600.250 -- Assignment 4 -- due Tuesday, 2/21 -- 20 points

The purpose of this assignment is to design a mobile GPA calculator application, without concern for how to actually implement it. Suppose that you could not easily access your GPA through ISIS with a browser. This mobile app could keep track of your grades instead. Try to design this app to be as universally useful as possible and pretend that an Android expert will be implementing it for you. Thus your design cannot include features that are not available in Android, but don't limit yourself to what you could do yourself.

Write up your design in a document which includes the following elements:

Purpose: what is the app's main purpose, how can it be used, and by whom? Think of at least one potential use and/or user beyond the obvious student semester values. Write this part in paragraph form.
Features: what are the primary and secondary features of the application? What data will it provide, need, compute, store? Write this part in a wordy outline form.
Design: how will you organize the various features of the app? What types of android elements should be used to implement them? What will the look and feel be? Make sure you've explored the ApiDemos sample code to get a feel for various options like menus, scroll bars, edit boxes, etc. Use graphical elements in your document to create mock views (activities) and describe how they will interact with each other. (Again, imagine that an expert will be coding this for you.)

It is very important for your design writeup to be extremely clear in the expected behaviour, features, and interface of the app. Imagine that you are handing to an expert to implement, and there will be no opportunity for clarifications after you submit it.

Do NOT look for GPA apps in the Android marketplace (or anywhere else for that matter). Unfortunately, there are some. However, for this assignment you are required to generate original ideas. We will examine existing apps at a later point during letures.

Submit your design document on Blackboard as a single pdf file. These designs will be used in an exercise during class on Tuesday, 2/28. Please bring your laptops with your original document source (word, powerpoint, or whatever else you used to create it) to class that day. You may also need your droid phones during class.