Overall,wearemorethansatisfiedwithwhatwewereabletoaccomplishduringthetwo quartersthatweworkedontheapplication.Notonlydid wemeeteachofthegoalsthatweset forthtoaccomplishatthebeginningofthisquarter,butweexceededthem.Our goalfortheend ofthesecondquarterwastohaveafunctioning messagegroupforeach classsection.Thisdid notincludehaving“events”andthenallowingreplies,butasimplemessageboardforeachclass whereallactivitywouldtakeplace.However,as wecontinuedtodeveloptheapplication,we decidedtoexceedthegoalswehadpreviouslysetforth.Having“events”wouldmaketheapp muchmoreuserfriendlyandaddthepotentialformanyfuturefeaturesaswell. Forone,itwould allowustoaddfieldswhencreatingneweventssuchasduedate,and whetheraneventwas privateornot.Itwouldalsomakefinding particulartopicsmucheasierthanscrollingthrough possiblyhundredsofmessagesthathavebeenaddedsincethebeginningofthecourse.Wealso likedthebenefitsofeventsbecausetheygaveustheabilitytosortthem inaccordancetotheir duedates.
Therewerealsoseveralothersmallerfeaturesthatweaddedtotheapplicationatalater date.Forone,weaddedtheabilitytoaddadditionalclassestoastudent’saccount,when previously,weonlyallowedreplacingthecoursesthat theyhadpreviouslyenrolledinwithan
entirelynewselectionofcourses.Inaddition,we allowedtheremovalofcoursesfroma student’sschedulewithaneasytouseleftswipe gesture.Wealsoadded theabilitytoremove andeditevents,butonlythosethattheloggedinusercreated.However,thisisnottosaythatwe considerthisapplicationtobecompletebyanymeans.Seethe“FutureWork”sectionformore informationonwhatwestillhaveleft tocompletein termsoffeatures.
Thereisnotmuchthatwefeelthatwecouldhavedonedifferentlyto theapplicationasit standsnow.Certainly,therewerecertaindesigndecisionsthatwemadeearlyonandhadto changeaswegotabetterunderstandingofhow wewantedtheapplication tobearchitected;but intermsofthecurrentstateoftheapplication,thereisnothingthatwe feelshouldbedifferent.
WorkingwithProfessorStanchevwasanabsolutepleasure.Heprovidedus withtheright amountofguidanceandsupport.Weneverfeltthathewastoooverbearing,ornothelpful
enough.Heofferedadvicewhenneeded,andwasveryflexiblewithourmeetingtimes.Hewas alsoveryaccommodatingwiththedeadlinesweset. Hewashappytomovethemaround providedwecompleteourinitialproposedfeaturesbytheendofthequarter.Thiswasvery generousonhispartastherewerecertainweeksduringwhichwehadother prioritiesthatgotin thewayofhowmuchworkwecouldcomplete.Insummary,heallowedus tobeindependentin workingonourapplication,hasbeenexcellentpreparationforwhenwe entertheworkforce.
Future
Goals
Thoughwehavemadesignificantprogresson ourapplication,there arestillsome
Weareplanningoncontinuingtoworkonthis applicationaftertheterm completesonourown, asapersonalproject,becauseweareextremelypassionateaboutit,andwantto makeitasuseful aspossibleforourstudentbody.
Thefirstofourgoalsistocompleteanidenticalandroid implementationofthe
application.Wehadoriginallyplannedoncompletingapartialandroidimplementationalongside ourIOSimplementation,butultimatelydecidedto morethoroughlycomplete theIOSversion beforemovingtoadifferentplatform.AccordingtotheHuffingtonPost, 96.7%ofcollege studentswithsmartphoneshaveeitheraniPhoneor Androidphone,sobycapturingthesetwo platformswewillbeableto serviceamajorityofstudents.
Anotheroneofourfuturegoalsistodifferentiatebetweenthevariouseventtypesthatwe havecreated.Asofnowweallowtheusertoselectwhichtypeeventtheywanttocreate,butwe donotdisplay,orofferanyadditionaloptionsdependingonwhicheventtypetheyhaveselected. Forexample,aremindershouldgivetheusertheoption toaddaduedate,butageneralnote maynotnecessarilyrequireone.Oneoftheoptionsthatwehavediscussedaddingincludecolor codingthevariouseventtypesandallowingfiltering sothatstudentscaneasilysortthrough them.Inaddition,wewouldliketoaddtheability totagusersineventsandreplies,whichwould thennotifythetaggedusersandallowthemto respondappropriately.Thiswould thenbetiedto apushnotificationsystemthatwouldnotifyusers wheneithertheirmessagehasbeenresponded to,orwhentheyhavebeentaggedinapost.
Wealsowanttoaddanadditionalviewingoption toourapplicationin theformofa calendar.Asofnow,wehaveoureventslistedinorderofsoonesttofurthestduedateinalist view.Inouropinion,thisisamuchmoreeffectiveuseofscreenreal estatethanatraditional
calendar,butweunderstandthatnoteveryonesharesthisopinion.Some individualsprefera traditionalcalendarview,whichiswhywewouldliketo addtheoptiontoalsovieweventsina calendar.Then,byclickingonaparticularday,a usercouldviewthe eventsscheduledas“due” onthatday,andclickonaparticulareventtoviewresponses.
Wearealsoplanningonaddingdifferentiationbetweenstudentandinstructoraccounts. Wecoulddothisbychangingthecurrentloginandregistrationsystemtoinsteadusestudents’ andinstructors’CalPolycredentials,viaAPItokens.Wedidnothavethenecessarytimeto completethisduringthetermbecauseoftheamount ofpaperworkthatwas neededinorderto receivetheAPItokens,butdoingsowoulddefinitelyallowustocreateadminandstudent accounts,whichwouldprovidemuchneededmonitoringtotheapplication.This way,ifa
studentpostssomethingthattheinstructordeems asinappropriate,such ashomeworksolutions, theinstructorcouldremovethepost.
Inaddition,wewanttoallowstudentsto addfileattachmentstotheirmessages.This couldbeusefulifforexample,astudentasksforclassnotesforadayinwhichtheywereunable toattend.Astudentwhodidattendcouldquiteeasily sendapictureoftheclassnotestothe studentinneed.Thiswouldbeatremendousbenefitto instructorsasitwouldfreeupalotof timethattheyhavetospendansweringemailsaboutwhatwascoveredonacertainday.