PathEd App

The PathEd App is a mobile application designed for career enthusiasts in Nigeria, who are looking for guidance to help them identify potential career paths based on their interests and strengths and what the Nigerian education sector has to offer. The app provides a series of questions that the user can answer, and the results provide a list of career options that may be a good fit for the individual. This case study will detail the project management approach used to create and launch the app.

First, what is PathEd?

PathEd was coined by Peggy and the team, since the purpose of the app was to help users find their career Paths in Education, hence, PathEd.

Project Goals:

The primary goal of the PathEd App was to create an engaging and user-friendly tool that would help individuals identify potential career paths. The app needed to be simple to use, visually appealing, and accurate in providing personalized career recommendations

Target Audience:

The target audience for the app is career enthusiasts in Nigeria, who are looking to make informed decisions about their careers. The app is designed for people of all ages, including students, recent graduates, and professionals looking for a career change.

Project Management Approach:

The project management approach for PathEd App started with a traditional Waterfall methodology, after a while, it metamorsized into an agile methodology, where every team mates worked in tandem. The team consisted of a project manager, who also embodied the roles of a ux researcher, a Product designer, and a quality assurance analyst; two mobile(flutter) developers, one backend developer and a UI designer. The project was broken down into four phases: Planning, Design, Development, and Launch.

Tools Used

The team used industry standard tools, which are;

• Figma: For the UI design ad subsequent Mockups.
• WhatsApp: For constant communication.
• Google Meet: For group calls and screen shares.
• Trello: For Project Management and task ownership.
• Google Doc: For live document sharing and documentation.
• VSCode: For building and developing the app.
• Postman: For in-house-built API testing and documentation.
• Flutter: For the cross-platform app build.
• Node and Express: For our server and Auth.
• Onrender: For hosting the backend api.

Planning Phase:

The Planning phase was critical in determining the project's scope, budget(time, electricity/power and data), since the deadline was already set by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in Nigeria. The project manager(Peggy) worked closely with the team to define the project's requirements, including the app's features, user interface, and overall design. The team also created a project timeline, budget, and identified potential risks that could impact the project's success.

Design Phase:

The Design phase focused on creating the app's user interface and visual design. The UI designer worked losely with the project manager and the team to develop wireframes and mockups of the app's screens. It took the bulk of the time, as the UI designer didnt forsee the amount of time the designs would take, as well as unforseen Nigerian factors, such as transformer blow out and laptop crashes. The team also conducted in-house user testing to ensure that the app's design was intuitive and user-friendly.

Development Phase:

The Development phase focused on building the app's functionality. The 3 developers, together with the Project manager, worked on creating the quiz engine, the backend, and integrating the app's design into the code. The team worked in sprints and used Agile methodologies to manage the development process. Regular meetings were held to track progress and address any issues that arose during the development phase, and in most instances, one on one coding sessions were held between the project manager and an app developer to manage and fix bugs.

Launch Phase:

The Launch phase involved the final testing, bug fixing, and deployment of the app to the app store. The team conducted thorough testing to ensure that the app worked correctly and met all of the project's requirements. The app was launched on both the Amazon Store, Google Play Store and a link to download the apk was added to this website.

What Has Worked So Far

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment so blinded by desire that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue and equals.

• Our MVP was ready within a 5 weeks
• The team collaborated well.
• Each member owned their work in app process.
• Lots of lessons where learnt.
• Our skill level and tolerance greatly improved in this process.

What Needs Improvement

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment so blinded by desire that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue and equals.

• More work on the API to make it more intuitive
• Improve more on the UI to fit what our target users needs
• More Subject Matter Expert input in the algorithm for our app.

Conclusion:

The PathEd App project was successfully managed using SCRUM methodology. The project was completed despite the various setbacks and huddles faced; and the app, hopefully, will be well-received by users. The project's success is attributed to the team for pulling through, under the short period of time we had through constant communication, dynamic planning, and attention to detail throughout the project's lifecycle.