App Jam – The Plan

In preparation for the app jam, I have pulled together a Gantt chart on Excel, breaking down the task into the following categories, and sub-categories (with time allocations, in minutes, in brackets):

1. Ideation (180)
   1. Dictionary definitions (20)
   2. Brainstorm (60)
   3. Associations & Links (20)
   4. Formulate Concepts (80)
2. Option Selection (180)
   1. Initial Evaluation & Elimination (30)
   2. Market Research (60)
   3. Process Flow (60)
   4. Option Selection (30)
3. Prototyping (300)
   1. Draw Paper Screens (60)
   2. Build wireframes (240)
4. Testing (150)
   1. Paper prototype test (60)
   2. Wireframe test (30)
   3. App test (60)
5. Post Test Refinement (360)
   1. Paper Prototype (60)
   2. Wireframe (60)
   3. App (240)
6. App Build (1710)
   1. Pseudo Code Framework (150)
   2. Build UI screens (630)
   3. Build Transitions (240)
   4. Research Content (210)
   5. Build Content (210)
   6. Build Logic (270)

I have allocated the available time (48 hours, or 2880 minutes) as I currently feel is appropriate. I am backloading the plan, affording more than half of the available time to the build process, as I know that my current coding capabilities are very low and slow, so I will need to seek regular guidance from online sources throughout the build phase.

I will manage the project timings tightly, using a countdown timer app on an old Samsung Galaxy S5 device that I use for development and testing (so that I don’t have to root my own phone). I am, however, prepared to allow for some flexibility if and when I feel that my predicted time requirement was unrealistic, or if the nature of the app selected justifies deviation from the plan. For example, if I were to generate a great concept that would require more time to research the content, then I would consider pulling back the allocation for other sub-categories to compensate, as long as I feel that this will not have an adverse effect on the overall 48 hour deadline.
I will pause the clock while I am not working on the jam and record the actual time taken for each sub-category on the Gantt chart as I finish them, which will be used in a post-jam variance analysis exercise.

With my plan in place, it’s time to jam…