Final Report for Walk-Through (Personal Guide through HSRW Campus)

Chetna Krishna

Tyra Kaddu

Innovative Online Formats

Final Report for Walk-Through (Personal Guide through HSRW Campus) Overview HSRW Walkthrough is a mobile application that provides a personal guide to users around the university’s Kleve Campus. It intends to give quick access to information to anyone present on campus (or even off campus) - newly enrolled or old students, staff members and visitors, including information on upcoming Events via Events tab or a mobile notification. It directs users to central locations such as the Mensa or various laboratories, providing further guidance that would not be available at first glance or without the aid of a staff member.

The app is comprised of several tabs providing users on up-to-date information regarding the different aspects of the campus such as, ongoing clubs a student may join within the Clubs tab, or the different places a student may need around the campus within the Study Area tab or Chill Spots tabs.

In addition, with QR technology and strategically placed QR codes around the campus, users should be able to find out what exactly happens in that area and what potential events or experiments happen or will occur there. The QR codes direct readers to a Blog describing important locations of the campus. So far, the first QR code and blog about Audimax is up and ready!

What problem does our project address?

Being third semester students, we noticed that there are some unexplored parts and aspects of the campus that everyone is not familiar with. Putting ourselves in the shoes of the first semester students, we felt the necessity for a tool capable of providing all the necessary information about the campus and its set up.

However, even after spending a whole year and a half at the university, in the process of developing Walkthrough we discovered so much more about the campus too.

Mentioned below are some of the needs and requirements met through this project:

Chetna Krishna

Tyra Kaddu

Innovative Online Formats

1) Lack of inadequate and quick info: There is insufficient amount of quick and easyaccess information about the campus. As first semester students, a lot of time is spent getting accustomed to knowing where each room is, where to go in case of‌ “what goes on in this laboratoryâ€? and so on.

2) Cool spots: Cool spots such as quiet areas for students to study or relax are also not very prominent or well known.

3) Free facilities: The University allows free access to PCs in certain rooms which many students are unaware of.

4) Student rooms: There are a few rooms on the campus available for students to organize events as well.

5) Emergency: In times of emergency such as fire, everyone on the campus must assemble in front of the crane. Many people may not know about such significant places and its importance for the campus.

6) Special events: Presently, there is no medium other than emails and social media to know about events and its locations in the campus. The app has the potential to notify users about upcoming events, filtered by user interest, and give location/room number of the event.

What were the technical characteristics and requirements of our project?

Due to our lack of advanced coding skills, we turned to other app making solutions to ensure the wireframe and the final product was complete. One of the most time-consuming tasks required for the project to succeed, was the collection of raw data in form of pictures of the locations and bit-sized pieces of information, a major component our app.

We learned about the process of app making, geolocations, making a blogging website and QR technology.

One-on-one communication with university officials to introduce our project was also a demand we met in the later phase of finalisation. We made sure that our in-person meeting and written application showed confidence, assurance to not harm department resources and commitment. We also had to get content of the app approved since it involved information related to the university campus.

Which methods or tools did you use to develop your project?

App The app builder we used was called App Institute. Additional tools included MockPlus to digitalise and refine our wireframe and Photoshop to edit our photos and create a map layout for the Campus (visible in Study Areas, Chill Spots and Laboratories tabs).

The app can be installed in two ways: Using the link Walkthrough Campus Kleve or scanning QR Code given below:

Chetna Krishna

Tyra Kaddu

Innovative Online Formats

QR Codes We used QR Code Generator to make QR codes. This platform allows us to make two dynamic QR codes that can be altered anytime after the launch, and three static QR codes which cannot be altered once made. In order to make more than 5 QR codes, one needs to pay about five to ten euros per month depending upon the plan. In future, we intend to go to the General Student Committee (short: AStA, ger. "Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss") to explain the project and its financial layout if the university wants to carry it on.

Here’s the first QR Code installed in Audimax.

Website Wix has been very useful in making a very professional-looking website. It automatically connects to the QR codes once scanned by a user informing them about all the significant locations in the campus.

The website can be accessed here Walkthrough website or via the QR code installed in the Audimax.

What was the project timeline? Which were the milestones?

November We mapped out and finalized the broad functions and ideas about the app. We made an Exposé chalking out all the needs and requirements the app can address.

Our Final Exposé can be found here Final Expose Early December This was the time we started designing wireframes on paper and electronically. It involved visualizing the layout, design and agreement on all features.

Late December to Early January Collection of Information about Buildings & Student Surveys from December 20th to January 10th.

Chetna Krishna

Tyra Kaddu

Innovative Online Formats

Mid-January 1. Beginning to build app prototype after January 10th.

2. Contacting Facility Management in the university Successfully permission granted to install QR Codes on entrance door of all buildings in the university campus after formal interaction with Department of Construction Affairs and Facility Management.

3. Generating QR Codes on January 20th Ready for use and can be accessed in Audimax.

4. Finalization of Prototype by January 22nd App ready to be used Upcoming 1. Continue to add features such as a notification system.

2. Communication with AStA to make WalkThrough available for everyone & include monetisation feature (inclusion of advertisement).

Describe the development of the project: obstacles, opportunities, risks Working with App Builder It was a good experience working with App Builder. After some trial and error, and self teaching, we eventually learnt how to get it to work for us. It was possible to make a fully working app without prior coding knowledge. A few limitations included the inability to add other potential features we had hoped to add as planned in our wireframes, namely adding an option for QR Code scanning. This was due to a fixed amount of features that were possible to add using the App Builder.

Working with Wix Wix makes very professional websites, even formulating suggestions for our written content using AI; which was quite accurate. Only limitation here was obtaining a desired domain name without paying a fee.

Using Geolocations In future-with more time in hand-we hope to apply geolocations using Mapillary or Open Street Maps specific for the locations in the campus Kleve.

Communication with Facility Department It was a good opportunity to interact with the university department and share with them our ideas and potential of the app. We had to meet with quite a few authorities before getting contact information of the person responsible for this department and the one who could grant permission. They were very friendly and helpful, and were in fact the ones that suggested we

Chetna Krishna

Tyra Kaddu

Innovative Online Formats

hand over the application to AStA after we leave Hochschule Rhein Waal, so it can continue to be maintained.

Conclusion and final thoughts It was a great learning experience throughout the journey of making Walkthrough. From collection of data to the more technical requirements, it provided us with the opportunity to learn and work simultaneously, while also leaving us with skills that prior to this project, we did not possess. It involved sharing great responsibilities as a team, which turned out to be very productive. Both teammates gave each other creative space to imbibe our ideas into the app, and enough time to revise each other’s work. Overall good communication was the biggest factor that contributed to the fruition of the final product. We hope the application is able to make one – or many more- students’ lives easier.

Website for the app Direct link to Download the app