Coincidence is a funny thing. 

I keep running into fantastic coincidences during my meetings and work that make everything work better. The latest:

1. When looking into programming a web application, I found a product by Intel (#GrinnellConnection) that completely reshaped my plan for programming my MAP app. 

2. My professor (Janet Davis) for my Value Sensitive Design class that I was meeting with to discuss some strategies for making my app better had just been using the ideal app I need for my Wellness Technology Internship progress. (More on that later!)

3. My meeting last week with Professor Purcell led to us looking at the app for HistoryPin, which is solving a great deal of my design issues for my app, as it also deals with historical memorabilia and mapping. 

In any case, here’s what is going on with my projects!

My MAP continues to chug along nicely and the prototype is working pretty ok so far. I’ll definitely be checking with my computer science-minded classmates to see if they have any suggestions or tricks to make it work better. My basic (so far!) programming skills seem to be working out well, though. It’s exciting to see what used to be indecipherable code take on meaning. I can see some patterns and understand a little better what is happening behind the scenes of my websites. The development software, the Intel XDK, is pretty incredible. It contains a coding suite, design software, testing, and software packaging for the major app stores. It also lets users code in HTML5 instead of other languages, which is great for a beginner like myself. Another awesome feature is the ability to stream the app directly to my phone for direct testing, which is super useful to make sure each new feature works. 

On the Wellness Tech front, I’m working on developing some public awareness posters based on survey data from the student athletes this fall. It’s an exciting project and I enjoy putting the data into a more visual form. Jen Jacobsen and I are also working on a pilot project to use smartphones as wellness-enhancing tools! I’ve been using myself as a guinea pig to test out various fitness tracking apps and wellness-oriented apps to see what may work for college students. My current favorite is “Balanced” which was recommended to me by Professor Davis. It focuses on reminding you to practice good regular habits with minimal reminders. I’m enjoying the fact that it hasn’t jumped on the social-for-social’s-sake train unlike many of the other apps I’ve been trying. It also is incredibly simple and customizable. I think it may be the app we’ll be using for our project, I just want to test it for a few more days. 

A few of screenshots from my app prototype so far