Schedule Updated August 28, 2009

The development schedule has been updated. From now until the end of the year, every week of my life is planned out. I’m aiming to submit the App to Apple by the end of October (Halloween at the latest). From what I’ve read on the forums, the average approval time is 1-2 weeks for most Apps. Even if “Paper Balloons” is sent back the first go around, I should still have enough time to get things fixed & get the App up on the Apple Store in time for my final grad show the second week of December.

M5 term done, onto M6 August 18, 2009

The second round of user testing went amazingly well. Everything from the messages that were written to the answers on the exit questionnaires were all very encouraging. Though there were some functionality issues (see previous 3GS post), it’s nothing that can’t be fixed & optimized. All that being said, where does the project go next?

I’ve been collecting different ideas for new features over the term and put them into a small booklet for my M5 Thesis Review. Showing the ideas to my advisors and faculty, as well as my programmer and a few of the testers, was great in showing where the App could go. Given that all of our projects must be done by the first week of November, Week 9, of our final M6 term (a lot sooner than Week 12 or 14 as has happened in previous terms) I have to be very selective in what will be implemented for the final version of “Paper Balloons.” Of the 10+ feature ideas in the booklet, I’m hoping to implement at least 3-4 of them, along with optimizing some other areas of the App before my final grad show. My programmer said he could probably implement all 10+ of the ideas, but I think that I’d like to spend more time on optimizing the App. Also, the new features would seem to need more new artwork than anything else. Being the artist and designer for the App, I’d like to give myself a bit of time to actually eat & sleep before I graduate. Also, more than likely there won’t be another round of user testing. While some of the interface and user experience can and will still be tweaked, I think that there was a good balance in the last round of testing.

Given all of the work that needs to be done by the end of Week 9, I’ll be working through our short break in between the Summer & Fall terms. We get 3 weeks off between terms, but I’ll only be able to take 1 of those weeks to visit family and recuperate before getting back into the thick of developing again.