QUTgo
Android app project, made with a team of 4
Completed: October 2018 (University – 4th Year)
QUTgo was an application that had the goal of encouraging exercise on the QUT Garden’s Point campus. Our team of four already had a starting point, with foundational progress having already been started by previous students. Our role was to take the program and improve both the functionality and aesthetics.
This article will briefly cover what I contributed to the project.
Team Lead
Throughout the entire project, I was the lead of the group. It was difficult keeping communication going between four team members, although despite occasional setbacks we did put together a well-graded project in the end.
Android Development
Work on QUTgo involved a front-end Android application and a back-end database with PHP commands. A majority of my contributions were to the front-end app. Android Studio was difficult to learn for the first few months, but these challenges were overcome with time and practice. I prepared weekly builds to showcase improvements and bug fixes.
User Experience
One of my major considerations throughout development was the end-user experience for QUTgo. In the second semester of development, I used Adobe Illustrator to create new image assets for the program. These files were passed on to a potential future team along with the codebase, so that future graphics would remain consistent.
Demo Film
In the final weeks, Adobe Premiere Pro was used to prepare a demonstration of the app. I’d had previous experience throughout university with the application, and enjoyed the process of editing the video. It can be seen at the top of this article.
Report Writing
Alongside the demo video, we needed to submit a full report with comprehensive appendices. For around two weeks, the team put together a document with their contributions as I added my own inputs and proofread sections. I aim to give detail in what I submit, and format documents well.
Conclusion
QUTgo was the most involved project I’ve ever worked on, having taken most of a year to complete. The experience taught me many things about communication, coding, keeping consistent reports of progress, and patience with learning new skills. I wish nothing but the best of luck to the next team who picks up this project, and hope the app will come out to the open market one day.