Final Project

This assignment will ask you to explore the concepts introduced in class and build out a zero-ui web application.

Brief: Prototype a web-delivered product or service that does some good and uses a zero-ui or chat-based approach.

Due Date: Monday Dec 12, midnight

Submission: Add completed code to a folder called ‘final project’ in the Student section of the course’s GitHub Repo. Document your bot in a README.md file in the root of this folder.

To help support your learning and the development of this project, you’ll scaffold up the project over a series of 4 deliverables.

• Conceptualization (Week 4) - you’ll envision the application and describe some of the proposed workflows and interactions
• Technical Explorations (Week 5) - you’ll research and describe technical needs and explore tools and libraries you can use within your project
• Experience Prototype (Week 6) - you’ll translate the workflow and technical experiments into a super minimal first cut; you’ll implement core functionality quickly and get a proof of concept implemented.
• Implementation/Minimal Viable Product (Week 7) - you’ll add personality, explore additional features and refine a little of the implementation to where you can showcase the idea.

Learning Objectives

As part of the exercise, students will:

• build familiarity with rapidly prototyping a web-service and deploying it on the web;
• apply skills from the course to design a zero-ui interaction with either SMS, Slack, Alexa and/or Twitter.
• work through a design framework for translating ideas into code-based applications;
• becomes familiar with concepts in chat-based interactions by applying them;
• develop your skills with APIs, databases, storage and writing Sinatra applications;
• apply what you’ve learned so far to create your own personal web service that works in the wild.

Deliverables

You’ll deliver the following

• A deployed (live) web application that anyone can interact with through the web
• Code for the application submitted to a folder called final-project on Github
• Documentation of the project (contributed to the Gallery).

You’ll also participate in a showcase of the outcomes. You’ll prepare a 1-minute overview, a illustrative poster, and a demonstration.

Process

We’ll build up to the project over a few week. Each week you’ll deliver a small component of it that will help you progress to a full implementation.

Each week you’ll add to the documentation for your project and include these elements.

Week 1: Planning and Conceptualization

• Proposal: Develop a basic description of the application you want to build
• Matrix: Create a priority matrix of features you would like to implement
• Workflow: Develop an annotated workflow diagram that explains how the application you want to build will work

Week 2: Technical Needs

• Uncover the technical and data storage needs for your application.
• Research and report on gems, code snippets or technical approaches that you might use
• Experiment with using one new gem / code snippet and adapting it to your project;
• Document your experience and contribute it as a guide

Week 3: Experience Prototype

• Develop an experience prototype of your application.
  • Based on the worflow, script your interactions with the interface.
  • Translate your workflow into pseudocode and a basic cut of the application
  • Set up your web application (use a template, setup heroku, build out your basics)
  • Test your proof of concept

Week 4: Implementation

• Implement your data models for the project
• Connect it to any third party services you might want to work with
• Add personality and alternatives
• Refine, test, deploy and add additional features if time allows.

Resources

Inspiration

• Telegrams list of Bot possibilities
• BotList’s SMS bots
• Darius Kazemi’s Bots and Projects
• Bot Summit 2013, 2014, and 2016

Guides and Reflections

• Bot makers, Don’t Fall Into These 3 Common Traps!
• How design can help bridge the AI gap
• https://medium.com/@fireland/my-dead-girlfriends-bot-9dc6a2f55ce3#.ss3q46kzx