Saturday, May 10, 2014

Software Engineering Final Presentation

Slides :
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vS6knA2Tt7sj4Dye-FR4f5jhmbIr8KIiazDT0mXGiFQ/edit?usp=sharing

Video Presentation:
This was done on Saturday May 10, 2014 around 9:45am
I was using Google hangout on air so sorry if I didn't display my face
Also I recorded this at my apartment and I live next to a busy street so I apologize if the background noise was over powering.


Thursday, May 8, 2014

HTML prototype meeting

Final meeting with my client

Thursday May 8,2014
5:30PM
@HPU Sea warrior center

I basically showed my client the HTML prototype of the website or parts of the website. Then I asked him if there were any suggestions or improvements he would like. He said he wanted to see more design and color. He wanted a very flashy website but I told him that I had an extent to web design and I couldn't really do much. I figured I would need to learn CSS or use dream weaver but like i said my web design skills are very novice. My client also told me he wanted me to add in a few extra more sections on certain pages. For example he wanted an announcement page where he could post events and general announcements. I believe that announcement page would probably be similar to facebook's wall or twitter's tweets. He also wanted a little photo album section to post pictures. Another section called daily meetings with specific roles on the RSVP page. Lastly he also mentioned he wanted a little link to facebook, probably to connect to their current club website.

The meeting was recorded and here is the video:

Quick brief interview of final presentation

First of course is introductions, I will introduce myself and who my client is and what organization I am working with.
Next I will talk about my very first interview with my client. I will explain the information I obtained from that interview and that basically lead to what I planned to do for my project.  Some information that I obtained was what their organization was about, who the stakeholders were and what problems the organization was facing. One of the biggest problem that the club was facing was advertisement and a possible solution would be having a personal club website. Some suggestions or features that my client wanted to add to the website was having a videos page, a role sign up feature, and reservation for club events. Another purpose of the website was to help the club's communication and a way to get the word out. The client also wanted a phone app if possible.
After that I would talk about my activity diagram. The activity diagram basically explains the process of creating a club event. It starts off as an idea then goes through a series of meetings, getting money and with everyone approving of the idea, the idea comes to life.
Next I would talk about my 3 Use cases, which is all related to what the client wanted on the website. the first case is the process of uploading a video onto the website, second case is RSVP to club events and the last use case is officer role sign ups. I will go through each picture and talk about them individually.
Next I would talk about my features and scenarios which is somewhat similar to my Use cases. Also my Low fidelity mock ups are based on my features/ scenarios so I will explain each feature and scenarios along with my Lo-Fis.
Then finally I'll show a couple of screenshots of my HTML prototype which i will add soon and also the final feedback from my client.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Low Fidelity interface mockups Diagrams

The organization I am working with is the HPU Toastmasters and I suppose these are the diagrams of how some certain features will look like on the website i was planning on creating.

I will post features and scenarios and right next to my diagrams then in the end is my video explaining them all.

Feature 1 : RSVP for club events
GitHub's Feature and Scenarios 

Feature 2 : Officer Role Sign up
GitHub's Feature and Scenarios 



Feature 3 : Upload a Video
GitHub's Feature and Scenarios 



Video:


Wednesday, March 26, 2014

3 Use Cases

Use Cases project



The organization I am working with is the HPU toastmasters club. One issue they are facing is advertisement and trying to get the club known. One suggestion was for the club to have their very own website and one of the features that will be on the website will be the ability to upload and view videos. The videos will most likely contain current or past club events. This Use case diagram shows how the club president can upload a video and members could view them.


Another feature that my client request was a way for club members to sign up or RSVP for club
events on the website. This diagram shows how members can sign up for events and if they change their mind they could resign. The club president will also have the option to approve or decline rsvps.
The last feature that the club president/my client wanted was a way for the club officers to sign up for roles. Now these roles are basically club roles that the club does for every event/meeting. Some roles are called general evaluator, table topic masters, grammarian, etc. This diagram is basically similar to my second diagram where instead of signing up for events, the officers sign up for roles, they get to choose and sign up for a role, confirm or edit and the club president has the option to approve or edit the roles.


Google Doc Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eAQYZHXX_BjVBLMPSOq1KZKUGIIpxrPgZish4i7gCwU/edit?usp=sharing

Activity Diagram and Interview Notes




Interviewee: Jerson Timbobolan (Club President)
Club/Organization : Toastmasters


Interview Notes:
March 12, 2014
1pm – 2pm
Questions for Toastmasters:
What is Toastmasters?
Toastmasters is a club that works on their leadership skills then communication skills follows. Also known as public speaking club
Who are the stakeholders/officers? (also added job description of officers)
President – Jerson T.
VP of education – Michaux H.
        -job is to make the final agenda for every meeting, and to encourage members to do their speeches.  
VP of membership – Tiffany L.
        -recruiter and advocates the club to other people/ potential members
VP of public relations – Sean C.
        -advertiser through social media
Secretary – Stan C.
Treasurer – Lawrence R.?
Any ideas on what you want a program to do?/Problems the club are facing
-advertising, trying to appeal to more people
-possible solution: make a website for the club
–so far, the club is currently using facebook        
-suggestion to be on website: youtube and other social media sites
        -webcast, add videos about the club
 -2 members, wanting to make a website portfolio (professional website)
 -suggestion website feature: communication, RSVP
 -make the website as user friendly as possible
 -maybe phone App to go along with website
  -suggestion website feature: sign up sheets,
          -different roles, sign up, click and sign in


Activity diagram:


Link to google Docs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BWkl37RfWvT2DkaT3xE5OrUJbd8vF7A44a_FcfkyI_A/edit?usp=sharing

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Interview Plans


HPU computer club

Setting

            I guess I would ask the president of the HPU computer club if they would like to meet up somewhere either in the school, at a starbucks or anywhere that the client would feel comfortable meeting up. During the interview I would ask if there is anything software related that they feel that needs to be improved on or what the client is actually in need of or if there is a problem. I would also give the president a questionnaire to distribute to the club’s member for their feedback as well and opinions on what they feel like can improve. For the follow up I would of course thank them for their time and even write an email thanking them as well.

Questions related to nature of business

            Is there a problem with communication between club members? I would discuss some ways of communication like using facebook or other forms of social media. These questions would really depend on what the client needs and I would suggest some ways that I could help software wise.

Questions related to operation of business processes

            If communication is the issue then I would set up a facebook page for the club or maybe use Google+ as an alternative social media some how

Questions related to information required for business processes

            I guess I would ask for contact information for other club officers so I would get in contact with them or club members.


Hpu shuttle App

Setting

            Again I would ask the client where they would feel most comfortable meeting up, either in their office, someplace public or even a skype/google hangout meeting if they are unable to meet up in person. During the interview I would discuss the app I would be planning on making and I would also talk about my plan on giving students that take the shuttle a questionnaire for their opinion on the app or if they have any questions regarding the app. For the follow up I would thank them for their time and write a thank you letter through email.

Questions related to nature of business
            I would ask how they would feel about the app and if the app would improve their business or cause problems some how?

Questions related to operation of business processes
            The app will be on the phone or some type of mobile device.           

Questions related to information required for business processes
            Some information I may require might be the contact information of the drivers since they would be the people that would set time of their departure and arrivals.




Here are the links to previous blogs:


At this point since I do require a external client I decided to cut the league of legends club idea and replace it with either working on Mu beta wit Lawrence Rufflin or probably help another club in HPU.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Reaching out

My method of contact would be through email since it is the option most comfortable to me. I felt like this email would be versatile for all three of my options but I mainly targeted this email for either my HPU shuttle project or the computer club project.


--------------

To whom this may concern,
            My name is John Garo and I am taking a course along with other students called Software Engineering at Hawaii Pacific University. One of our goals is to reach out into the community and help out a non-profit/local organization like yours, by any means of software development. For example, maybe we could help develop a type of mobile application, create a website, or even improve a website that works with your organization. We all have programming background and this would be a great opportunity for us to apply our skills as a real-life application. This will be a great learning experience for us to actually work with an actual company/organization.

Please let us know if we would help!

Sincerely,
John Garo

---------------

Previous posts here:

Stakeholders for HPU computer club ideas

Stakeholders for HPU Shuttle App

Where the shuttle at?

Possible Events for the HPU computer club


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Stakeholders for HPU computer club ideas

Original post could be found here.

A list of possible stakeholders for the HPU computer club events ideas that I made in the last post would be:

  • Current and incoming members
    • More events the better right? Some of the events could be interesting enough to probably attract more members
  • HPU computer club officers/leaders
    • Those events/ideas that I mentioned in my previous post could help the officers because I am basically helping them come up with some possible ideas
  • Computer science fanatics 
    • There may be some people that aren't in the club for whatever reason but that doesn't mean that they can't join in on the programming contests to help improve their programming skills!

Stakeholders for HPU Shuttle App

Original post can be found here.

A list of possible stakeholders for an HPU Shuttle App would be:


  • HPU Students
    • Since students are usually the ones that ride the shuttle so I believe this app would benefit them the most.
  • HPU Faculty 
    • I noticed some HPU professors riding the shuttle as well.
  • Mobile App Designers 
    • Or maybe even anyone that is interested in learning on how to develop a mobile app. This could be an idea for them and it would benefit them because it would give them experience on producing mobile apps. 
  • The Shuttle's company
    • The shuttle's company which I believe is called VIP could use and modify the App for their other services

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Stakeholders for the possible LoL club

Original post can be found here

A list of possible stakeholders for a potential League of Legends club would be:
  • Current League of Legends players/fanatics 
    • This club is for them and I believe this club will establish a LoL community 
  • Potential League of Legends players
    • This club could attract some new people/players and with current players, they could help them out
    • Potential people could be gamers or even people that haven't played games before
  • Other League of Legends club/HPU students
    • As I mentioned in the original post, there are already League of legends clubs made in UH Manoa and UH Maui. So with another club made, the league of legends community could expand even more than just in HPU but the entire state maybe

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Possible Events for the HPU computer club

A club that I am supposedly involved in is the HPU computer club. I have actually been in the club since my freshmen year which is roughly two years ago. I wasn't really an active member to the club but I really do want to become more active. Usually the reason why I am inactive is the club meetings or socials usually conflicts with my schedule, like I would have class using a meeting.  Anyways I thought of some type of events or socials that he club could have that I would find interesting and also relate to computers in general.

  • Mini programming contests
  • Video game tourneys 
  • Study halls with upperclassmen 
  • Field trips at local places where computer science could be used?

These are some current ideas I have for now, I will definitely update if i come up with more ideas

Where the shuttle at?

Brainstorm Project Idea 2:


One idea that just came to me when watching Sam Joseph’s week 2 video was when he mentioned logistical issues in my life relating to school and for some reason the first thing that pops into my mind is the school’s shuttle system. Now the shuttle system isn’t that bad or too much of an issue, I feel its decent but I think I know a way to help make it better. The school’s very own Shuttle estimated arrival time program/ app. I actually first heard of this idea back during my freshmen year in college at either a computer club meeting or from a professor, I can’t really remember exactly who I got the idea from but it was then and I still don’t see that app now. The Honolulu city bus or “TheBus” actually has this kind of application called “The Bus – HEA” HEA stands for Honolulu estimated Arrival time. Basically what this app does is you first enter the bus stop ID so the app knows what bus stop you are at and what buses go to that bus stop. I find it really handy since I take the bus and I just like to know how long I have to wait for. So I think implementing TheBus’s  app for the school’s shuttle would be neat. Students will know when the shuttle arrives and leaves. I know the shuttle schedule has fixed times and will always come every 15 minutes. But lets say you decide to catch the shuttle outside of your daily routines, or maybe there was a car accident in the shuttle’s route which will cause traffic and slow down the shuttles, or maybe there was just a lot of students at the shuttle stop that one of the shuttles had to take some students and leave really early. Anyways the point is, lets say you want to catch the shuttle but it doesn’t arrive on time, well you would now have an app that would tell you that the current shuttle left a few minutes early or will arrive in 2 minutes. This program will be a mobile app since I fell that is where it will be most effective.

   

HPU League of Legends Club??

Brainstorm Project Idea 1:


I am a gamer, I love playing video games and in fact I would really like to turn my passion for gaming into my career. So far all I know how to do that I feel would be beneficial to work in the gaming industry is to program, so I guess one option for me is to become a video game programmer. Of course, nothing is set in stone for me yet and I would like to keep my options open and explore other type of jobs that works for gaming companies. One gaming company that I dream to work for is Riot games, which is known for their world popular game, League of Legends. League of Legends is one of the games that I am currently playing and have been playing for a while actually. Anyways last semester I was actually planning on organizing a League of Legends club. I have friends in UH Manoa and UH Maui and their Universities both have their very own League of Legends club. I thought “Hey if UH Manoa has a league of legends club then why not HPU?” I know a couple of people or a good chunk of people I should say that plays league of legends at HPU. I first got the club idea from an announcement on league of legends and here it is! I thought it was neat that a league of legends club is more than just playing a video game, it’s about making a community and meeting new people!   

So why haven’t I made this club? Well last semester I was pretty busy and this semester is no different and I have never been an officer for a club before or let alone make a club. But if I decide to make this club a project then I’ll have more of a reason to make this club! So what about the software stuff? Well I was thinking I could maybe make a webpage for this club instead of using Facebook groups or some other social networking site. Although I have also never made a website before but I would really like to learn how to do some web design! A few other problems that might occur would be recruitment and planning socials. But this is idea is still an idea for now.


Monday, January 27, 2014

First time Ruby

It was also my first time using codeacademy and so far I like the way it teaches us or how it works in general. Codeacademy is very simple and easy to use, it is also free, and it's lessons are short and very simple worded. I personally love it and I wouldn't mind using it to learn other programming languages as well.

Now on to Ruby, so far I have completed 25% of the entire Ruby lesson/section or whatever you call it.  So far I have learned the basics, which were data types, string methods, conventions, if-else, booleans, and I have just gotten up to learning loops. So far Ruby seems very simple and convenient in some areas compared to other programming languages that I have learned. Java is my native language or my very first programming language and I know some masm/ assembly code and little bit of c from my assembly class last semester. I will compare Ruby and Java since they are both high level object oriented programming languages.

Both Java and Ruby seem to be very similar in many ways in terms of their programming style, so I will pretty much focus on what Ruby does that I found interesting and what Java does not. Also since codeacademy is where I have learned how to program in Ruby, most of my references will come from the codeacademy website (http://www.codecademy.com/dashboard).

1. The way Ruby gathers input. From the exercise, the line that ruby gathers user input is (user_input = gets.chomp). "user_input" is the variable name, "gets"is what literally gets the input, and chomp is used to trim the fat, or is basically like the trim function in Java. This was interesting to me because in Java, in order to gather input from the user, you would need to import a scanner, declare a variable for the scanner then make the line to get user input. but for Ruby, all you need to do is put that one line of code, which is also only like 3-4 words long as well.

2. In Ruby you can chain String methods! For example, (String_name.method1.method2.method3. ..). That really tripped me out and I thought it was really cool. But then again I think you can chain string methods to strings in Java but it would get very messy and sometimes confusing. I guess how Ruby does it, it makes it so that it is cleaner and simpler.

3. In Ruby, it has a special function for (!). Basically what it does from what I have learned so far is that , you could use the (!) character after a string method to replace the current string it was set too. What I mean is lets say string1 = "word" . Lets say you want to put all the letters in string1 in uppercase. So in Java you would do this [string1.toUppercase()], but it will only uppercase the string if you add the (toUppercase), meaning if you were to just print out string1, it will still come out as word. Of course in Ruby you can just do (string1.upcase) and  if you just want to print out string1, it would give the same result. But if you did this instead (string1.upcase!) then print out string1. It would print out "WORD." What this function does (!) is that it would override the current string and get rid of the old string forever. So it maybe useful but also very dangerous. 

4. Lastly in Ruby I found some methods/functions that I believe was pretty unnecessary. The "Unless" statement was made just to check if something is false. It is basically an If statement but the opposite. I felt it was unnecessary because you could just manipulate the if. I could see where it would be useful to some people but I feel like it is just redundant. Same goes to the "Until" loop function. "Until" is basically the opposite of the "while" loop. "While" keeps going till it is true but "Until" keeps going until it is false. 

So in all, Ruby is pretty similar to Java and there are some things that Ruby does better than Java, but I am still learning Ruby and these are just my personal thoughts on Ruby so far.