Background

This university requested some discovery work around a student mobile app - dubbed "grangeMobile" - in advance of the opening of a new campus. The aim for grangeMobile was to be a utility app to allow university students access lists of lectures, modules, lecturer details and location information. Though I also ultimately created a functional prototype to act as a Proof of Concept/MVP, the real value to the client was a better understanding of the students' usage contexts and the app's functional priorities.

What I Did

I initially conducted an analysis of the student user's contexts - i.e. activity, location, device, etc. - to see what bearing these might have on how grangeMobile should operate and respond. This was done through observation and interviews with students. This research and analysis allowed user behaviour models to be derived, which then resulted in lists of functions and data that the app should exhibit and present. Based on behaviours, functionality and source-data, I created use-cases and user flows, informing detailed data-models and system maps.

I created grangeMobile's prototype as a fully-functioning, data-driven application sitting on a MySQL back-end. The presentation layer was created using jQuery Mobile, with Backbone.js as the MVC framework. The prototype served as a proof of concept for the technologies involved, as well as a point of departure for work continuing on from the MVP. The next step was to deploy the app to device using PhoneGap (a working web demo can be accessed to give an appreciation of flows and interaction).

Finally, I conducted on-device observation testing with a conhort of students to gather feedback for post-MVP work. All of the work was then summarised in a report and shared with DIT stakeholders.

What Were The Outcomes?

Looking at the app's design throught the lenses of different user contexts really help shape thinking on the MVP and further development. On the technical side of things, working on data modelling, then bringing this right through to device via Backbone.js and PhoneGap was both challenging and fun. The report proved of great value to DIT in mapping out the new student app.