Quick n Easy Timeline Planner

How to use the Timeline Planner:

Enter your first task, and how much time you want to work on it for. Then hit the "Save" arrow to save the task to your timeline. Repeat this process until you have entered all your tasks and hit "Start." Then let the Quick 'n' Easy Timeline Planner guide you through your plan. Try to make as much progress on each task as you can within the time limit you've set for yourself. Focus is key every minute counts and if you get distracted look back to the screen to remind yourself what you should be working on.

Please read below for more information on the app's design features:

Project description/overview

The Quick ‘n’ Easy Timeline Planner is an Android application designed to help students better manage their study time. When it comes to balancing the workloads of different assignments, we are most productive when we work in multiple, short, focused sprints as opposed to long, drawn out, cramming sessions. This app takes advantage of these naturally productive study habits to help us get the most out of the time we spend studying.

Problem statement

Students are faced with the responsibility of balancing multiple important tasks which requires efficient time management and good study habits. Often, certain tasks take longer than expected and the things we didn’t get done today get pushed off into tomorrow. When these tasks pile up, they are either forgotten about or busted out last minute right before a deadline.

Solution

The Quick ‘n’ Easy Timeline Planner offers students a way to plan out a two to three hour timeline where they predefine what tasks they are going to work on and how long they will work on them. After that, the goal is to make as much progress on the task as they can. Working this way has several advantages:

minimizing the amount of time wasted stuck on problems

always making progress on the tasks that are planned

working for shorter, more focused periods of time

Methodology

The app design started during the Summer before capstone. In September, I met with Jihan Ejan, the director for The Center for Student Success and received feedback from her about the concept for the app. The first version was published in December. Through February and March I updated the app several times based off of feedback I received from student testers. In April, I published the last version which included layout support for tablets, horizontal screen orientations, a new theme, and improved handling of the Android lifecycle methods.