CAPSTONE: Reflection

When I first decided to create a mobile application for my capstone project, I had not clue exactly how to begin. Knowing as little about descriptive and free flowing UI and the construction of a workable and intuitive API format, I was very confused.

The Dallas Socials is a project that seemed to be moving in a positive direction. The blog had attributed thousands of readers and the social media presence was spot on. However, we needed that something special that set us ahead of the pack of lifestyle oriented blog sites out there. We needed to go mobile. In essence, we saw what others we doing with taking their once online blog communities and simply hitting a transfer butter to go mobile. That just wasn’t going to fit the bill. We wanted to incorporate features that enhanced people’s lives. The ability to utilize geolocation was key. Having people target exactly where they were and finding events and important happenings around them was a way for them to truly own the local environment.

Photo Courtesy of Kim Knight

As stated in my initial post months ago, this mobile application was going to take people to a new level of contributing and truly add value to the media and information they consume. Having seen several failed attempts to fully integrate the features that I sought to add to this application, I was hopeful that I could take those mistakes and errors of others and productively use them to make the experience of this application something I could be proud of. Throughout the entire capstone experience, I sought to learn from the case studies and books that I read in order to truly encapsulate a shared model of information. Sure, its great to read blogs all day and hear what other people think about a meal, event or local happening but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to see an interactive model of people who want to connect, comment and write their own local stories to add to our original site. In my opinion, its much more exciting to change the voice everyone once in while and get a new perspective. The Dallas Socials is considered a hyper-local blog and we intended to take on that title within every piece of the site. We are and continue to be a community-based blog that uses social media and digital technologies to launch our readers into the scene from which our review originated. Through the use of this blog and outlets provided to me during my research, I was quickly able to pick up the skills necessary to sketch up prototype after prototype in order to achieve the best end result. Those who believe that mobile applications appear from thin air are wrong. It takes development, strategy and technological expertise to create something that is both interactive and beautiful.

Though I got off to a slow start, I can say that I am very proud of the fact that I have a fully operational prototype that almost checks everything off of my long list of add ons and qualities. I faced challenges and set backs as every good researched should do but with the help of my advisor, Kim Knight, I sought out readings to enhance my knowledge on a particular model or subject that began to guide me to fulfill my goals. Using location-based technology, UI, API, mobile media and a community centric model, I can say that I am very pleased with the application I created in such a short period of time. We hope the release the application into smartphone app stores in the very near future and I have learned a lot along my capstone journey.

CAPSTONE: Case Studies

The following are a collection of research case studies performed to review and collect data from previous mobile application releases, failures and successes.

Zagat Mobile:

Internationally acclaimed review site, Zagat, provided a mobile experience that has evolved the way in which we interact with the places with visit and choose to rate based on our experience.

My take on the application seems fitting based on our want to create an interactive and contributive feel to our  Dallas Socials application.

The app, which now integrates foursquare and was picked up by Google, has blossomed into a recognizably smooth UI experience for the user and the tie ins with geolocational features make the app a true competitor to those who try to replicate the clean feel and experience.

(Picture courtesy of Zagat Mobile)

D Magazine Mobile:

The local Dallas lifestyle magazine, D Magazine, recently took its fences into the mobile realm by bringing forward a mobile application.

The reason why I picked this particular mobile application to study is because of its similar natured articles and feel. Although the Dallas Socials has created a niche audience, we still look for inspiration.

D Mags app seems to have a clunky feel though. The navigation was sticky and all around it all seemed a bit bland and slow. For my study, I took note to improve our app to provided content feeds and interactive UI to true branch out into the contributor model.

(Picture Courtesy of D Magazine)

Dallas Observer Mobile App:

Calling itself Dallas’ essential guide, this study drew me in because of the similarities between the Dallas Observer mobile application and The Dallas Socials app. By providing a plethora of options for the user to engage in, the application creates a navigable UI and sharing platform that even ties into social media sites.

The downfall of this application is the somewhat lengthy loading times and altogether scattered media throughout. It was tough to nail down the event that each photo slideshow came from or how outsiders can get involved in content creation which is something that I hope to integrate.

(Courtesy of Dallas Observer)

Dallas Advocate Magazine Mobile App:

The Dallas Advocate follows the same content path as the prior examples, however I was most impressed and inspired by the UI and deisgn of this app.
When dealing with seamless transition from computer to mobile device, keeping things comfortable and familiar is key.
In the case of The Dallas Socials, being able to keep a seamless and similar layout and scheme is important. The Advocate app provided blog, picture and geolocation features in an easy to use package.

(Picture courtesy of Advocate Magazine)

CAPSTONE: “The good. The bad. The…”

Forrester Research did some digging into the field of mobile app development, strategy and presentation and gathered up “The Good, the bad, the…”. By exploiting flaws in the plethora of mobile media applications available to users today, they in turn did a great favor to my development phase of research and design strategy. Exposing the issues that competitive mobile apps have in the greater marketplace of choices entitles future developers to take those mistakes and apply that collected knowledge into the construction of their own unique app. When researching my capstone project for The Dallas Socials app, I tirelessly analyzed the competing mobile apps in the field and tried to emulate the good that I saw and violently flee from the frustrations of their UI eyesores.

The Forrester presentation provided a model for mobile strategy to feed off of. The word P.O.S.T, or People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology, is the way in which the journey of app development should set off with in mind. The information provided to me in the presentation not only made me laugh as they picked apart apps that I saw nothing wrong with but stunned me with some statistics and wants that still were not being provided. For instance, certain apps lacked the ability of the user to swipe seamlessly across screens. At the time of this presentations release, there were still mobile applications that were sloppily slow and staggered painfully during the usage period. Using this knowledge, I wanted to truly focus on a presentable and marketable UI that at first glance and use would provide the consumer with the same abilities and accessibility that they have with our blog interface.

Another set of important topics to cover were Usability, Consextuatlity and Visability. Of course, with The Dallas Socials app, I want to provide the user to have the ability to interact with our posts, event listings and UI so that they can customize their experience to their liking and in a way that they feel like we are catering to them. The issue of context comes into play when we think about our audience and their experiences when pairing those alongside with the evolving and up to date content we provide to them. We must stay within the bounds of the walls we’ve constructed around our blog. The topical and communication based barrier pose the question of how can we take things from outside of our blog realm and spin them in a light that seems fitting and useful. Lastly, visibility is key. We are lucky to have a large following and readership rate that when the app goes live it will be supported my a loyal set of readers and social media participants. For a lifestyle application like ours to reach its visibility potential, we must take every available social and offline resources to grow the awareness and reach. If done right, the application will reach its intended and previous supported audience and we will have achieved a successful launch.

CAPSTONE: Locality and Risks

One of the integral functions that I wanted to include with The Dallas Socials application was having a geolocation feature. In order to learn more on the topic of why location is so important to consumers and mobile media participants, I took a look into Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World by Eric Gordon.

Knowing that our social world is becoming one filled with over sharers and those who feel the need to broadcast themselves and their whereabouts at any given moments, geolocational apps are booming. Pairing alongside the Dallas Socials app was our knack for promoting local events and special outings for our readers.

In order to take things one step further, I planned to take on the model of a contributor map that was filled with Dallas centric goings on and how other can partake in the events. Of course, with having an open model comes risks of spamming or overwhelming amounts of geolocational data being pushed through the mobile application at any given moment. I continued to read more from Gordon and his stance on moderation of locality in a mobile media atmosphere and how to control frenzy. As questions of privacy and being incognito with check ins arise, I sought out how to tackle th issue of providing an option for those who opt to fly under the radar when taking part in an event we have set up.

There will always be glitches in the system of locations leaking out and also inability to check in. I hope to always have a bug to fix or qualm to settle in terms of someone who wants to attend but not have out app capture their pinpointed locale. As of now, in the construction stage we have a pop up option that asks the application user whether or not they would like to share their location so that the app can find them and alert other attendees that they have arrived. While this option is not wanted for some, for the vast majority a check in to a popular even is social and mobile gold.

CAPSTONE: Mobile Media and Originality

I found out quickly that mobile application building can be quite tedious. Having to cater to a set community of individuals who are constantly familiarizing themselves with new media is quite tough.

Though the use of aggregation and geolocation strategy, I began to plot out exactly how I wanted the app to feel. Setting myself different from the previously released applications meant molding the app into a on-the-go form of our fully working blog. The tools necessary to learn the API and UI interfaces were not originally at my disposal so I looked to Mobile Interface Theory: Embodied Space and Locative Media to boost my knowledge base.

Author Jason Farman knows the intuitive balance of keeping a streamlined look to your app while still providing options and large amounts of information for your readers and app users to digest. Putting all this information into a format that is easy to navigate and still reflects a chic and unique façade can be hard to achieve.

The reading that I did taught me that with the ever evolving face of mobile media, you must stay ahead and abreast of what your consumers wants, what they need and ultimately what you can provide and bring to the table.

I would go as far as to say that this book was the turning point in my theoretical breakdown during the construction of my app. Sure I wanted bells and whistles that would make someone jump to The Dallas Socials app over another competing one, but what was the cost to my originality and feel of the blog.

At what point do we say, we can give our consumers everything they’ve had and more with our blog on our mobile app without sacrificing the sanctity and originality of our design work. The art of finding that balance that Farman demonstrates in a Feng Shui way and the utter adoption of mobile technologies in an on-the-world can only be achieved once a path is set.  I found out the hard way that one cannot go throwing together a mobile application that looks good, but does not have the true functionality and informative aspects of its fully blown blog sibling.

What excited me also, is that Farman stays of top of the issue of putting oneself into the usuage period of a mobile application. If we don’t find the mobile media we consume to be inherently valuable in some sort of way to our personal endeavors, what then is the point of continuing to use the resource. People want to be able to visit the Dallas Socials application and say, “I’d like to give my two cents on this article or review” or “I wonder if I could draft something up to reflect how I feel about (insert local event, restaurant or other social object), so that others can be aware of their hyper-local options”.

I learned the most about mobile media from my interactions with Mobile Interface Theory: Embodied Space and Locative Media and during the theoretical planning stages of my capstone project, it provided an rational crutch to help me better understand application consumer needs and how to cater to them while still keeping originality.

Fan Fatale

While reading Fan Cultures this week, I came across a few familiar subjects. Then after getting deeper into those subjects during a class discussion, I was quickly overcome with questions of my own about fandom and how we really aggregate the cultural idols that we hold so dear. Knowing what really goes into the mode of affect the involves us so closely with the things we care about and idolize can show us the formula for coming up with a fan.

The most interesting thing I found and wanted to know more about was the concept of a mattering map. How peculiar the thought of a group of individuals deciding on the patterns and formulaic ways of coming up with what matters most. How does this come about and why are they deciding for us? The concept flows like this: If we idolize the body, soon after comes the idolization of sex and its role in culture. It simply seems to be a waterfall effect of cultural phenomena trickling down to a pool of general fandom.

 The chapter based on fantasy and reality proved to be the most curious. Differentiating between the role of play in fan culture and how was classify the types of alternate feelings we can gain from knowing our real limits. The pleasure we received from raising the value of an object is incomparable. It’s unreal to believe that we go from hearing about something that is quietly popular to all our stalker mode, if you will, in such a short period of time. Drawing the distinct line between play and real can help us to define how we really feel about something.  Hearing the summarization of each chapter heightened my awareness to the real way in which we climb the ladder from participant and involuntary responder to giving ourselves, our money and our full attention over to a cultural object.

I know I am a fan of certain things, but who would dare say that I am stuck in a state of fanatasy or play in relation to my favorite band, movie or make of car. It is really our personal choice to become a fan or is it fully thrust upon us as helpless fan mobs?

Reproduction, Reproduction

With the timely readings of Benjamin and DeCerteau in full swing, it seems appropriate to discuss the ins and outs of reproduction. No kids, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking the serious effects that copies and replications of an original idea can have on the velocity of its travel and impact. When we think about how many times we’ve heard the same thing from different people or had the same concept of a product come from multiple big brands or studios, well its just about as annoying as this run on sentence. Truth is, in the age of Mechanical Reproduction this monotony is just the pill we must swallow. In order to understand better, we’ll take DeCerteaus views on production and consumption and try to make this easier to comprehend.

Once there was a time when anything that was heard from a few people was as credible as it being in the 10 Commandments.We flat out knew nothing better than to take the word of that person or the ideas on a brand to heart. Having no real way of competing, we just had to trust that this was a source we could trust to create valuable and intelligent ideas. The production comes from an elite standpoint, in which those who do not have the means to perform the ideation process with the input of others are force to consume the products of those who do. This has certainly change in the more recent times when resources are more readily available and the more complex and groundbreaking ideas are coming from the unlikely depths of mankind. Now, when we look at the production and consumption process its one that is certainly twisted amongst the wants and needs of a social and virtual community. The notion of individuals building empires within the comfort of a dorm room or home lab would be a hard concept to carry to fruition back in the day. With the help of modern advances, we are able to reproduce ideas and product sin innovative and unique ways. This isnt always the case though, some copycats flops, more than not. The flopping occurs due to certain factors of consumers not buying into the fact that this product is better than its original and the replication was rough and not completely thought through.

Talking this week about how many ways and original can be reproduced (i.e the Mona Lisa appearing in several forms and the sales of those offspring), how can we really measure the credibility or value of a certain object when something could come along the trump it two fold, hell…100 fold. With as many times that I’ve seen the work of street artists being sold off at unprecedented prices, anyone could reproduce the logo of a famous company and add a few spray paint marks to sell for millions.

How can we tell that something is going to stay in its original state? The age of mechanical reproduction has proven that the evolution of the original is at full mast.

CAPSTONE: Macrowikinomics

The benefits of diving into the book Macrowikinomics have been sought out and partially reaped. While reading, I began to realize the real potential of working my application into the complex digital business model.

The first concept that comes into play when reading was the need to be familiar with the Networked Model. When confronting the theory of mass collaboration and aggregation, one must be aware of the potential threats and weeds in the concept of contributorship.

The mass collection of information based on tips and insider/outsider review and input can be a tricky one. Sorting through possibilities of contributors can mean some erious work in the case of my project for The Dallas Socials. However, will the serious work aside, this is the trend that we are moving more towards nowadays.

 In order to move forward, we must have a dynamic quality of accessing and sharing the information we gather and receive from outside sources.

CAPSTONE: Digital Capital Research

The book Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs captures exactly what I seek. With the knowledge to venture forth into the creation of an application tying into a business model, gaining capital is key.

The first step for my particular project is to form what Ticoll, Tapscott and Lowy call “alliances”. These ties come in the form of those people that we choose to connect with online and through social networking to gain credibility. If we sort through influences and predecessors in our field, we can form these “alliances” and attain a boost of help.

The next step is a reality check. Recognizing the repossessions of a digital economy and the standards by which we can monetize an app or website using digital capital is key. If we achieve it in the right way, it can become something much more than what we thought it could be.

 Slywotsky talks about the attraction and how the online business model aka blogs have to differentiate themselves to attract a certain demographic of customers. This is my goal, to be…different.

New Venture: Capstone

The Dallas Socials is a local Dallas blog that I write for and contribute to daily. In the past couple of months, I have seen the readership of the blog grow leaps and bounds and the popularity of its tips and tricks, resources and event calendar explode as more and more people find out about the blog. With all of the competition outside of Dallas Socials, I’d like to believe that we find ourselves catering to a niche audience of:

Happy hour crowd

21-35 yr old

Mobile internet users

Food, events, culture, sporting

Young/in the know

Bringing who we really want to benefit from our blog into the picture meant tailoring our content to fit our standards and audience.

To really break apart from the many Dallas bloggers that exist now and the growing number of independent blogs out there, I’ve decided to take on the challenge of expanding our reach and visibility amongst our chosen audience. I will be creating a multi-use smart phone application for The Dallas Socials. Through research, speaking with developers and working diligently to source my help on this project, I believe that over the course of this venture I will be able to create something that many will find useful and that will set us apart from the competition.

My research will be done in the form of being a curator of useful information on a plethora of application development topics and broadening my knowledge base on the technologic aspects of building an app from ideation to conceptualizations, and finally realization of a prototype.

I have asked Professor Kim Knight to mentor and advise me during my project and with her insight on viral and popular media, I hope for a successful run at a previously foreign concept.