Project 3: Final Project - Open-Ended, Mobile Application

Assignment Date: Oct 29th, 2007

Preproduction Materials: November 5th, 2007 (Beg. of lab)

Progress Check: TBA

Final Submission Date: Friday, Dec 7th, 2007- 3 p.m.

Background

The final project is a chance for students to flex their developmental muscles using the cumulative skills and knowledge they have obtained. Students are required to design, develop, and test a Flash-based application that pushes their creative and developmental skills to their limits.

The application will be web-based, so it must be optimized accordingly. However, it will not be designed for modem connections, so you should have some design flexibility there. Idealistically, you should design the application for either IE or Netscape at 1024 X 768 resolution, using the relatively high bandwidth available in the ITAP labs. The application should run smoothly and cleanly under these specifications.

Students may design their own projects OR choose from one of the possible options below.

Possible Projects:

Mobile Application:

Using the current version of Flash Lite create a mobile phone application capable of running one of the devices we have in Knoy 346 or on another device running the Flash Lite Player. Emulators may be used with the consent of the instructor.

• List of Flash Lite Compliant Cell Phones - Coming soon

Open-Ended Application:

Whatever you'd lilke...either 2.0 or 3.0.

Peer Assisted Learning Demo:

As part of your final project, you will be expected to give a short instructional demo on developing something with Adobe Flash. Ideally, this will be some element of your final project, although it is not required that you do so. The demo will account for 35% of your final project grade.

Students will present their ideas for their instructional demo with their final project preproduction materials, and should select 2-3 initial ideas to prevent demo overlap. Students must get approval from their instructor before proceeding with developing their demo.

Demo Specifications:

• Session must contain both a lecture and demo format.
• Demo must result in something the students can create and submit.
• Content must involve something new that has not yet been covered in class.
• Consists of 35% of your final project grade.

See additional additional demo specs inclusing the schedule of presenters here.

Checks and Balances: Progress Checks

Several progress checks will be given during development of this project. Students should have the appropriate amount of their project completed for each check, which should be relative for each check. For example, if the progress check takes place in the second week of a 4 week project, the project should be approximately 50% complete.

Each progress check will be worth approximately 5% of the final project grade, so take them seriously.

Preproduction Materials

Preproduction specfications will vary, but should be professionally done and thorough.

Testing

Each student should have a working application that should be ready to test by Week 15 AT THE LATEST. Students should test their applications rigorously with a sample of their target audience to identify any potential problems. Students will be required to submit a test report along with their final project submissions. This test report should detail the 1) testing procedures, 2) results of the testing, and 3) any revisions made to the application.

• Minimum of 5 people in your sample test population for each round of testing. Test subjects should not overlap (don't use the same people twice)
• Minimum two rounds of tests
• Must have a pre and post-test questionaire
• Must record the results of both tests and compare them
• Must illustrate the changes made to the application after the first round of testing
• Must write a brief discussion on the results of the testing and the changes made to the application

Test Report Components:

1. Cover Page
2. Project Description: A general explanation of the Flash application you have created (1-2 paragraphs)
3. Methodology: Describe the procedures you implemented for testing your application. Make references to your test documents located in your appendices section. (1 page)
4. Data Analysis: Compile your test data into a consolidated form. (Charts, graphs, etc…)
5. Discussion:
1. Round One Testing: Discuss what you found from your first round of testing.  Focus on large problems and solutions that can quickly be implemented.
2. Revisions: Based on findings from Round One testing, discuss what changes you made to your application. Include those you were unable to implement.
3. Round Two Testing: Discuss the finding from your second round of testing.  Did your revisions address the problems found in the first round?
6. Recommendations and Conclusion: Wrap up the project and discuss any additional changes/modifications that could be made in the future to enhance the application
7. Appendices: Copies of any documentation used in the testing (forms, surveys, questionnaires, etc…)

Revisions and Final Submission

Based on the results of the test, final revisions should be made to the application. Students should then submit their projects in a submission package that includes the final project, proposal, test report, and any additional documentation.

Recommended Procedures:

1. Develop a working calendar that takes into account the how much time you will need to develote to this project. Although you will have time to work on the projects in lab, outside work will be necessary. Failure to do so will likely result in a poor project.
2. Develop a rough design of your application based on the content for your particular project. Take into account your developmental strengths and weaknesses.
3. Develop the preproduction materials and get approval from your instructor. This includes the 1-page proposal, sketches, storyboards, interface designs, and flowcharts.
4. Once your design has been approved, begin production on the project.
5. Students should be able to demonstrate progress on a weekly basis, as they will be required to do at the progress checks. Students who show little to no progress from week to week will receive a lower grade.
6. Once you have your application finished, test it for bugs and usability. This will require usability and performance testing with your target sample population. You will need to document your testing procedures and results, so be thorough. Once you have tested the application and identified problem areas, make the appropriate revisions to your application in preparation for final submission.
7. Submit your working application, proposal, test report, and any additional documentation.

Deliverables

All items in a professional binder labeled with names of your group members, CGT 251-Lab #, Name of your Instructor, the Assignment Name, and Due Date. Submit the following materials in the following order:

1. Cover Page
2. Project Proposal - complete with the purpose, goals, and justification for your project, site outline, flowchart, and interface designs.
3. Test Report - detailing the procedures and results of your tests along with any project revisions
4. The URL of your web application
5. Additional Documents or Files - references, articles, etc
6. DVD or CD with your .fla files, .swf files, and/or associated HTML files. Use the submission conventions outlined on the website

In addition to having your site on a disk in your portfolio, yourapplication must also be published on the Web and be accessible by the instructor. Make sure the URL for the published site is included somewhere that can be easily found.

You must also submit your .swf files and related files to the P1 submission folder on the "G" Drive. Make sure you place your folder in the correct section number and use the file naming conventions outlined on the website.

Evaluation and Grading Criteria:

Grades will be based on several factors, with special emphasis on interactivity. In addition to your instructor assessments, projects will be evaluated by other faculty in your particular area. Since the majority of the class has taken some design and web development classes, you will be expected to meet the expectations assumed in your passing of those courses. This includes a basic understanding of design and web development techniques.

Assessment Areas:

• Animation - efficiency, professionalism, pertinence
• Interactivity (highly important) - efficiency, sophistication
• Demonstration of dynamically loaded content
• Audio integration
• Video integration
• Optimization
• Aesthetics
• Originality and innovativeness
• Validated through usability and performance tests
• Professionalism

Superior work, professional	A
Above average student work	B
Average student work	C
Below average student work	D
Failure	F