Meeting Summary 20/04/2015

In this meeting the group discussed the current state of the blog and what each member could do to improve it based on mentor recommendations. The suggested improvements include:

– Each member should read through the posts that they have added to the blog and make sure that grammar and referencing is correct. This would contribute to the overall structure and quality of the blog and its narrative, making decisions and work out-put clearer.

Although the group were not able to have a meeting over the Easter holiday (as many members were in different countries), contact remained consistent via our group facebook page where work is shared, discussed and planned. Over the holiday the group made sure to keep track of our progress on this site weekly. Below are the minutes of the updates.

Week 1 of Easter ending 29/03/2015 

During this week the group finalised a first draft of the design and engineering posts previously mentioned. These include Use case, wireframes, design theory, logo designs, activity diagram and a class diagram. For the next week it was concluded that each member would proof read each post.

Week 2 of Easter

The second draft of the afore mentioned posts were posted to the shared googledrive and each member would proof these once again. It was concluded that each member should think about how the posts could be improved and contribute where necessary. The group will email Rob updates on the portfolio progression by the next week.

Week 3 of Easter 

The group has posted the first design posts that were discussed at the beginning of Easter. This includes design theory and logo designs. The third drafts of the engineering posts should be completed in order to post them to the portfolio next week.

Week 4 of Easter 

The engineering posts have been added to the blog. The group concluded that due to other imminent deadlines each member would focus on these for the remainder of the week. For next week the group concluded that each member should think about future considerations for the product which will take place after the finishing stage of our development. This will illustrate that the group has considered the future testing and release of the app beyond the expectations that the group set out in the success criteria.

This post represents that coherent structure and story are present in the portfolio which uses the entry and tags mechanism of the blog system. It tells the story of the project by explaining individual roles clearly, explaining why these were decided, and what outcome they will produce later on in the project.

Minutes by Briony.

Meeting Summary 26/03/2015

During this meeting the group found it important to note that this week all members had multiple deadlines for other modules, therefore were not able to contribute as much as usual to the blog. In order to combat this the group have changed the current post’s deadlines to allow for extra time. Despite this set back the group have will still meet the project planning dates stipulated by the gantt chart due to a realistic time scale.

Another topic of discussion within the meeting was that of design for the engineering aspects of the product. The group discussed which steps the product would need, and consequently which posts would sum this up in the most direct and conclusive manner. Below are the short-list of ideas based upon methodological design steps for an engineering project, outlined by Ginege and Murugesen (2001):

Meeting Summary 19/03/2015

During the meeting the group discussed with Rob the app feature posts that we have made in order to receive some feedback and improvements to make. Rob provided some grammatical corrections and layout suggestions that each member will change for the next meeting.

Meeting Summary 09/03/2015

During this meeting the group discussed the research that had been conducted in the previous weeks, and how that fit into the time scale decided by the planning posts. The group then discussed the short-list for app features based upon market research. It was decided that expert opinions should be asked in order to help determine which features may be more useful than others, and that group members should identify individuals that they feel were particularly relevant to our project and were willing to answer some questions. These individuals should be recorded communally, and made clear that consent would be required in order for the group to publish any feedback to the portfolio.

For the next meeting

It was decided that based upon the expert opinions, group discussion and literature review that each member should select a specific app feature and research this in more detail to further ascertain whether it would make a valuable contribution to the product, and would meet the success criteria. The short-list was narrowed down to five areas which were highlighted by existing market analysis to be important. These are:

– Safest Route Generator
– Safety/Reliability rating of area
– Travel updates information
– Location/safety tips
– Downloadable pack for offline use

This post represents that coherent structure and story are present in the portfolio which uses the entry and tags mechanism of the blog system. It tells the story of the project by explaining individual roles clearly, explaining why these were decided, and what outcome they will produce later on in the project.

Minutes by Briony.

Meeting Summary 05/03/2015

During this meeting the group met and discussed the project with mentor Rob Blair for the first time. This included showing the progression the group had made since the initial meeting and the next steps which had been decided. Based on Rob’s feedback the group came to the conclusion that a number of planning and research posts would be useful in the development of the project.

1. Create planning layout for the project. This could include other media such as a gannt chart. It should also allow an extra line underneath the predicted time so we can record the accurate timings, compared to the times we set for each task. This requires planning out each of the tasks step by step before making the chart. This is important for the project as time management and the identification of tasks is vital for the completion of tasks in the time scale that the group has set.

2. A blog post about methodology we are going to use for meetings and producing work (for example, agile/scrum/life cycle). This should explain that we have looked at these and have selected one according to our task and how best we work as a group. We are currently using an agile methodology as we all discuss and contribute ideas/research rather than one person focusing on a large part. This is an important consideration as it may dictate the success of our project depending on how best group members work, therefore it should be identified early on in the project.

3. A blog post about the target audience, identifying specific types of people who would find it the most useful (for example, tourists/students/people new to an area). Using literature and market research the post should identify which types of people would be willing to pay for it a safety travel app and why. It should also consider whether every user has the same needs from the map/other features. It should conclude that based on the market our app should be free. This is an important contribution to the research as the success of the product may be depended on understanding what the target audience may want from our product which isn’t already on the market.

4. A blog post defining our success criteria. This should be a list of our goals and objectives based on the marking criteria. For example we aim to produce a project that should take X amount of time. This is important to the planning stages of the project as it will provide continual structure to the narrative and will ensure that the work out-put answers the marking criteria.

This post represents that coherent structure and story are present in the portfolio which uses the entry and tags mechanism of the blog system. It tells the story of the project by explaining individual roles clearly, explaining why these were decided, and what outcome they will produce later on in the project.

Minutes by Briony Gray

Meeting Summary 26/02/2015

During this meeting we addresses the ethical issues of the app’s pricing that were raised during the previous meeting. This meant considering whether it was morally right to charge people in order to feel safe. Each member conducted market analysis of similar applications, and came to the conclusion that a majority of app’s within the safety market do not charge, and therefore we should not either. This is an important consideration for our product, as it may determine how many users user our product over others.

Furthermore based on this market analysis the team have identified features of app’s on the market and the potential weaknesses that these have. During the meeting this was discussed in further detail, and the group came to the conclusion that our product should build upon the weaknesses of existing apps which would therefore create a niche market for our product. This has allowed the group to scope out a short-list of app features which were lacking or inconsistent in other existing app’s.

For the next meeting

Summary of first meeting 23/02/15

This meeting was the first in which all members of the group had been present. As a result, much of the discussion was based around discussing some initial project ideas, reading through the marking criteria, and deliberating which group names would convey the message we wanted to put across throughout our portfolio.

Deciding on a group name

The group decided that the name should be based upon several lectures that the group had received during the course of module, thus tying the group in strongly with the themes discussed and presented which would ultimately shape the course of our project. Each member suggested several names, and a group vote was taken to ascertain which was the most appropriate. Categories which dictated the appropriateness of a group name included: whether the name was broad and general enough to cover any idea that we later chose for a product, whether the name had positive connotations, whether the name was easily memorable or not, whether the name was applicable to all members of the group, and whether the name related to the subject material from the module lectures.

Suggestions for the name included Deliberate, Spiel, Prototype, Theory of Trust and The One Percent. The group came to the conclusion that the name The One Percent fit the majority of the categories previously mentioned, and this was decided as the group name.

Deciding on a group project

In the same manner as choosing a group name, a group project idea was decided by the democratic voting of all of the group members. Each member personally researched and presented an idea to the rest of the group, with some initial background research. An analysis matrix was drawn up which pitched the ideas against the marking criteria, and a score for each idea was tallied at the end. The idea which fit the most criteria, and which all members of the group were happy with, was a travel safety app put forward by Kaley.

For the next meeting