My role in the overall project was contributing ideas for the App since it was a conceptual project. I gave useful and creative ideas to be incorporated like some of the mapping features along with the Yellow Pages concept for sustainable restaurants and businesses. Our group as a whole was very hands on with the project, and everyone contributed great ideas that we thought would be worthwhile for users of the App.  Our project leader, Josh was extremely helpful and really motivated us to come up with a great concept.

The most rewarding thing about this project, for me, is that I got a great experience working with other people who are excited about learning more about sustainability and what it really means for the community and for our future.  I also feel more accomplished after finishing out final proposal. I think we have come up with a really great idea that has good potential for use for not only the College of Charleston but for other universities and institutes to utilize.

~Meg

 

I really enjoyed being a part of this group in starting the process to create a smart-phone app for Sustainability at the College of Charleston.  My initial contribution to the group was working on the events feature of the app.  We decided in our brainstorming sessions that we should have a sustainable events feature.  I looked up local events such as farmers markets, Green CofC meetings, and Office of Sustainability events.  There are also local events, such as the Green Fair, which could be
integrated into the app. We decided to make the events integrated into the interactive map, so users can see where and when the events happen on the map.  With our interactive map feature users can not only find bike racks and recycling bins, they can see what sustainable projects are happening on campus.

I also came up with the initial setup of the graphic user interface (GUI).  I thought it would be visual pleasing for the main menu to be in the image of a tree.  Each branch would have a different section of the map.  When the user taps on the end of the branch it will take them to the respective part of the app.  At the top of the tree would be the name of the app.  Some ideas for the name were CofC Sustain-a-app, and iSustain CofC.

It is my hope that this app will also keep students involved on campus.  The Office is putting on more and more events each semester and this app can help bring students to these events.  With constant reminders and by using the map feature users will be able to see where and when the events are happening on the map.  I want more people to realize what the vision of the Office is and I want them to get involved.  It is my hope that this app will help produce a campus where people are working towards creating a sustainable campus where people are constantly making new improvements.

~Erich

 

 

The app proposal has been submitted to the ECOllective Student Project Committee for funding consideration, and has garnered serious interest from the Sustainability Director and the Computer Science Department’s Software Innovations Lab. With ECOllective approval and funding, the Computer Science Department chair Dr. Starr believes coding development can begin in early Spring ’12, with an initial product completed by the end of the semester. Dr. Starr has discussed the possibility of a long-term development relationship between the Innovations Lab and the Office of Sustainability, which would provide students with valuable inter-disciplinary experience, as well as realize a project with significant potential for promoting campus sustainability.

The app itself could attract grant funding, serve as a basis for creating an on-going inter-disciplinary community sustainability project, while also promoting awareness about CofC’s effort to transform itself into a sustainable campus. As an added benefit, the app couldeven draw consistent revenue and be licensed out to other organizations. Once developed, it could be licensed for use to other colleges and institutions for their own sustainability programs. Therefore, it would help CofC establish itself as a national leader in sustainability.

A core concept that drives sustainability is the notion of maintaining something for the future.

Our group, planning for the development of a CofC Sustainability smartphone app, is laying the groundwork for something that will be both a functional product and an illustration of that core concept.

Having begun the process of developing an app in my work at the George Street Observer, I was extremely interested in applying my knowledge to another project. In particular, I researched the cost expectations, implementation strategy, and ways we could integrate various forms of media into the user experience.

From a cost perspective, I was the only member of the group with any expectations. I reached out to friends in the development community, and determined that the baseline cost was going to be $50-$100 per hour, based on what we proposed to a developer. This was important when we took our ideas to the Computer Science department’s Software Innovations Lab. While their proposed costs were higher than we were expecting, it was important that we had the understanding that app development is expensive.

As we looked more into what feature sets we wanted to implement, I proposed that we build the app in stages, staggering the cost, and adding functionality over time. From that suggestion, we built a strategy that ranked our most important features as priorities. So, the app that will eventually be built will begin with core features, and others will have the opportunity to add to it over time.

Next, I proposed adding media elements, like a podcast and links to the Office’s blog, as well as push notifications. I saw push notifications as critical to the app’s success. Notifications allow for engagement for user. They’re familiar to those who use smartphones, and offering features like a tip of the day, or event reminders will breed habitual use of the app among users.

Along the way, I thought of some perspective Steve Jobs gave in March at the conclusion of one of his last public appearances.

“Technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the result that makes our heart sing,” Jobs said.

This app is exactly that. Technology won’t solve our sustainability issues. Classes won’t solve our sustainability issues. Marrying the two together, though, will help us pursue that end of maintaining something for the future.