Project Overview

PROBLEM OVERVIEW

Drexel Interactive Map is an Android application designed to help alleviate the difficulty of navigating Drexel’s campus. The application will help students and visitors alike, whether looking for a specific classroom or the Admissions Office. Drexel University had maps posted around specific areas of campus, but these often did not go into great detail nor did they offer the ability to be viewed anywhere, anytime. This leads to countless students, visitors, and even faculty at times being lost on campus. Drexel Interactive Map attempts to solve this problem by delineating buildings, room numbers, bathrooms, hours, menus, college departments, and more.

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS

Regardless of how well the application is designed and implemented, its success will be subject to its users. The application can provide a user with proper directions to a certain room, but it cannot physically take him or her there.

With the complexity of Drexel’s buildings, it is quite easy to get lost in them. Because an Android’s smartphone’s GPS does not have a high degree of accuracy, it cannot be used inside buildings to accurately guide users. GPS may show that you are in a certain building, but there is no accurate way for it to show that you are in a certain room or floor. Thus, the application will only be able to show where a certain room is and rely on the user to use that information to locate their destination.

PRE-EXISTING SOLUTIONS

Drexel has posted maps of the campus in various locations, but these maps do not show room numbers, bathrooms, or even departments as this application proposes.

There is also an iPhone application that has a simple Drexel campus map which only outlines buildings. Ball State University, for example, has developed an application that shows where department locations and office hours.[2] The Drexel Interactive Map would be similar, but it would go into more detail by showing where rooms are located.

PROJECT GOAL

The Drexel Interactive Map application will be designed to allow users to search for a room, college department, upcoming events, and even bathrooms at Drexel. The application will then outline the searched location so users can navigate there. If possible, the application will also provide simple directions to the location. While this project does not have any explicit stakeholders, each member of Drexel University is a potential stakeholder. Anyone who has ever gotten lost on campus is the perfect subject in need of this application.

The map will also provide menus and hours of local eateries and upcoming events at certain buildings. For example, when the user is interacting with the Recreation Center, the application may show that there is a Men’s Basketball game there on February 2 at 7 PM.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

Drexel Interactive map will provide an Android application containing significant aspects of Drexel’s campus. This will include a large campus map depicting the location of all of the buildings on Drexel University's campus as well as the streets. The campus map can be zoomed in or out for better clarity and, if the user is on campus, a “you are here” marker will show on the map representing the general area of the user. A drop-down menu and search tool will be available to find buildings and relevant building information. 

The following depicts Drexel Interactive Map’s desired features:

• Large Campus Map
• Shows buildings
• Zoom enabled
• Blueprint / Floor Plans of all Drexel Buildings
• Inclusive of room number
• Search Functions allowing users to search buildings
• 'You're Here' Marker if the student is on campus
• Points of Interest 
• Dining Halls
• Study Areas
• Indoor Facilities
• Outdoor Facilities
• Bathrooms
• Descriptions of Drexel Buildings
• Description
• (if applicable) Hours
• (if applicable) Menus
• Upcoming Events Campus Events
• Sporting Events
• University Presentations
• Celebrations

PROJECT SCHEDULE

Week One: (4/4/2012 - 4/11/2012)

Initial group meeting. Determined design project and discussed details.

Week Two: (4/11/2012 - 4/18/2012) 

Outlined project goals and deliverables. Established contact with Drexel University staff in regards to obtaining campus information.

Week Three: (4/18/2012 - 4/25/2012)

Retrieve the required floor plans for select buildings. The floor plans will include the room numbers on each floor, as well as locations of bathrooms or any other important locations specific to a certain floor or building.

Week Four: (4/25/2012 - 5/2/2012)

Create the graphics for the application, which includes the map of the campus as well as individual buildings, and an icon for the application.

Week Five: (5/2/2012 - 5/9/2012)

Create a program that can find a certain room on a single floor when searched for. Also, add the search feature, which will allow the user to select a building and locate it on the campus map. Additionally, program the application to locate where a room is on a single floor for one building. Program the application to find the buildings on the campus map.

Week Six: (5/9/2012 - 5/16/2012)

Expand the program to apply to multiple floors of one building and all buildings so it applies to the entire campus. The search feature should now be able to find a room in a particular building. Add some special features to the application, such as hours of operation for academic buildings, the locations of different departments at Drexel, and a menu for the dining hall. Have the application tested by Android users who go to Drexel and get their feedback and ideas for improvements.

Week Seven: (5/16/2012 - 5/23/2012)

Use the data from the testing in week 6 to make necessary improvements to the application. Make any last touches that are needed.

PROJECT BUDGET

Drexel Interactive Map is expected to cost the development team under two-hundred dollars. The Android Development will be done in Java with Eclipse and the Android SDK, software that is provided free of charge. The majority of the information needed to create this application is available to the through Drexel University to students only requiring the development team to gather said information. The graphics will be made and edited using Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, which will be purchased on Amazon for $77.40. Android requires a onetime registration fee of $25.00 to put an application on the Android Market, known as Google Play. 

ITEM	PRICE(USD)
Adobe Photoshop Elements 10	$77.40
Android Market Fee	$25
Total:	$102.40

PROJECT EVALUATION

Drexel Interactive Map will be evaluated by its ability to direct someone to the specific room they are looking for. The application will be able to take a user’s room search and display the location of that room on a map/floor plan. Again, while there are no outlined stakeholders, the entire Drexel community will judge how effective the application is. Their feedback will provide an evaluation of the application. With the ability to rate an application in an app market, Drexel Interactive Map will be subject to the feedback of users, thus possibly leading to the increase or decrease of its usage.

The application will also be evaluated on its accuracy in locating rooms. If the application says Stratton 219 is on the first floor of the building, this is obviously inaccurate.