Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 1
SwiftShopper White Paper Amanda Lynn Ferry The Art Institute of Philadelphia 03/13/2012 aferry.web@gmail.com
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 2 Abstract
The SwiftShopper mobile application will allow a person to get what they need from the fewest stores of the closest proximity, or from any number of stores to save money and alleviate some of the stress by notifying when a store close by has what they need. Shoppers who are busy and need to save time or would like to save some money can create lists of shopping items and view on a map display a calculated route to the locations of each item.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 3 Introduction
Mobile technology has quickly become a normal part of our everyday lives. iPhones, iPads, and QR codes, things which seemed impossible just a short while ago are now commonplace. We use it for checking our email, messaging friends and family, surfing the web, causal gaming, socializing, finding what we need, and sometimes to make phone calls. Technology basically makes things “better”- faster, easier, fun-er. Or it is supposed to anyway. Though many applications which are designed to make life a little easier can end up making it in-fact harder. For example, a program which is supposed to track your calories and help make losing weight easier can actually fail miserably at this goal. The fatal flaw in this design is that its scope is too narrow. Simply tracking calorie intake ignores all of the other factors which go into maintaining a healthy weight. Stress for one can have a huge impact and what better a way to create a stressful lifestyle than to over-examine and worry over every detail. Not to say that this strategy can never work, but certainly it is far from fool-proof. That is where the other part of mobile technology comes into play - synchronization. When everything is up to speed with you. We’ve all seen the movies where the alarm goes off and an AI computer house greets us with information about the day. The weather, important news, missed messages, reminders, our schedule, anything and everything we need to go about the day feeling in-control. But for me the vision doesn’t stop there. After leaving my house and getting into my car the AI who knows every detail about my life would play me a morning mix of my favorite songs. If something came up, like an email from someone important, the music would fade out and pause and the AI would inform me. I could use voice commands to have the message read to
Running head: SwiftShopper
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me and send a reply or ignore it for now. I could do this without ever having to check my phone while driving, because of course while in the car my phone would automatically be muted anyway so as not to cause a distraction. My phone would also know not to ring or vibrate during important meetings, at the dinner table, or in the movie theatres except when the caller has listed me as an emergency contact. I would never have to worry about missing a thing because inputting the information into my digital life would become second nature and almost effortless. Every device I use will be online, connected and all about me. My calendar, my email and messages, notifications, and to-do list will all be aware of each other. My calendar could tell me how to best fit in the items in my to-do list. My email and messages would be aware of what my schedule looks like and notify me if my boss is asking me to work on a day that I’ve already schedule a family trip. By periodically asking me how I’m feeling, the system will know what is considered a heavy work load for me and can tell me if I’ve over loaded my schedule. It would respond accordingly by reminding me to relax or letting me know that could be more productive. It would give suggestions based on my previous activities, and like a good friend it would seem to know me. This is the future of technology.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 5 Concept
Many applications available for desktop and mobile devices aim to solve the problem of keeping track of things and getting things done. They are generally grouped as organizational or productivity applications. Some of the more popular list applications are Wunderlist, OmniFocus, Toodledo and a collection of others available for desktop or mobile use. Many of the popular options can be synced between devices especially across Apple products. For example, The Hit List can sync with iPhone and Mac desktop computers and can be integrated with Apple’s iCal software. However, beyond the ability to sync with other devices their features are limited compared to the available possibilities. Search applications are another option for users who need help finding something. Google Mobile and Android’s Voice Search work well when you need to find a single item, but to get the same result as SwiftShopper could offer would take much more effort. Users would have to search for each item and then save the location, using their own judgment and possibly wasting more time than they could be saving in the end. SwiftShopper would eliminate the need for such tedium and do the work quickly and accurately.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 6 Description
Many people can usually say that they have a mental list going of the things they need to buy. For the most part they usually have a good idea where they can go to get what they need. But do they really know exactly where they can get the different items on their list in a way that fits their needs best? Sometimes people are in a hurry and they need to get their shopping done quickly rather than cheaply. Perhaps other times they feel like saving money and don’t care if they have to go out of their way. What they need is a app that can tell them the best way to save time or money while keeping track of what they still need. It would also alert users when they are passing a store that has an item on their list, so that they never miss an opportunity to check something off. If a person was notified when they were close to a store which sells something that they need it could reduce some stress in the lives of busy people. By being able to forget about the list and allow the application to remember everything and track where to get it, the person will not have to constantly keep part of their brain on alert and focused on getting those items either because they are worried about forgetting something important or they don’t want to miss an opportunity by passing by a store with the item they need. They should be able to create multiple lists and add specific items to each list. The application should be able to use geo-location to find the closest or cheapest option for each item on their list depending on the preferences set for that list and plot store locations on a map. When more than one store is required to complete the list users can follow a route similar to Google maps where each store is a destination. Users can set
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the map to select items by price or distance or compare and set each item for a customized route.
Features The app would have the following features: - Create multiple lists of items - Items can be removed, added, edited, categorized, switched to another list, given priority, given a price range, muted, and checked off, - Plan a shopping route based on saving time or saving money. - Limit the distance you are willing to go and total distance you are willing to travel in one trip. - Provide push notifications when close to a store which sells a list item. - Quick search option - does not add item to any list, but displays where to get the item.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 8 Technology Description
The technologies to be used in the development of this application include several scripting languages, some specific frameworks, libraries and APIs, a database system, and other software. Some graphics and visual aspects of the application will be created in Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 with the remaining being styles using CSS style sheets. HTML will be used to build the structural elements of the application and interactivity will be programmed using JavaScript with the help of the jQuery library. PHP will be used to connect to and interact with the MySQL database system and database queries will make use of the SQL language. Publishing and testing software used during the development and testing phases will include Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5, Adobe Device Central CS5.5 and Adobe Browser Labs.
Languages : HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP
Database : MySQL
Frameworks/Libraries/APIs : jQuery, Google Maps API
Testing Software : Adobe Device Central CS5.5, Adobe Browser Labs
Supported Devices : Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian and Palm.
Running head: SwiftShopper
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Flowchart When users launch the SwiftShopper application they will arrive on the home page from a loading screen. The home page will present links to a preferences page, a page where new lists are created, and a page which displays more information for a selected list. In this list view users can get to a page to view and edit items within a list or enter the map view.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 10 Storyboard
Figure 1: Loading Screen & Logo
Figure 2: Home Screen – no lists
Figure 1 – Loading Screen with Application logo
Figure 2 – Home screen with no lists. Application title, preferences button and “create list” button. When no lists have been created a tooltip appears above the “create list” button.
Running head: SwiftShopper
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Figure 3: Map View with Pins
Figure 3 – In map view users will see the items listed in their chosen list outlaid on a map. The pins will indicate the location of a shop which sells an item on their list closest to their selection preferences (cost or distance). An arrow icon links to more information about the store and product available there. The blue marker indicated the user’s current location.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 12 Scenario of Use 1
Mary is a teacher with an interest in art. She often needs to find the cheapest art supplies in her area so that she can continue to run an art club for her students. She has lived in her area for a while and is familiar with most of the art supply stores close to her. Mary receives fliers by mail and special offers by e-mail from some of the local art stores, but the time and effort it takes to search through and compare items to find the cheapest supplier is inconvenient for her. By using the SwiftShopper application Mary can make a list of supplies and set the search mode to ‘price’. When the list is done she can go to the map view which will display her area on a map using geo-location and mark the store with the cheapest price for each item. Mary can also set how far she is willing to travel either by list or by each item.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 13 Scenario of Use 2
Mark has just gotten a job in a new town and has to move. He is not familiar with any of the stores in the area and doesn’t have much time for shopping, but has many things to buy such as groceries and houseware items. Mark is however, very technically savvy. He can tell his smart phone to help him find what he needs using his location or he can save items to a list for later, but Mark wants an application that can do both. SwiftShopper can help him do both of these things and even help him save time. With SwiftShopper Mark can enter his shopping list and discover the fastest route to get all of his shopping done. Throughout the week he can add items to his list and whenever he is near a store that sells an item on his list a push notification will alert him. SwiftShopper will help integrate shopping easily into Mark’s busy schedule.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 14 Scenario of Use 3
Lisa is the owner of a small business. Her storefront shop sells craft supplies such as hand-spun yarn, beads and paper. She wants to see what competing businesses are selling their products for so that she can give her customers a reason to choose her store. Lisa uses SwiftShopper by creating a list of her most popular items and comparing her prices to those of the leading competitors. She can also search for her least popular goods and discover if her prices are maybe the reason they don’t sell. Lisa will also be able to see if she is undercutting herself.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 15 Business Implications
The SwiftShopper application would be available on both the Apple App Store and the Android Market. The decision to make the application available for free through both markets is based on the primary focus of the application itself which is shopping. The nature of the application makes it easy to gain value with advertising.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 16 Future Plans
Future releases of SwiftShopper will include additional features aimed at increasing social and synchronization abilities for the user. Possible goals would be to include sharing lists with other users, by email or over social networking sites and employ collaboration on lists for users to work on lists together. Synchronization capabilities with apple iCal and Google Calendar are also possible for the future development of SwiftShopper.
Running head: SwiftShopper
Ferry, 17 References
WunderKinder, (2012) Wunderlist. Retrieved from http://www.wunderlist.com/.
The Omni Groum, (2012). OmniFocus. Retrieved from http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/.
Jake Olefsky, LLC, (2012) Toodledo. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toodledo-to-do-list/id292755387?mt=8.
Potion Factory LLC., (2012) The Hit List. Retrieved from http://www.potionfactory.com/thehitlist/.