Reflection

The progress of my project was one large EDP. The first was Ask and Imagine, deciding what I intended to make. Next was Plan, figuring out what I would use to develop my app. Here, I had a mini EDP loop. I had to research, test, then evaluate each program I tried, then do it over again with another. This part was difficult in the sense of having to try so many different options. Over time, I figured out what exactly I was looking for and settled with a final option. Next came Create, where I learned to build my app. This is where the actual learning occurred. Of course, I learned very specific skills with Ionic, Angular, and TypeScript, but I also learned more general skills like how to use a Windows terminal. This was something I had always known I would have to learn eventually, and this project was where I finally tried it.

I eventually reached a stage where I had to step back and take an Improve break. I realized that with the ability I had and the time frame I was given, there was no way I would be able to finish a full fledged app. So I had to improve and redefine my goal, then jump back into Creating.

Finally, now that I am finished, I can step back and evaluate how I did. My product goal (by the end) was to create a user interface mockup of my app. I think it looks okay, which is all I can ask for. I am disappointed that I could not build a complete app like I wanted to at the beginning of this project. My learning goal was to find out how I could use my prior experience to build a mobile app, and indeed I learned that it only went so far. My product goal had to change from a complete app to just the front end. If I were to continue this project, I would try to build the back end of my app as well.

The struggles I had with this project are part of my answer for my compelling question: yes, HTML, CSS, and JS skills can be reused with platforms like Ionic to build apps...but only to an extent. After all, they are languages intended to build the user interface of a website, and therefore they can only be used to build the user interface of an app.

As the field of information technology focuses more and more on mobile devices, the implications for this project grow more significant. As the times change, those in the tech field may need to adapt to the new environment and transition into developing on mobile platforms. Based on what I learned, web development languages can indeed be partially reused to build mobile apps. But to build the back end and create an app that can interact with data and provide increased functionality will require additional skills that may have to be learned.

If I were to do another 20-time project again, I would make sure that I knew exactly what I was doing from the very beginning, to avoid the goal shifting I had to do during this project. I think I did not understand what I was getting myself into. Next time, I would choose something that I knew the exact requirements for.