CS -- 360: Inventory Application - "LoginDemo"

John deLuccia

Southern New Hampshire University

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Requirements, Goals, and User Needs:

The overall purpose of this application is to serve as a secure interface to a database of items stored in a warehouse. The app contains a login screen which prompts new users to "register" or create a new login. All the items which are entered into the inventory app by the user are displayed on an inventory page using a list view. Being able to quickly and clearly identify each item in the inventory, as well as being able to increase or decrease the quantity of said item allows the app to cater to the user's main goal. The user's main goal is to efficiently manage a simple inventory database for items stored in a warehouse. Beyond being able to view the inventory and change the quantities, the user may also add or remove items from the list. There is also an add item button on the same screen, allowing users to meet their goals of adding, removing, increasing, and decreasing items in the inventory all from one screen. The user will also be notified when the quantity of an item on the list reaches 0 via text message should they accept permissions.

User Interface:

The inventory application required a variety of screens to meet all user needs and produce a user centered UI. The first screen is the main activity, which serves as the login screen. From this page, the user can access a sperate registration screen if they are new, a forgot password screen to reset their password via their registered email, and the inventory screen after they have logged in. The inventory screen is the most important as it is where most of the user needs are met including interacting with their inventory database. My designs were successful because they focus on the user and their needs. The login screen is simple and intuitive, and provides access to the other screen which the user may need when logging in. The design also allows the user to clearly manage their inventory by incorporating all features clearly. The user does not have to think very hard to figure out how to use the app. For example, to add an item the user simply clicks a plus sign icon button after entering the details. This simplicity is what users want with a simple inventory application like this one.

Process:

The process of coding this app was daunting at first as I still am a very inexperienced programmer. However, I was able to complete the app by working through many tutorials and practice problems early in the course. I also spent a lot of time reading the Java documentation. Between these two methods I was able to work out different portions step by step. Rather than try and do the whole thing at once, I broke the assignment up into smaller portions. First, I completed a very simple application that did nothing but would run, then I worked on the UI for the login screen, and immediately after added in functionality for the Login UI. I also found it very helpful to use Git as much as possible and create different branches between each finished step. This stepwise process is what works best for me and I plan on using it in the future both to continue working on this application and in new projects.

Testing:

Testing my code was crucial to my development of this project. I relied heavily on both the debug console in Android Studio as well as the Emulator. The debug console was very helpful in general, but it was most helpful when I was getting errors and did not know why. Reading the errors from the console gave me something to google when all as seemed lost and allowed me to remedy many issues along the way. The Emulator was crucial as it allows you to interact with the application as the user would. This makes things like design flaws or errors become much more apparent. It also gives you the mindset of the user, meaning things that could be improved are much more apparent. At different stages during development I experimented with different layouts, and a few times I had noticed that the layouts did not look right at all when actually run on the phone. I also noticed things like a need for bigger or smaller font. The Emulator also allowed me to test and ensure all different types of user input would work, and that the user could not enter something out of the box which caused the app to crash. For me the Emulator was the best way to fully test my application.

Overcoming Challenges:

When writing this application, I needed to be innovative all along the way. This is more to do with my level of programming than the difficulty of the application, but nonetheless it required innovation. I feel that I had to be innovative in the way I met nearly every user goal, but the one that stands out the most was the decision to use Firebase rather than SQLite. I was very inexperienced with SQL and was having difficulty early on. In doing research I became aware of Firebase, and the many tools it offers. Firebase was simple to use but yet could do everything I needed for the Inventory application. It was particularly useful in being able to use the Firebase console to view the structure of my data as I read and wrote to it during development. Discovering this tool to meet my own needs allowed to put more focus in other areas while still learning something new and useful.

Areas of Success:

I feel I was most successful in designing the login portion of the application. Before this project I new very little about creating login credentials and authenticating users, and nothing about how to do that in an Android application. Having completed this project, I have designed several login interfaces, and learned how to complete all necessary tasks, including password reset and email verification. I also was successful in creating a user profile screen with data relating to the user. This was not necessary for the project, but I had done it early on to learn and saw no reason to remove it. Learning how to implement these two portions of the app was where I was the most successful.

References

1. DK, P. (Director). (2020). Simple Login App Tutorial [Video file]. Retrieved July/August, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF5m4o_CuNg&list=PLbte_tgDKVWQOCRIzkgEQ8umdn_S6ZnHr&index=1

2. Google. (2020). Firebase Documentation. Retrieved July/August, 2020, from https://firebase.google.com/docs/reference/android/packages