CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 Similar Mobile Application Study and Evaluation
2.2.6 Comparison Table of The Application Studied
Users can delete a product by pressing the red ‘x’ button in the view product page as shown in Figure 2.33.
5. Push notification
Users will receive a push notification that reminds users about the product in the application.
2.2.5.2 The User Interface Design 1. The interface design is too simple
When the user first opens the application, only an add button and a white screen are shown in Figure 2.29. There is no tutorial or guide to brief the user about the system. After adding the product, the application only distinguishes expired product by adding a half-transparent block that writes ‘expire’ on the product photo as shown in Figure 2.32. There is no warning for products that are going to expire. Besides, the date format is very hard to read and the font is very small.
2. The placing of add and delete buttons
The add and delete buttons are placed at the bottom centre of the screen. In most IOS applications, the add and the delete button are mostly placed on the top right of the screen.
3. Not following the human interface design guidelines of Apple
The application does not follow the human interface design recommended by Apple. If follow the Apple Human Interface guidelines, the add button should be a ‘+’ button on the top-right of the screen and the delete button should be a dustbin button on the top-right.
2.2.5.3 Technology and Hardware Used 1. Camera
User use the camera to capture the photo of a product.
2.2.6.1 Basic Features
Table 2.1: Comparisons of Basic Features of Five Studied Applications
Expiry Wiz Aladdinpro- expiry reminders
Expired - Grocery Reminder &
Alerts App
Before
Expiry Expiry Reminder
Platform Android Android Android iOS iOS
Basic Features:
Add, Edit, Delete
product
Categorize
product -
Manage category:
Add - -
Manage category:
Edit, Delete - - -
Push Notification
Email Notification - - - -
Set reminder date
& time - -
Search product - -
Back up & sync
data - -
Additional Features:
N/A Multi-user
support Search product
by barcode Categorize
d in Category
and Location
N/A
Cross- platform available
Third party login (Google acc)
Apply Filter when viewing products Untrack product
2.2.6.2 User Interfaces
Table 2.2: Comparisons of User Interfaces of Five Studied Applications
Expiry Wiz Aladdinpro- expiry reminders
Expired - Grocery Reminder &
Alerts App
Before
Expiry Expiry Reminder Overall
design Neat and
clean Minimalist but complicated
Simple and
Easy Consistent but
sloppy Minimalist and monotonous Important
buttons are placed in somewhere noticeable
Add button >
bottom-right of the screen
Add button >
bottom-right of the screen
Add button >
bottom-right of the screen
Add button >
top-right of the screen
Add button >
top-right of the screen Use colour to
distinguish
level of severity
Red, orange,
green Red, orange,
blue Red, orange,
green Red, orange,
green N/A
Using meaningful
symbol to indicate the meaning of labels
- - -
Using navigation bar
- -
2.2.6.3 Advantages and Disadvantages
Table 2.3: Comparisons of Advantage and Disadvantage of Five Studied Applications
Expiry Wiz Aladdinpro- expiry reminders
Expired - Grocery
Reminder &
Alerts App
Before
Expiry Expiry Reminder Advantages:
Able to back up and restore using google drive
Able to use in multiple
devices &
cross-platform
Able to login using third party (Google acc)
Able to untrack products when do no need
Very simple interface
Can have
multiple user Store product
with barcode Have filter functions Categorized
product by the severity
notification Search product
with barcode Display total number by the severity at the bottom of the screen Show total
number of products by severity
Disadvantages:
Cannot set multiple reminders
Cannot edit or delete the category
Do not sort according to expiry date
The interface looks sloppy and old-fashion
There is no back up and sync feature available Users need to
define
category by themselves
User cannot add, edit, delete category
There is no back up and sync feature available
The interface is too simple and without any tutorial Can set
reminder date before the date of the product is added (Logical error)
Cannot login by using third party account
User cannot view product by category
User needs to add a category first before adding the product into the category Cannot use
email as username to login
User cannot upload photos of a product
Cannot categorize d product The interface
seems very messy because too many colours are shown in one screen
Cannot set
reminder date Cannot set multiple
reminders
Cannot set multiple reminders
Do not have
search feature
2.2.6.4 Overall Comparisons
Overall, the basic features for an expiry reminder application, which including adding, editing and deleting products are available in all five of the applications studied. Most of the applications studied allowed users to categorize each product and some of them even provide the freedom to users to manage the category. Most of the application reminds users through push notification and only Aladdin-pro provide email reminder.
Most applications allow users to set the reminder date and time and search the product by name. Expired - Grocery Reminder & Alerts App allow users to search product using barcodes, which ease users in searching the product. Most of the Android platform expiry reminder application provides backup and sync functions while most the iOS platform expiry reminder application does not provide the backup and sync functions. The applications studied above uses a simple and minimalist user interface which is the current app design trend. The applications also use three different colours to represent the severity of the product.