Conclusion

The objectives of my project are as follows:

1. Create a simple user interface
2. Provide screenshots of all exercises
3. Use either the SDK or Adobe Creative Suite 4 to develop the application
4. Use PHP and jQuery to complete my application
5. For the user to be able to interact with the application to a certain extent

The project in question is a prototype application designed for an Apple iPhone/iPod Touch that is designed to be used in the gym.

The application named GymFit acts as a buddy application. It allows the user to input a workout to have the application generate one that is specified for certain body parts of the user’s choice. The application logs each exercise individually but also keeps track of history overall monthly and yearly. This information can then be uploaded to the GymFit community that the user can sign up for directly from the application for free.

The application is only a prototype, however it can be used on an iPhone to a certain limit. The user can operate most buttons but functionality is limited as most functions appear as images to represent the function. This prototype can be viewed on an Internet browser, because the code detects that it is being viewed this way a home screen will appear at first with the GymFit logo adding authenticity to the prototype.

Now that the premise of the application has been set out, it is time to discuss the prototype’s fallbacks and disadvantages.

From the beginning of the project there were two options to follow to create my project. Firstly was to create an application with Apple’s SDK package. The advantages of this would be a real working application approved by Apple which could then be sold on the application’s store.. However when the choice came the disadvantages weighed out the advantages compared to building a prototype in fireworks. The disadvantages being a lack of complete knowledge of the actual SDK package. But the most time consuming would be the learning curve and writing X code, the code used by the SDK package. This would all mean less time being spent on the user interface and overall design. If I had more time to learn both points I would implement my prototype into the SDK package having a natural progression from a prototype to a running application. This is obviously the prototype’s disadvantage as it’s not a real application but I am pleased with the prototype’s usability.

Creating a simple user interface sounds like an easy objective when first read over, however to put this into practice is much harder as the space the phone provides is not a great deal so getting everything on screen for the user in a minimalist way was quite a challenge. Trying at first a few designs with the software it became a apparent that planning and structure were essential. Creating a flow chart the application’s processes could be visualised and understood because the logistics of having multi functional menu’s. For example, the user could find themselves deep in a menu system and they want to go back to the home screen, the dilemma was do you let the user click five or six previous buttons at the top of the menu causing sometimes a crash, loss of data or slowing the application down. Or would a better idea be having hotlinks at the bottom of the application permanently on very page allowing the user to quickly navigate to the major pages. This example is a problem solved due to the process of the flow chart., this also came quite handy in the next process of hand drawing each page which would be then designed on Adobe Fireworks CS4 allowing me to finish early February, two weeks earlier then planned.

In my objectives it states “ at least two images for each exercise”. During my project critical it was brought to my attention that instead of images for each exercise movie files would be a better idea. When the implication of movie files seemed impossible because of this being a prototype the next step was to try animation GIF’s. Trying a few different methods documented in the project blog but each method failed. Images were in my original objectives as stated above but being self-critical implementing animation GIF’s would have taken to prototype to the next level.

A disadvantage of the prototype is that it is 0nly tested up to 30 pages. The prototype originally had up to 70 pages but undoubtley had to take it down significantly to make sure the functionality of the prototype was stable enough to operate correctly.  If more time was available investigating the code could be an option. In all honesty overlooking this point was a bit of a downfall on prototype as designing the prototype was a main focus until the technical side was a priority. A point to make this was found out earlier than I should have due to the nature of my research into the technical side while still designing to keep on top of all aspects.

I found designing my application at first hard work and time spent thinking through the application’s structure did not come very naturally and I had to go back to my research after presenting my idea to my lecturers.

Exporting the prototype to gif you want PNG’s for better quality appearing on the iPhone.

The quality of the images was an issue; GIF’s seemed to appear slightly pixalated compared to the PNG files type. I came to solve this problem though easily once finding out a separate function able to render the page separately while designing making sure it would save in the PNG file format.

An obvious floor with the prototype is the lack of the use of the accelerometer, which in this case would let the user turn the phone horizontally and the application would turn with it giving the user a landscape view of the application. The prototype could not handle the accelerometer. This becomes obvious when the application is turned horizontally; it stays in portrait mode with the dimensions of the phone in portrait. Thankfully my research had shown that no other applications used this function as it seemed to not have a use for such an application except on for video playback, which is not an issue for this application as, discussed above.