Artefact 5 - Evaluation

My fifth artefact looked into the effect of the scrollable type navigation on an app for a hand-held device; which was identified in artefact 3. This artefact looked into testing this type of navigation within an app on a hand-held device.

The design and structure was taken forward from artefact 3 where i added additional content to form a complete design. The app was built using Flash Builder along with actionscript 3; which consists of six pages reflecting the content provided from the we7 website.

The app was tested on an android mobile (HTC Desire) and an emulator (Android SDK). I recorded me using the app so I could further analyse for rectifying errors later. From initially testing the app I found several issues with the usability of the finished product. These were the following; there was not enough surface area to push the buttons on; this could have been solved with adding a ‘hit’ area within Flash. Some of the other issues included; slow loading time and missing stop frames on certain pages. The main element was the music player which was created as means of playing music from we7, which would sync with your playlist. Due to the timeframe and skills within app creation, I was only able to produce part of the music player.

The artefact was followed up with a focus group consisting of four people; this aided in outlining several key issues regarding the app’s usability. Main points identified were that the app needed an ‘introduction page’; which would have helped with informing users about certain elements of the app e.g. how to use it. From the results identified, I can progress on with editing the app and producing the final artefact where I will be testing against the we7 website.

Artefact 5 - Testing

Summary

My fifth artefact required testing on a hand-held device and is built using Flash Builder. The app is built from we7 and populated using there content. The app was tested on the Android SDK (http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html) using the 'android-sdk_r10-windows.zip' version r10. The application was setup and ran from my desktop where i packaged up the required files in order to test 'as a developer' for debugging.

The app needed packaging which was learnt using Lynda.com online tutorials...

Tutorial Details:

Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices
Author: Paul Trani
Released: 2/15/2011
Duration: 03:35:00
Level: Intermediate

The tutorials gave me an insight into deploying a game which was not relevant but some parts were useful to take notes from. This lead me onto selecting the appropriate files to include before packaging.

The packaging process was used using the 'command line' on a windows based computer and successfully created an .apk using the following code...

cd C:/Users/Family/Desktop/AdobeAirSDK/bin/

(this was to set the folder location)

adt -package -target apk -storetype pkcs12 -keystore mycert.p12 we7.apk we7-app.xml we7.swf 36.png 48.png 72.png

(this was to target the swf and other files to make the app)

The video below shows as recording of me using the app on the Android Emulator for analysing purposes.

Artefact 5 - Music

The whole point of my app is to test the 'navigation' results from arefact 3. This will be tested but i need some content and music examples to engage with upon testing. So i have looked into adding in a mp3 player which will sit within the app and can play local/cashed music from the original website. This feature if i could build it would let users link online via Wi-fi and would be able to sync music with this app. This would provide and extra feature which would enhance the users experience.

So far i have managed to include some script which links a local .mp3 file which plays upon pressing the 'play' button within the app (screenshot below).

Artefact 5 - Progress

After researching endlessly on crating apps for my 5th artefact i stumbled across building my app within Flash Builder. This would provide me the best viable chance of producing a working app which i could publish on an Android phone. This is crucial to gathering results as it will need a touch screen interface.



So far i have delved into building the app and heres my progress so far...

What Ive got left to do...

• Finish the apps interface


• Add in some content


• Publish the app


• Test the app and evaluate

Artefact 5 - Update

From posting last i realised just how hard it is to build an app with know experience or guidance. I have looked further into building applications for IPhone or Android. I found a few tutorials and looked further into Eclipse for Javascript builders. This software is designed for coders but would allow me to build apps quicker than the Flash route. Speed is an issue due to having to test this app afterwards. My main concern is to build the app in time to get results, so i have decided to do a summary of this artefact and focus upon testing in artefact 6.

Here's screenshots of me working in Eclipse...

Artefact 5 - Idea

From my previous arefact where i looked further into the navigation as being a crucial aspect in using app/websites on devices which can affect the user experience. This lead me onto looking into incorporating speech recognition as an additional test to add to my prototype which could be tested as well as the navigation when i create an app.

My next artefact is going to take a step back and hopefully build a working app of the we7.com website. This artefact will hopefully be deployed onto several hand-held devices for testing purposes. The results of this will be carried forward to build upon this for a final summary and to hopefully answer my question. 'Does redeployment of a website onto a hand-held devices enhance the users experience?.

The Task...

What I'm going to build? - I'm going to make an app using Flash builder and incorporating all of the content from artefact 3.

Why am i doing this? - To show a website in an app form which hopefully will be a prototype which shows how apps can enhance the website version.

Where I'm going to test? - I'm going to deploy the app onto varied hand-held devices and test through survey/questionnaire in focus groups. To get started I'm going to delve into the world of apps via looking into Adbobe Builder and Air. Ive found some useful tips on there website at adobe.com