For Gabby- Menu Screen default interface

The social interface- group app

ok here is the last interface I created for our app.  This is what the instant message screen will look like within the social aspect of our app. this allows for users to chat with those who are close in the community and ask for tips and ingredients

Group App Creation- First 3 interfaces

Here are the first of the user interfaces I created for our meal master app. The first is of the loading screen. The second is the menu screen with options for the social, recipes, inventory, help, scanner, and favorites within our app. The third is what the scanner will look like along with a menu containing the options of adding the foods scanned to the inventory as well as a calorie counter option for meals. 

Audience for App

Sara is newly married and a full time college student. She is trying to balance maintain the household for her newly formed family, work a part time job, and survive her large school load while maintaining a high GPA. Since Sara and her husband both only have part time jobs and go to school full time they have a very minimal food budget. She is also very inexperienced with cooking and coming up with new tasteful meals. She tends to let food go to waste because she has very limited knowledge on varieties of meal options. It is hard for her to even find time to go to the store let alone find the cheapest option.


Meal Master will help Sara come up with new tasty menu ideas, help her create the dish step by step, give her options based on the ingredients she already has in her fridge, and always help her to find the cheapest option. The social media aspect of the help will help her connect to others in the community and help her newly formed family get settled and adjust to married life.

App review- photoshop mix

This app is one I found to be highly entertaining and easy to use. Granted I probably don't use it as it was initially intended but I still love it! Photoshop mix was created by Adobe for graphic designers and photographers to easily combine and edit their photos on their portable devices. This app allows you to combine photos to create new and interesting pictures as well as the ability to create color differences and highlight certain aspects of a photo to portray your artistic ability. 

 While the images they provide are beautiful I went for a more... humorous approach...

This app allows the user to upload pictures from your device, easily crop out the image you wish to use, and even alter the image in regards to size and color to help you match the photos you are combining seamlessly.

The app requires IOS 7.0 or later and uses about 89MB. Adobe asks to collect a variety of information from your device, but all of it is pretty normal for any app to ask for. Most of it is in regards to monitor usability and function of the app as seen below. Adobe also provides information on what the companies uses your information for and where it is stored.

The cost of this app is free! (yay!) and in my opinion is worth it. Whether you want to poke fun at your family like I do or make beautiful pictures to market your epic skills like my husband ....

I think this app functions with ease and is very complex for being what it is. With more practice and an artistic eye this app could be very useful. I would recommend this app to anyone.

My 48 hour fast

Not going to lie, I was very hesitant towards turning off my phone and distancing myself from any outside connection to the world. I have become so dependent on the use of technology not just as a utility but as a comfort. In any awkward situation I can easily detach myself by browsing Facebook. I find it to be a necessity to keep track of my family and to know of their safety. I even use my phone for the simple function of a watch and alarm clock. So when I embarked on this challenge I made sure to cover all my bases. Dig out an old watch, make no appointments for 2 days, text all family members, and post the meaning of my absence on Facebook. I started my endeavor at approximately 11:20pm on Sunday March 15th. I had just flown into California and was settling into my dad's house out in the middle of no where. I figured this would be the best place to purge myself of all technology since it was a miracle if you even got cell service there in the first place. My first day was fairly easy. My dad thought this experiment was a prime opportunity to put me to work. So I spent the first day doing hard manual labor. I was charged with cutting down trees, dragging them into burn piles, and also installing new hardware floor at one of his rental properties. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't completely terrible. In fact I am grateful. I was so distracted I didn't have an issue leaving my phone behind. I think the hardest part of the day was when it came to an end. My nightly ritual of browsing Pinterest had to be replaced with reading a book. Which actually turned out to be far more enjoyable. I forgot how much I loved to really dive into a book with out any distractions. The 2nd day was similar to the first. More hard manual labor to take up my time. My family also decided to watch a few movies which I had to leave the room for. Thanks Netflix. At the end of my 48 hours I excitedly turned on my phone to see what I had missed... Which turns out to be not a lot. I was kind of disappointed. No one called or sent a text. No notifications on Facebook. I was bummed. It made me realize my extreme attachment to technology is meaningless. I got a lot more out of disconnecting from technology and actually spending time with my dad and my husband than I ever thought I would. I have actually been leaving my phone at home or even off most days thanks to this experience.

Best Device Review

Let me start off by saying that I have been searching and implementing different techniques and home remedies to help me not only get through my extremely busy days, but to also conquer the clinical depression and social anxiety I have been "blessed" with. My current routine is a lot of naps to calm the nerves and a lot of Diet Pepsi to wake me up and get me through the hectic day. This is probably not the best routine. That is why I was extremely interested and actually pretty excited when I came across the Thync mood-changing wearable.

And look it works with your phone!!! 

Thync is "Neurosignaling uses electronic or ultrasonic waveforms to signal neural pathways in the brain. When specific pathways are stimulated, they trigger a shift in your state of mind or energy level," says Will Shanklin from gizmag.com. By using an app on your phone and connecting it to pads that you place on your head you can become calm (after 15 minutes of use) or energized (after 20 minutes of use). When Shanklin tried out this device he first did the calming mood and said he could instantly see results. His communication slowed and his body relaxed. Shortly after he tried the energy mode. He instantly noticed foot tapping, increased communication, and the urge to get out and conquer the day. While you would think that that two moods would counteract each other, they actually work hand in hand. Shanklin stated that after trying both modes he felt calm and energized. the perfect combination for getting through the rest of the day. 

Necessary academic research has been done, according to the creators of this device, and there are no harmful side effects or addictive qualities. For some it may take 2 or 3 uses to get the full effect but there is also an option to change the intensity level of each mood. The device looks to be very promising with those dealing with depression, fatigue, drug disorders, or simply the want to feel fantastic! This device looks to be very promising and is set to launch in 2015. I am secretly hoping this device doesn't cost an absurd amount of money so I may purchase this awesomeness and kick my habit of Diet Pepsi drinking and frequent cat-napping. 

Research for Group Project: Bette and Gabby

There are quite a few apps out there that contain the aspects we had in mind for our  new app. Below are a few of the apps I found that contained similar descriptions and aspects that we had.

Su Chef:

Su Chef is a free app available for IOS users. It allows you to enter in all of the ingredients in your fridge by text or voice command. It then can search for recipes containing some or all of the ingredients you have entered. On a separate screen you can manually search for recipes by determining main ingredients, types of food, meal, and time you want. Once a recipe is found it can be added to your favorites and ingredients can be added to a shopping list. I found this app to be frustrated in a couple of ways. The  manual recipe search doesn't take into account the ingredients you have. When entering ingredients the app seemed to have a hard time recognizing what food you had entered. The shopping list is just that, a shopping list. It doesn't have the added features we discussed in having delivery of those ingredients, closest store carrying particular ingredients, or prices. This app is very elementary but overall a good start. Our app will beat all aspects of this app in usability and content hands down.

Epicurious

Epicurious is another recipe search app. This one has a large following and contains recipes from epicurious itself. This one is also similar to the su chef app but a lot more complex. This app does not contain the option to enter the ingredients you already have in your fridge. Epicurious is like a pinterest for recipes. The app provides various categories to browse through including recipes that are in season to recipes for oscar party snacks. The search option categories are constantly updated. If you find a recipe appealing you can then add it to your recipe box, which is where it stores all of your favorite recipes. This app also has a grocery list option, allowing you to click on the ingredients needed and it is then saved to a standard list. Again no extent after that like we would like with our app. What is interesting about this app is the vast majority of recipes available for the users as well as step by step instructions when following the recipe. It does not have the voice command option that we would like for our app in regards to the step by step cooking process. 

Big Oven 

Big Oven is another app closely related to su chef and epicurious. you can look through a large variety of recipes (350,000 +), favorite the ones you like, and create a shopping list. What is unique about this app is the menu planning option. This is very helpful for families living on a budget. this way you can plan out all of your meals for the week and only go to the store once to pick up the needed ingredients. Again it doesn't have all the features we would like our app to have. The need for options regarding ingredient delivery, distance to stores, and prices is still out there. That could definitely be our niche. Another downfall for this app is its "left overs" option. It only allows you to input 3 ingredients and will pull up options for those few ingredients. still making it a necessity to go to the store and buy more food. 

While doing my research I found a handful of other apps closely related to the ones above. All with the same basic principle. A Pinterest for the foodie. I then began to try and find apps that focused on our idea of notifying you when you are running low on staple ingredients. I found only a few. 

Fresh Box 

Fresh box allows you to enter the ingredients you have purchased and then provides an easy way to see how much you have left as well as the estimated expiration date. What I find to be pretty awesome with this app is the capability it has to determine what you have in your fridge just by taking a photo! Granted you have to take a photo for each one though... its like an instagram for your food. It then calculates the life and amount of the food you have. The app will alert you when the expiration date is nearing and allows you to then transfer that particular food item to your shopping list. You can also remove the food item once you have finished it so your fridge in your app is always up to date. Our app will be different again in the way it notifies you when you are almost out of an ingredient, not just when it is close to its expiration date. While i love the just take a picture ability, I find it to be a pain to take a picture of each individual object. Can't we just scan the entire fridge in one sweeping motion? I find that if the technology is available, i would much rather save my time. 

Best Before 

Best Before is an app specifically for android users and its closely related to fresh box for IOS users. It has the picture taking option as well as notifications when the item will expire. This also provides a color coded count down for each individual item. This does not provide a shopping list and seems pretty limited in its usability.



From what I have found from my research of other apps, so far, is that while some contain aspects of our app, our app brings it all into one. We also provide a more extensive usability option, ease of use, voice activated recipe guides, ingredient delivery, total cost of ingredients when taking into account travel time as well as what stores have the cheapest ingredient, the option to download cook books from favorite chefs and subscribe to visual tutorials are the harder desserts you want to try, and it incorporates what you have in your fridge even if you are doing a standard recipe search. I think our app will be very successful because of its all in one capability. We can do this!

Medium is the Message Assignment

Upon reading the article "The Medium is the Message is the Medium" I was a little perplexed. Perhaps this is a little beyond my understanding and knowledge at this current time, and what I did get out of it might not be correct, but hey let's go for it.


What stuck out to me was the following statement, "the idea that society can't function without the media and that media exist to serve the needs of society".  Upon reflection of myself and fellow peers it does seem apparent we can't survive with out the ease of access we now have to all forms of media. It is as simple as asking SIRI where something is to browsing Facebook when our husband is playing video games to pass the time. We have become so used to the easiness of daily tasks it would baffle many in our generation to look up an address of a place of business using a phone book and a map.


Another observation I made while reading this article is the importance of the medium of the message we are receiving. Visuals such as pictures and videos can convey intended emotions far more than a print article in a newspaper or magazine. Depending on what the message is that we wish to convey to the general public will largely determine the specific media we will use.


I look forward to what my fellow peers have to say about this subject in order to increase my understanding.