Bathchat

An iOS app similar to Snapchat. Final project for CSCI-4440 "Software Design and Documentation" at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Spring 2014. Released the same day that Snapchat launched Chat. http://tjphilli.com/projects/bathchat

Derek Schultz, Theo Pak, Trevor Phillippi

http://github.com/bathchat

Transcript

1. View Slide

2. Bathchat is for the people.
   CSCI-4440 Software Design & Documentation
   

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3. 1. Motivation
   2. Visual Design
   3. iOS Development
   4. Team Dynamics
   

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4. What is Bathchat?
   Product
   iOS app for iPhone 4 and greater (iOS 7.1)
   Value Proposition
   Bathchat facilitates non-committal multimedia
   communication while bathing via an iPhone app, for
   software designers and developers.
   Market Segment
   People who both use and inform design trends
   

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5. Why Make Bathchat?
   WhatsApp/Messenger/SMS want to be
   your only form of communication.
   Snapchat is a niche medium.
   Baths are an underutilized niche within
   the Snapchat niche.
   

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6. Visual Design
   Trevor Phillippi
   

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7. Objectives for Visual Design
   Since Bathchat itself is a fun and immersive product,
   we wanted the visuals of the product to reflect this.
   We selected Lato to be used for the typeface since it
   evokes a sort of playful and inviting feeling
   The light colors further communicate the
   approachableness of the product.
   

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8. Style Guide
   

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9. xCode Autolayout
   How do you solve the problem of multiple
   devices/screen widths that could be running
   Bathchat?
   xCode Autolayout was introduced specifically to solve
   this problem.
   

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10. Contraints
    By opt+dragging in
    xCode, you can create a
    “constraint”
    A “constraint” defines a
    layout value of a UI
    element in relation to
    another element.
    This can include UI
    elements as well as
    screen boundaries.
    

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11. iOS Development
    Derek Schultz
    

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12. iOS Software Design Practices
    ● MVC
    ● Delegation
    ● Singleton
    ● Polymorphism
    

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13. Core Services
    ● UIKit
    ● CoreLocation
    ● CoreGraphics
    ● Parse
    ● FacebookSDK
    

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14. Model–View–Controller
    ● Models: Parse
    ● Views: Storyboard
    ● Controllers
    ○ Login
    ○ OutOfBath
    ○ Inbox
    ○ ViewImage
    ○ SendPhoto
    ○ etc
    

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21. Team Dynamics
    Theo Pak
    

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22. Team Derek/Trevor/Theo
    Strengths
    communication, tolerance, experience-driven design
    Weaknesses
    collective lack of impulse
    Challenges Faced
    Our fourth member left RPI
    

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23. Exhibit A
    ● Messenger
    ● Slack
    ● Snapchat
    ● Drive
    ● FaceTime
    ● Trevor hates
    SMS.
    

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24. What Worked
    Scrum Framework, 2-week iterations
    Subsystem Ownership, Multi-Developer Workflow
    Common Vision
    

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25. Scrum
    

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27. Fred Brooks, 1986
    “No Silver Bullet—Essence and Accident in Software Engineering,” 1986
    Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Brooks_IMG_2261.jpg, 2012
    There is no single development
    […] which by itself promises
    even one order of magnitude
    improvement within a decade
    in productivity, in reliability,
    in simplicity.
    

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28. Mills Baker, 2014
    “Greg Jorgensen: 'Why Don't Software Methodologies Work?',” 2014
    Photo: https://flic.kr/p/buizyF, 2012
    The natural conceptual integrity that results from a
    really well-selected group of colleagues who "just
    click" with each other cannot be over-valued; it […]
    makes methodology a lot less important. So while
    we're Agile, we try to be much more than that
    

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29. Common Vision
    +
    Crunch Time
    ==
    Bathchat
    

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30. Lesson Learned: Pitching
    We had trouble explaining Bathchat to our friends.
    Sometimes your pitch needs to start with the pain point
    and then introduce the solution. A pitch is not simply
    the value prop.
    Better: Messaging someone is such a commitment.
    What if the act of sending a message was ephemeral?
    vs.
    Worse: Bathchat conversations are non-committal.
    This is unique and fun.
    

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31. Lesson Learned: Move Fast
    Jan 23 — first class of Software Design & Documentation
    Feb 2 — “Hey let's make Bathchat.”
    Feb 19 — Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19b
    Apr 24 — Bathchat beta woo!
    Apr 28 — Facebook ships Messenger 5.0, uh-oh
    May 1 — Snapchat ships Chat, godammit
    May 1 — “Ok now Snapchat is better than our MVP.”
    

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32. Thanks
    Derek Schultz, Trevor Phillippi, Theo Pak
    CSCI-4440 Software Design & Documentation
    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
    Troy, NY, USA
    

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