Assignment 4: Solution Development

Design each task in a problem-solving effort so that it is most fruitful and provides the most information or guidance 

Our tasks will include collecting data regarding menu options at Pierce, designing an accessible UI, and implementing our various features to provide users maximum meal planning optimization. In order to collect data regarding menu items at Pierce, we plan to partner with Stevens Dining, who we plan to request to provide us with weekly updates of their menu. We will then collect and store this data using MongoDB. Our next task would be to design our UI, which we plan to do in React Native. Finally we plan to implement our secondary features, such as our interactive menu, and more pressingly, our meal suggestions based on user preferences. We plan on using MongoDB’s Atlas API to display our menu within our app. 

Use various attributes of the final solution state to guide earlier decisions made along the solution path 

2. 1. Display weekly dining hall menu

• Connect with Stevens Dining staff

• Ensure it is easy for Dining staff to upload information

2. 2. Allow user to select specific menu item and displays nutritional information

• Determine what we want to allow filters for

• Determine if users would like to see pros and cons of certain nutritional elements

2. 3. Take in user preference based on dietary needs

• Determine what preferences we should offer

• How in depth should dietary recommendations be?

2. 4. Generates suggestions based on user input

• Partner with campus dietitian to help create algorithm to meet goals

• Understand general nutritional needs

2. 5. Provides a simple and easy to use interface that is easily navigated

• Explore nutrition and dieting apps for inspiration

• Limit features in order to simplify design

2. 6. Allows the user to easily plan meals with the current weekly menu

• Make sure the menu is displayed clearly

• Include fast facts/ overall ratings of each food for quick reference

Define design goals and design specifications 

The phone application is intended to:

• Displays Pierce dining hall weekly menu

• Work on all cellular and personal devices

• Allow user to select specific menu item and displays nutritional information

• Take in user preference based on dietary needs

• Generates suggestions based on user input

• Provides a simple and easy to use interface that is easily navigated

• Allows the user to easily plan meals with the current weekly menu

• Allow users to login so app can save previous entries

Eliminate paths that do not satisfy the desired design goals and/or specifications 

When deciding the language/framework to use, we considered Swift, however, this would only be compatible with iOS devices, which does not represent all of the Stevens student’s personal devices. Because of this, we opted for one that can be compiled into both iOS and Andriod, which is React Native. This benefits us because it can also be converted into a website if we find that that would be convenient for some users. For our database, we plan on using SQL instead of a non-relational database to easily retrieve the data to create the meals, since nutrional information for a food product is related to only one food item. Also, this would allow us to store anything the user enters through forms for meal planning or personal preferences under their current user.