Abstract & Introduction (Chapter 1)

Details: Category: Level 3, CET300 Computing Project (Dissertation); Published: Tuesday, 09 February 2021 16:51; Hits: 916

Healthy eating

Mobile Application

for Preschool children

Andrea Eva Frankone Balazs

Undergraduate dissertation submitted in

partial fulfilmentof the regulations

governing the award of the degree of

BSc Web and Mobile Development

at the

University of Sunderland

2020

COVID-19 Statement:

Following WHO and UK Government advice, the University of Sunderland suspended face to face teaching as of 17^th March 2020. Advice from the former bodies indicated that people should enforce social distancing. This meant that at the point at which the CET300 projects entered their final evaluation phase it became problematic and in some cases impossible to get full stakeholder evaluation. Where possible this was undertaken remotely, and where applicable expert heuristics were used in evaluation exercises. In this dissertation the impact this had upon this particular project is discussed with reference to this statement.

Abstract

The main aid of this dissertation is an Android mobile application / game that teach preschool children about healthy eating, which elements of eating are healthy and unhealthy by educating them in a fun way.

The customer of the Healthy Eating mobile app is a Computer Science lecturer at the University of Sunderland. The customer has set specific requirements and requirements against the expectations of the application.

The project started with a schedule, ie a list of foreseeable tasks and the compilation of intervals available for implementation. In order to achieve the goal, the problems were identified. The way to identify problems is done before the mobile app is designed and developed to meet the requirements. Literary research has facilitated and defined the scientific background needed for the project, which facilitates product development.

For product development and design, the system needed criteria such as functional and non-functional requirements that provide a starting point for development and design. An extremely important factor in the project is ethics, which provides the professional solutions for the design and development required for implementation.

Taking into account the needs of the customer and the experience of the analyses, a mobile application was created with the Android operating system. The project uses the Agile Software Development Cycle methodology, which is suitable for one-to-one development, outstanding communication between the client and the developer and allows changes to be made in the application.

The functionality of the application design was developed one after the other and followed by extensive tests. The operation and quality of the mobile application was tested by the customer and users based on the requirements defined at the beginning of the project. The project as a whole was thoroughly evaluated from a variety of perspectives, including exploring project management and how successful the application was.

The project created a mobile application that teaches preschool children about healthy eating and the future consequence of this is to achieve a healthier lifestyle for preschool children.

Introduction.. 1

1.1 Problem Context 1

1.2 Proposed Solution.. 1

1.3 Document Review.. 1

1.3.1 A critical review of mobile application UI design for preschool children educational applications. 1

1.3.7 Conclusions and Future Recommendation.. 2

1.3.8 References. 3

1.3.9 Appendices. 3

A critical review of mobile application UI design for preschool children educational applications 3

2.1 Introduction.. 3

2.2 Education.. 4

2.3 Effects of mobile application on preschool children.. 6

2.3.1 Behaviour 6

2.3.2 Physical Toll 10

2.4 UI design for children.. 12

2.4.1 Visual Design.. 12

2.4.2 Visual effects. 16

2.5 Conclusion.. 20

3 Analysis. 22

3.1 Introduction.. 22

3.2 Requirements Gathering. 22

3.3 Requirements Analysis. 23

3.3.1 Project Proposal 23

3.3.2 Client Meeting. 23

3.3.3 PACT. 24

3.3.4 Schedule. 24

3.3.5 Definitive Brief 25

3.3.5.1 Problem Context 25

3.3.5.2 Literature Review.. 25

3.4 Requirements Specification.. 26

3.4.1 Functional Requirements. 26

3.4.2 Non-Functional Requirements. 27

3.4.3 Resources. 27

3.4.4 Hardware & Software Requirements. 27

3.4.5 Constraints. 27

3.4.6 Procedure. 27

3.4.7 Methodology. 28

3.5 Mobile Devices and Features. 28

3.5.1 Mobile Operating Systems. 29

Design.. 30

4.1 Methodology and Procedure. 30

4.2 Android Design Principles. 30

4.3 Colours. 31

4.4 Layout 31

4.5 Version.. 32

4.6 Structure Design.. 33

Development 33

5.1 Main Page. 34

5.2 Information Page. 35

5.7 Bad or Good Game. 36

5.8 Memory Game. 37

Testing.. 38

6.1 Structural Testing. 38

6.1.1 Screen Size Determine Test 38

6.1.2 Number of images check test 39

6.1.3 Long Click Test 39

6.1.4 Drag Event Test 39

6.2 Functional Testing. 40

6.2.1 Client Testing. 40

6.2.2 User Testing. 40

6.2.3 Alpha Testing. 42

6.2.4 Beta Testing. 43

Evaluation.. 43

7.1 Impact of the literature review on the artefact development 44

7.2 Evaluation of the artefact 44

7.2.1 Heuristic Evaluation.. 44

7.2.1.1 Visibility of system status. 44

7.2.1.2 Match between system and the real world. 44

7.2.1.3 User control and freedom.. 45

7.2.1.4 Consistency and standards. 45

7.2.1.5 Error prevention. 45

7.2.1.6 Recognition rather than recall 45

7.2.1.7 Flexibility and efficiency of use. 45

7.2.1.8 Aesthetic and minimalist design. 46

7.2.1.9 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors. 46

7.2.1.10 Help and documentation. 46

7.2.2 Evaluation by the client/sponsor; 46

7.2.3 Evaluation by end users; 47

7.2.4 Evaluation against the project objectives. 48

7.3 Evaluation of self 48

Conclusions General Guidance. 50

8.1 Concluding remarks. 50

8.2 Limitations of the project 51

8.3 Future directions. 51

References. 51

Appendices. 55

A: Programme Route Diagram.. 55

B: Ethics Documentation.. 56

Ethics supervisor certification and email evidence. 56

Participant Consent Form.. 58

Signed Participants Consent Form.. 59

Participant Information Sheet 63

C: Project Control Documentation.. 67

Client Meeting and email 67

Schedule. 75

Definition Brief (Without Appendices) 79

D: Analysis Documentation.. 87

Project Proposal 87

PACT. 89

E: Design Documentation.. 90

First planning design.. 90

Final design of the application.. 92

F: Test Documentation.. 94

Screen Size Determine Test 94

Number of images check test 94

Long Click Test 95

Drag Event Test 95

Basket or Bin Test 96

Alpha Testing. 96

Beta Testing. 98

G: Evaluation Documentation.. 99

Evaluation against Requirements. 99

Usability Test Tasks List 100

Usability Questionnaire Form.. 100

Completed Questionnaire Form.. 103

1. Introduction

1.1 Problem Context

One of the problems of today’s generation is childhood obesity. There is a huge market to support a healthy lifestyle. However, there is a shortage in the market for software to improve the healthy eating of preschool children. For the 3-5 year olds, many mobile applications are too complex as they are not just taught healthy eating and none of them are based on simple fun education. A major manufacturer has computing tools and software solutions, but does not take into account the needs of this age group. There is no application that focuses only on healthy eating. There are special methods and experts available to help parents / families, but many people need to rely on their own capacity.

1.2 Proposed Solution

In today’s world, the use of mobile devices has become everyday and can be found in every household. Today’s mobile devices are not only used for making phone calls, but also offer many extra extensions and wider options like connecting to other devices, navigating or playing games. Mobile devices can be used to solve a key problem. The aim of the project is to create a mobile application that is widely extensively obtainable to achieve its ultimate goal. The app seeks to develop a playable, simple, easy-to-use healthy eating educational application that meets the needs of preschool children, thereby helping to educate about healthy eating and avoid obesity.

1.3 Document Review

Creating a mobile application requires a lot of documentation. The purpose of the document is to interpret the subject of the project and its problems. The document is broken down into several chapters that describe the features, development processes, and how to access them within a mobile application.

1.3.1 A critical review of mobile application UI design for preschool children educational applications

The theme of the project is to educate preschool children about healthy eating. In order to have a successful project, all problems and known solutions must be examined. The project should cover education, user interface design, and the impact of the mobile app on preschool children. In the second chapter, in the literature review of the project, we examined and analyzed the range of possible problems.

1.3.2 Analysis

In the second chapter of the analysis, the literature review deals with the analysis of information gathering related problems and their solutions are analysed. This explains how the program will work and what tools are needed to do so. It details the analysis and specification of the requirements. At the beginning of the project, proper organization is needed to generate the functional and non-functional elements. The tasks to be performed, the technology used, the use environment and the user age group are defined and summarized in the PACT analysis.

1.3.3 Design

The fourth chapter contains the design of the application. The planning phase could start in January and there was a short time available for the planning phase. This chapter covers the principles of Android design, application colours, layout, and functional architecture. It also includes the APi version of Android studio used for construction and design.

1.3.4 Development

Chapter five presents the development of the mobile application, which was the most time consuming phase of the project. A number of unknown solutions had to be found to implement the design functions of the application. These include developing a variety of games in the app, such as one-time appearance of images, scoring, standardization of image size, use of images suitable for the application, or testing on mobile devices of different sizes. So, this chapter introduces the development step by step and within it summarizes the problems that arise and their solutions.

1.3.5 Testing

Testing the application is described in Chapter Six. The software has been tested on various mobile devices available to the developer. In order to correct the errors in the application and to correct the errors, sufficient tests must be performed in order to ensure that the application is error-free and of the required quality. In the sixth chapter, the Structural (White Box), Functional (Black Box), Alpha, Beta test is presented, the results of which are summarized in tables in the appendices.

1.3.6 Evaluation

The evaluation section shows what kind of development the project has resulted in and how it has been implemented, which can be found in Chapter Seven. Starting with the Impact of the literature review on the artefact development. This was followed by a verification of the application with a 10-point heuristic estimation method. Application testers were followed by evaluations of client and volunteer participants. Testing was followed in accordance with its regulations and adhered to in accordance with university ethical procedures. Due to the appearance of Coronavirus (COVID-19), there were limited possibilities to test the application. The results of the testing were evaluated and any problems encountered were resolved.

1.3.7 Conclusions and Future Recommendation

The final chapter concludes with the conclusion and future recommendations in Chapter Eight. The conclusion includes the experience gained during the development and the expertise acquired, as well as the possible successes and shortcomings during the project. Future recommendations include future tasks to be performed by the application, which could potentially improve the application.

1.3.8 References

The link allows the reader to trace the original source in order not to infringe copyright law. References contain information used in development, testing, literature and are well marked in the content and source of references. The reference sources were freely available and used in accordance with Harvard reference rules.

1.3.9 Appendices

The role of the appendix is to provide clear and concise information to support the argument. The appendix at the end of the dissertation contains the tables, pictures and documents created during the project in chronological order.