mine.  *** I will post the video of their feedback for me when I get their videos a little later.***  here is the videos from Chris:

and here is the video for Allison:

**EDIT**
Allison from Allison Unzipped just sent me the link for her conducting the Heuristic Evaluation of my app here is a link to her blog and video: http://allisonunzipped.blogspot.com

Week 07: Effective Blogging

Blogging is somewhat of a new territory for me and explaining my self could seem quite difficult and confusing.  One of the assignments this week was to read an article about effective blogging:  http://michaelhyatt.com/anatomy-of-an-effective-blog-post.html and then blog about another blog.  The blog that I viewed was from http://idevblogaday.com/ and the article that I chose was called Got Buttermilk?.  From what I have learned from the effective blogging article is that blogs should be really straight to the point with the important information explained.  Blogs also explain the writers personal experience, this makes sense to me because it gives the readers insight on the writers point of view.  Michael Hyatt's article has a list of what makes a 500-word blog and you can click on the link to the page to see what I am talking about.  I think that the article Got Buttermilk? is an effective blog post because the writer executed if not all of the main points that Michael Hyatt explained, which is why I think that that blog post is an effective one.

WEEK 6: Balsamiq

One of the changes that I have made in my prototype was that I took out the Social Media option....for now anyways, I just don't think that I want to complicate the app.  Another thing that I changed in this app was that for the Events I did make the decision to go with a calendar look instead of it just a list of the different upcoming apps.  I would also like the events to have a symbol of some sort so the users know when exactly the dates are and when the date is selected you could have the choice to set a reminder of the event.

WEEK 5: EVALUATION

With my work schedule I am pretty busy but since I don't have any free time to myself I asked my girlfriend and her mom to help me out with my evaluation of my prototype.  I tried to make my prototype as simple as possible so here is what I came up with.

• In the events page, I think in the future I would rather have a calendar instead of just a list of upcoming events.  I noticed that when my testers tried to tap on the event dates listed, it occurred to me that it wouldn't lead the user anywhere further.
• Another thing that I noticed was that maybe for the social media page it would open up the built in social media app such as (facebook, twitter, instagram)

I mainly want this app to serve the students at Hawaiian Kajukenbo Association.  

WEEK 4: Prototyping

1. Point of View:Most people tend to forget certain dates that may be important, like a concert coming up or a presentation that they need to prepare for.  Even though you could use your default smartphones calendar app, an app that could have updated events or dates into your news feed

2. Storyboard:

3. Paper Prototype
                                               

WEEK 3: HPU 4702 MOBILE DESIGN ASSIGNMENT

Week 3:  HPU 4702 Mobile Design Assignment

Step 1: Observe

I chose to observe my family members in some of the daily activities around the house as well as some new projects.  This will help my girlfriend and me in the future because when we get a place of our own we can use these new skills in our own place. 

Girlfriend: painting the guest room so she can have room to do her makeup. 

Successes:

Finished painting the room in less than 3 hours.

Managed not to break her nails or to get any interior paint on them.

Learned how to paint a room

Breakdowns:

Room previously had dark blue paint on walls and mixed with graffiti

The walls had some dents and needed to be leveled out with wall spackle

Newspaper needed to be put down lining the edges of the floor

Walls have to be wiped down and then; primer needs to be applied.

Opportunities:

First chance for her to do a DIY (do-it-yourself) project

Apply the painting techniques she learned from YouTube as well as asking other people who have painted an interior before. 

Aunty (girlfriends mom): organizing appliance cabinet, so she can find things easier when she wants to cook.

Successes:

Took out all unused appliances so there is more room in the cabinets for more useful appliances.  

Arranged the appliances according to their size, the bigger appliances such as cooking pots, rice cooker

Breakdowns:

Some appliances are not often used and are taking a lot of room

Different types of appliances are out of place, which makes finding them hard in the future

Smaller appliances are hidden behind bigger appliances.

Opportunities:

A chance to organize all of the cabinets and get rid of unused appliances