Mobility Studies - Design for Mobile Content and Mobile Applications

Project FAQs

Q) Can you please tell me what formally needs to be handed in on the 15th of January? For Design for Mobile Content? Is the following correct?

-The Product - YES

-Presentation Slides - YES

-Report - NO

There is no requirement for a report.  If you would like to include additional written material you can, but the core information about your product development and user testing need to be clearly visible in the presentation slides.

Q) What is the project deadline and submission requirements?

Final Project: Friday 15th January 2010 at 4.00pm. Your project has to be handed in to student support on CD. However, during the presentation, you can demonstrate your project directly on your mobile [ or rent out a mobile from technical support - Windows Mobile available for rent] or using an emulator. Please let us know if you need any special arrangement for your presentation i.e. if you are using a software or a technology that was not discussed in class. It is your responsibility to ensure that your project runs successfully during the presentation. We [Dave and I] will have in our laptop the software that were used during the semester.

Q) Where is the coursework specification?  What do I have to do for my project?

Please download the notes from Week 7 and study them carefully.  These PowerPoints break down in detail what is required for Project 2.

Q) I have found some code on the Internet or in a book. It does exactly what I want it to do - am I allowed to use it in my project?

A) You can use non original code, providing you clearly reference those parts that are non original. Also you must produce a significant amount of original work. At the very least you must add to modify borrowed code significantly to "make it your own", whilst keeping clear references to non-original code, which you should volunteer in your presentation.

Q) For the 2nd project, does it have to be something completely different or can I extend project 1?

A) It is ok to extend and develop the first project for project 2 - it is also acceptable to do something completely different. Your decision is strategic on two levels - 1 will it help you learn something new and useful to you, and 2, will it help you get good marks?

If you do develop the same project, the areas in which it has developed must be significant and carry as much work, ideally, as was associated with the first project. I must be able to clearly identify what is 'new' in order to mark it.

Q) For the 1st project I did a WAP site and now want to create a quiz for it, like a game. What software do you think is best to do this, or could i still use XHTML MP/ WAP 2.0?

A) You can use XHTML MP, but you will need some kind of scripting, or server side processing in order to process results and the like. PHP is one technology you could use for this part, but if you have a preference for another method, feel free to research this.

Q) I want to change my project from exactly what I said I was doing in my project spec - is it ok to do this?

A) Yes, if you have a good reason, this is ok, for example, if after investigation you found you couldn't implement some aspect, or if you got a better idea that you really wanted to work on. However, you do it at your own risk! You must also briefly justify this decision in your presentation.

Also, if you initially decided you were going to use one technology, e.g. WML, and you later found another technology, e.g. XHTML MP, was more appropriate for you project, this is a good reason to change from the spec.

(Note: This is only something you can do in a learning environment though. In a work-place context, you would of course pretty much have to stick with the initial specification, in negotiation with your client.)