Interview with Experts on the initial MODSEMA

In order to evaluate the Model for Developing a Simple Educational Mobile Application (MODSEMA), a semi-constructed interview has been conducted with three experts in mobile app development. The interview has been implemented online via Skype or Facebook Video Chat. One day before the each interview, MODSEMA has been sent to each expert to inspect and think about it for a time. The language used in interviews was Turkish and each interview lasted between 1 hour and 90 minutes. After they are informed about the study and its purpose, the interview has been started.

Besides, each interview has been recorded and the researcher has analyzed the recorded audio files after all interviews are finished. The demographic information of those experts is as followed:

Table 3. Demographic information of experts

Experts Occupation Expert Fields Experience in app development Expert 1 Freelancer App development,

Software development

7 years

Expert 2 Master's student in computer sciences

App Development (Android)

Machine Learning

3 years

Expert 3 Mobile App Developer in a

App Development (IOS)

2 years

Turkish Bank Software development

Expert 1 is now a freelancer, but has worked in various big Turkish corporates including communication and transportation companies, and has seven years’ experience in this field. He has performed various app development methodologies including Agile, Waterfall and Spiral, and has worked with app development teams of various sizes. In addition, he has experience in all stages of app development cycles including analyzing, designing, coding and testing. Therefore, it was possible to acquire very useful feedback from him. Expert 2 is a master’s student in computer sciences field in a German university. He has three years’ experience in app development, and he has developed various Android apps since undergraduate degree. However, he has no experience with large-sized app development teams. Expert 3 is currently a mobile app developer in a Turkish Bank. Normally, he was working in the field of software development, but now he develops mobile apps for 2 years for the company.

He works with a big app development team, having different members for different roles. He is expert in coding, but does not have sufficient information about designing an app since there is another team for app design in his company, as he said. The feedbacks and recommendations on MODSEMA, provided by the experts, are as followed.

Table 4. Expert recommendations on MODSEMA Stages of

MODSEMA

Recommendation Expert

name

Analysis

Export function sets of the app, in detail Expert 1 Provide information about the capabilities of the

mobile app development environments/tools, such as explaining which native functions are supported

Expert 2

Provide information about the languages used by mobile app development environments/tools

Expert 2

Change the place of the first part with the second part of Analysis phase

Expert 2

Change the place of the first step with the second step

Expert 3

Design

Use iterative process in prototyping in order to develop user-oriented prototype

Expert 1

Check Agile Development manifestos for better development

Expert 1

The representative users and experts may provide conflicting feedback. For instance, while one user likes one design, another user may dislike it. In this kind of cases, the developer should make a choice

Expert 1

Apply classical Agile method Expert 2

Develop a prototype, and make an iteration through the feedbacks acquired from Expert Review and User Testing. For this, draw an arrow from the

“revision” step to “concept development” step

Expert 2

The feedbacks coming from users and experts may have some conflicts. The developer should decide it.

Expert 2

Provide different tools and methods for prototype development

Expert 2

Developing two prototype is loss of time. Also, even if two prototypes are developed, while one prototype will be chose, the other one will be thrown. The latter one may have favorable functions that the former does not have. In this situation, the liked functions/UI will be rubbish as well.

Therefore, develop one prototype and make an iteration.

Expert 2

Performing app development through one prototype would be much logical in terms of effort and time.

Expert 3

Development The developer might not be completely successful.

He/she might be not fully reflect the prototype to the real app, or he might not code the app as he/she thought. In this kind of cases, he/she has to find alternative way to deal with this challenge.

Therefore, expert review should be conducted again in this phase.

Expert 2

Implementation It is much better to combine implementation and

evaluation phases Expert 1

Evaluation

The experts have approached positively on the model and have confirmed that this model consists of sufficient methods and steps for the development of a simple mobile application for educational purposes. They specifically highlighted the importance of iteration process and the communication between users and the developer(s) in app development process. The revised version of MODSEMA is as followed:

5- Determine the target Operation Service(s) (Android, IOS, etc.) 6- Determine the type of application: native, hybrid or web app 7- Determine the development environment or tool according to the

type of app and your programming experience 1- Identify the aim, scope and needs of the app

2- Identify the appropriate learning theory and the learning environment

3- Conduct requirement analysis for the Mobile App - Functional requirements

- Non-functional requirements - Use case diagrams

4- Identify the user interface design requirements for the Mobile App

n Develop a prototype consisting of - Functions

- UI design

Via Agile Method including an iterative process

DESIGN

1- Code the Mobile App in the chosen programming environment 2- Expert Review

3- User Testing 4- Make last revision DEVELOPMENT

1- Make learners try the Mobile App online (e.g., home) and/or offline (e.g., classroom) environment

2- Conduct Field Observation 3- Conduct usability questionnaire 4- Conduct semi-structured interview IMPLEMENTATION

& EVALUATION

Agile Development

compliance

ANALYSIS

Figure 9. The revised MODSEMA reflecting the expert reviews