Free Pilot Study Chapter Dissertation Chapter Example

Introduction

With the popularity of mobile applications, there have been a lot of applications that have been developed and the usability of these applications will depend on the likes of the users. Some of the most important features that are followed when undertaking mobile app development is to ensure there is usability and simplicity of use in the mobile apps. Users will want to ensure that they have usability design that will be appealing to the users (Chomutare et al., 2011). Different users have different preferences regarding what should be included in the app. Designers should ensure that they understand what the users would want and balance between the usability design and the requirements for the application. The design of the interface will have to follow the theoretical requirements that are needed in the design. These aspects are important and should be considered in any design.
When undertaking the design of a mobile app, the user experience is a significant aspect that will need to be taken into consideration. The success of any app will depend on the way it has been designed. Because of the limitation of space, it will be important to understand the design procedures and the principles that are required in the design process. There is a need to plan the update and the maintenance process. Users should not be required to download the whole application again when there is a new update that has been added to the content (Gavalas, & Economou, 2011).
This paper will focus on the design of a reminder mobile app. The usability of different mobile apps will be assessed. The paper will focus on the features that make some mobile apps attractive for users and other features that are not liked by users. The users will assess a number of mobile apps that are used as reminders. Some of the reminders that will be used include Reminder, To Do Reminder, Any,Do, reminders, Remember the Milk. These reminders will be installed by different users so that they will assess their effectiveness in getting the things that they would want to do to be achieved (Ickin et al., 2012). It is a process that will be managed and achieved with effect. It is important to understand the issues of concern and the requirements that are needed in the entire process. The look, professionalism, clear, use of icons and text, and interface design were among the issues that the participants were keen.
The methodology that was used in carrying out the assessment is another thing that was of interested to the researcher. For reliability and accuracy, the researcher made use of different methodologies in order to get different content and have a different method of getting the right information (Melo, Abreu, & Silva, 2014). Observation, interview, workshop, and diary methods of getting information were among the methodologies that were used in the research. In a study, it is important to have different methodologies so that the data and the content that will be obtained will be assessed for accuracy. In the interview process, the researcher will assess other features like the facial experience and the ease of use of the different aspects of the mobile apps. It is important to understand the issues of concern and have a procedure that will enable the users to get the right information regarding the use of the methodology.
Overall, it is coming out clear that the use of different methodologies will ensure that there are different procedures that will be used in the entire process of getting the right information. There are some methodologies that are not being able to be used alone. An example is diary. When undertaking a study with the use of different methodologies, the same aspect is being researched. What is different is the method of getting the data from the users (Melo, Abreu, & Silva, 2014).

Conclusion

Mobile apps have been popular in the world today so that their popularity and their use is getting popularity by the day. It is from this that there are many aspects that have been put into consideration when looking for features that need to be included in a mobile app. Just like desktop applications, the design of the mobile app will depend on the preferences of the users. It is for this that there is a need to have a study of the different features that the users will want in a mobile app. When undertaking the mobile apps design, the user experience is of great importance (Page, 2014). For a mobile app to be popular, the user should find the experience rich and optimal. Some of the features that need to be looked at is professionalism. In the reminder app, one of the issues that are of concern for the users is that of downloads and updates. Mobile apps will require that they are updated from time to time. Users will not like a situation where they will be required to update the mobile app from time to time. Users will want to ensure that they have usability design that will be appealing to the users. Different users have different preferences regarding what should be included in the app. Designers should ensure that they understand what the users would want and balance between the usability design and the requirements for the application (Page, 2014).
There are different methodologies that can be used to get information for a study. In researcher, there has been the need to use more than one method for accuracy and reliability. The data that is obtained from the research will have to be consistent when different methodologies have been used. The different aspects will have to be taken into consideration. When an observation is made, there is the benefit of looking at facial experience of the participant. Also, in the Reminder application experience, the users will also be assessed on their ease of use and the experience they have with the use of mobile apps (Melo, Abreu, & Silva, 2014). Even though this information can be obtained from the researcher in other methods of collecting the data, observation will provide the opportunity to assess the user. The user will be assessed and known basing on the way they handle the process. The researcher will actually look at the user and assess their experience. In the interview process, the researcher will assess other features like the facial experience and the ease of use of the different aspects of the mobile apps. It is important to understand the issues of concern and have a procedure that will enable the users to get the right information regarding the use of the methodology (Melo, Abreu, & Silva, 2014).
Pilot studies are an important part of undertaking studies before undertaking the real research. Pilot studies help to understand the dynamics and the logistics of the study so that the issues that will be met will be known beforehand. From the pilot study that has been done, for example, the researcher must have noted that most users are still using manual means of getting reminders in their work schedules. While carrying out the experiment, most users were observed that they had to download an app because they had not downloaded the app because they have not been using the app. The researcher will have to have a procedure that will allow the users to download the apps that are preferred sometime before the meeting so that the users will have enough information to give (Melo, Abreu, & Silva, 2014). The users shall have been given the chance to undertake the experience and they will have their own comments about the preferred Reminders. It will be important to understand these issues and it will be an issue of concern for the developers to put these things into perspective. From the pilot study, the researcher will ensure that the participants will have to download the applications that will be used so that the process of carrying out the interviews will be done effectively and systematically. Some other issues that will have to be considered in the process will include the time that the interviews will take. From the pilot study, most participants did not have the time for a long interview. These issues are of great concern.

References

Chomutare, T., Fernandez-Luque, L., Årsand, E., & Hartvigsen, G. (2011). Features of mobile diabetes applications: review of the literature and analysis of current applications compared against evidence-based guidelines. Journal of medical Internet research, 13(3).
Gavalas, D., & Economou, D. (2011). Development platforms for mobile applications: Status and trends. Software, IEEE, 28(1), 77-86.
Ickin, S., Wac, K., Fiedler, M., Janowski, L., Hong, J. H., & Dey, A. K. (2012). Factors influencing quality of experience of commonly used mobile applications. Communications Magazine, IEEE, 50(4), 48-56.
Melo, L., Abreu, J., & Silva, T. (2014). Mobile Applications for Natural Parks: Guidelines Study for the Development of a Mobile Device Application. Procedia Technology, 16, 263-268.
Page, T. (2014). Application-based mobile devices in design education.International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 8(2), 96-111.