I’ve said it before, always 2 there are, and it wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t another version for our final project, Eco-Depot. You may remember Eco-Depot from the previous entry here, it a group attempt at using Java, Wicket, WattDepot and all the tools we used for software standards and status monitoring to produce a realistic product displaying information about the power consumption and usage for people to use to make a more ecologically considerate schedule of power usage. With our version 1.0 reviewed and feedback given we were set off with new standards and new criteria and let loose into our battle with creating a functional version 2.0.
Version 2.0 required a lot more a structured plan to adhere to, but most of all we had to attempt to satisfy what I would call the “Grandma” test, Professor Johnson’s criteria for simplicity which sets the use of a system to the use by a Grandma with very little computer experience. This became my immediate concern with the use of our system. My misunderstanding with version 1 was that it would be considered an applet for a website, something that would be integrated to a later constructed system with instructions and such, so my focus then was on functionality over form and my understanding for version 2.0 was a need to adhere to both functionality and form at the same time. Part of me wanted to tear apart the original system and work with just the pieces, but with the group mentality in mind (and my desire not to sound like a dictator), I figured we could shift version 1.0 through the virtual 1.1 phase and smoothly into 2.0.
Our renewed Eco-Depot required 2 majorly functional areas, the Stoplight: a system that reports back the current rating of carbon content for energy consumption expressing whether it would be ok to use electricity or whether you should hold back, and the GridInfo: a Google chart based system designed to show the energy consumption of a set range in time so that people can see what times people tend to use a lot of electricity. In keeping with the overall theme of our project (Eco-Depot being a place for “Eco”-factors) I decided to rename the functions EcoNow and EcoGrid respectively. The thought was to give the page an overall encompassing feel so that the pages maintained a single identity. The problems began to thicken when our sights started to narrow. Even with these ideas already in front of me we were still behind in our mind, working on the version 1.1 which was removed from our requirements. We struggled to get past the hurdles with our own personal issues and came out with a reasonable solid release.
This time I felt more comfortable asking things of people as the lead of the project but at the same time I could feel how my pushing was also starting to test other group member’s patience and time restrictions. It is a hard thing to work with others and to stretch the capabilities of everyone without feeling like you are bossing them around. I spent a lot of time trying to work out the look and the feel of the sight and my lack of fluency in wicket became a big issue, which could have reflected on my push to get other members to secure their parts of the project as well, since I knew I couldn’t necessarily help when it came down to it. Several times working with the page I found myself just wishing I could throw things around quicker to test code, but building took time so I ended up going away from the project and using the wicket examples as a playground for code. While it helped me get the idea of what to do, it also led to my work being less out there and my updates less frequent. At the same time the desire to satisfy the requirement that everyone try to equally code in Java, Wicket, and Testing lead to intertwining concepts being given to two or more members and requiring people work together even with difficult schedules. There was a lot of things learned but still a lot of challenges I felt I couldn’t come to an end with. It is always a test of your own abilites to juggle life, code, and others and this time I learned a bit more about my own personal approach to things that might not follow well in the grand scheme of people dynamics. Even knowing that, I am glad that our group didn't have major problems and we got along well.
In the end I am happy that my layout looks respectable though not necessarily perfect, it follows my planned concept that I decided on for our project, to make follow the saying “Simple is Best”. We may not have finished everything we wanted to but in the end the page did function to a manageable level.
You can check out Eco-Depot 2.0 for yourself here.
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