Proposal:
Students have enough to keep up with in their busy lives especially taking four or five classes at one time. Technology has made communication between professors and students easier, however it hasn’t been improved to the optimum level. This is why the Qwicky App was created. It is downloaded directly to the mobile device such as a smart phone or any other type of phone with internet access and or with Wi-Fi. Applications are convenient because they allow you the user to do a lot of things “on the go” that a regular computer would offer behind a desk, which was emphasized by YouTube, (Nov. 10 2010.)  Some apps depend on internet access for proper use which involves updates such as news apps and other apps such as games that don’t require internet access for use after it has been downloaded into the device as interpreted by OnGuard Online (May 11 2013).  The Qwicky App is available to be downloaded on Iphones, Androids and other Smartphone’s alike by anyone for free. Using your CUNYfirst username students can log into the app which directly connects their student email and blackboard to their profile page. Automatically notifications are sent to your phone notifying the user with every update instantly that comes to their email or blackboard. Posts made by professors are a part of the notifications along with any scheduled assignment updates. For example, if your paper is due within a two day period you will get a notification on your phone both of those days in order to remind you when your paper is due. How cool is that? You never have to set an alarm again! Another important feature of the Qwicky App is that the notification only stops popping up on your screen once you have already checked it. If you as a user don’t check the notification it will continuously keep popping up on your phone screen to remind you. If you check your notifications and keep up with your school work then the app is a full proof way to help you stay organized. If your just a lazy student and don’t then well that’s not something we can fix.
           Another great feature on this app is that when you enroll in a select course the Qwicky app automatically uploads that course onto your homepage by using blackboard and enrollment features on CUNYfirst. Once you are enrolled in another group of courses for your following semester, the app automatically removes the previous courses so that you don’t get confused with your course work and everything stays consistent. This way you only get the information you need for your classes. Plus with this app, communication is made easy. You can instantly send messages, sort of like email, to your professor regarding anything and they get the notification on their phones just like you would. This app makes everything more convenient and organized and overall helps increase student productivity and improve teacher communication. One of the main problems in existence now within the CUNY system is the CUNY email system. Students aren’t always logged into their email accounts and aren’t always aware of the emails that professors may send out and due to that students aren’t aware and lose sight of assignments and important updates. The Qwicky App makes this problem full proof.
           When collaborating to create something new, you need to make sure there isn’t anything on the market that is similar. Then you need to wonder how to come about creating the actual product which is a challenge for someone who doesn’t know everything there is to know about applications and their functions. The first thing that needs to be determined from the inventor is what their app will be tended for. In other words what angle will the inventor base its app on? To create an app and a successful one at that the inventor needs to select an app that is reflective of their “niche or passion” as suggested by CBSNEWS (n.d). Once that “niche or passion” is figured out, the inventor must see how relevant and popular their app will be to the outside world. Let’s face it people will not invest into an app that is simply not worth investing into.
The next thing to consider is whether or not the idea that the app will be based on isn’t already in effect from another user. In other words gauge the competition in the market by doing thorough research. Kristoff, one should do the following: “Go to the app store and search the category. In this case, you’d type [ ] key words that you think could describe your product into the search bar. Is your product already there? Anything similar? If so, what makes yours different and special? If there’s already an app for this product, is it available for both the iPhone and iPad? Would it work with both, or is it best suited to just one or the other? There’s nothing stopping you from creating and selling an application that’s similar to what’s already out there, of course. But if you want to sell enough to make a profit, you should find a better approach, says Bear Cahill, president of the independent application development company Brain Wash Inc. His advice is “to be first or best — or, better yet, both”, as stated in CBSNEWS(n.d) . This is why the Qwicky App is so unique on its own. Nothing like it exists which makes it more marketable and appealing to consumers but yet also benefits the student population as well as faculty. With hopes in creating a successful product one has to consider all of these elements which aren’t so evident when beginning a search for the kind of approaches you need to take. The Qwicky App has been incorporated by multiple ideas, views, benefits and angles to achieve the utmost capabilities in meeting the needs of students and learning today with improving learning and organization for generations to come.
