LO5 – (d) – Production Plan

Unit 35 – Emma Fraser

Task Jobs included within the Task Time Frame to complete Extra Information/Images

Planning and design

At the beginning of the production, I will hire a team of artists who can come up with a suitable layout for the application. They will create around 4 different sketches and plans for each tab within the

application in order to provide us with a broad range of designs to chose from. Once the designs have been narrowed down to the two most popular, electronic designs will be made in order to form a better

idea of what the layout and design of each tab will be.

A basic proposal will be drawn up, outlining the main features of each tab and how it will be designed in order to benefit the user. Details of each feature will be produced and elaborated in order to produce

the most easiest, yet most accessible layout, this will ensure that it will be acceptable for both younger and older users.

We will develop a contingency plan amongst the team and discuss deadlines to ensure that all team members are aware of the time they have in order to complete the tasks they are assigned, this will give

the team the best chance to stay up to date with the production plan.

2 weeks

Contingency Plan includes: 2 weeks will be given to complete each task, (some may vary depending on the size), the bulk of the task should be completed within the first week, allowing the team to go back

over it in the last week, after having a chance to step back and think about their work. This will ensure that it is to a high standard and can give them the chance to add in extra ideas or features they may have later

thought of. This is also useful for those who are absent, as it gives them a large period of time to

catch up. The Deadline for creating the application will be two weeks before the release date, this will give those working on the application extra time to catch up if the scheduling doesn't go to plan and

production ends up behind.

Development

Within the development stage, the final 2 designs will be discussed and a final design will be chosen. This will be down to a meeting with the whole team where the strengths and weaknesses of each

design will be discussed and evaluated.

Once the final design has been chosen, the team will begin work on creating the first digital mock up of each tab. The first mock will be an outline of each section, but once this has been reviewed,

development on the adding the details, features and coding to the pages will begin. A colour theme for the app will be chosen, allowing features within the app to match the colour scheme that runs

throughout. The apps logo will also be designed by an artist, as well as the official name being decided amongst the designers.

During the development stage we must also register for a developer account with an app store to be able to sell the app through their platform. Google’s Android costs around £20 a year and Apple costs

around £90 annually.

2 weeks

Receive opinions from others outside of the team to ensure that all needs are being thought out when

creating.

Be sure to identify the flow between pages to make sure the user can navigate the app easily and don t

get ‘lost’ within the app.

Designs should be as detailed as possible to ensure other developers clearly understand the expectations

of the app.

Alpha testing

During this stage, the first round of testing will take place, the application will primarily be tested by the developers of the game, and potentially release to a select number of audience members in order to receive feedback for what they dislike or how the app could be improved. This stage will be used in

order to ensure that everything within the application functions properly, such as the search bar presents the user with locations relevant to their search.

2 weeks Ensure both younger and older parents test the application to receive feedback from all age ranges.

Beta testing

The Beta testing stage will be utilised to identify any bugs or glitches that are present within the application, such as the app freezing or crashing when the users requests it to do something, such as search or post a review. This

will ensure that the app runs smoothly and the audience will be able to utilise it properly. This test will be available to some of the audience who have shown interest in the application, this will allow other parties to test the

application and identify any problems or give feedback on what they think should be changed. After the end of the beta testing process, all of the glitches within the application should have been altered, allowing for the app to

run smoothly without any interruption.

2 weeks

Be sure to identify features that aren't core to the app. Features can always be added later in

updates but features that aren't essential should be

removed to keep down the price of development.

Marketing

Marketing of the application will begin during the first stages of production, we will start with an announcement and the creation of social media sites including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, this will allow the upcoming app to be brought to the audiences attention. We will release a teaser trailer to entice the audience, giving them a first look at the app, including what the aim will be and what the layout will be for the application, the teaser trailer will only be around 30 seconds long. After the release of the teaser trailer, a kick-starter page will be set up in order to provide funding for the apps creation, along side the creation of the kickstarter page, we will release images of the different pages of the app, showing specific features and how they will be useful, this has proved a good technique

in the past to entice a large audience and get the attention of more people. Whilst going through each development stage, we can update a development blog which will allow us to show our progress, ask for opinions

from the audience, as well as interact and engage with the audience.

The overall marketing will be drip fed to the audience, this will prolong the excitement and ‘hype’ for the application, allowing the audience to become more intrigued throughout the process. Closed alpha invites can also be distributed to a number of audience members, this will allow them to test a rough copy of the app for a day and give us the opportunity to receive feedback on the running of the app and any glitches that may have occured, this will later be followed by open beta testing which can be offered to some of those that have shown interest within

the application online, this will create ‘buzz’ around the game and may encourage more people to download it when it comes out. The application will be promoted on social media , as well as advertisements on TV, in

magazines etc. Another way in which the app could be advertised is through using QR Codes, posters can be displayed in areas that are likely to contain families, such as schools, family restaurants, etc. which will contain a

QR Code that when scanned will take the individual to our social media account or our website to explore the app.

12 weeks

Marketing will take place over a period of time, social media accounts should be constantly

active, promoting the app.

Publishing/Distribution

Once the app has been completed it can be published and distributed to different companies, such as Google Play, the App Store and Windows Phone Store. Alternative distribution channels can also be used for publishing the app, however, by relying on other channels to push content to viewers, publishers are giving up control over content and in many instances are handing over a portion of the ad revenue generated. The company must also register for a developer account with an app store to be able to sell the app through their platform., Google’s Android costs around £20 a year and Apple costs around £90 annually., however this will have been done in the earlier stages of

production.

The app will be released on Sunday 19th May 2018. It was found that Sunday is the best day to release a mobile app, with companies releasing most apps over a 17 week period between May

16th and September 8th, over this time 91,754 iOS apps were released to Apples App Store and 122, 220 were released to the Android Market. The time of the release will also coincide with the start of

summer which begins on June 21st, almost a month before the apps release, this will give parents who download the app the opportunity to start looking at different locations to plan their summer outings, as well as providing users with the opportunity to star writing reviews and posting to the

app, allowing useful information to be generate before the summer period begins and the app will begin being used more.

2 Weeks

The main app store in which the app will aimed to be distributed to is Google Play, this is because it has the highest number of downloads (25 billion) when compared with the other apps stores, this shows that

Google Play is frequently used many mobile users, giving our app a high chance of being downloaded. It will also be easier for fund for the app to be released onto

the Google Play Store as it costs less than Apples App Store.

Post release schedule

Once the app goes live on the app store, the first set of customers’ usage and behaviour will give us insight into how to improve and enhance the application. The feedback and reviews should be

constantly checked to ensure we can keep improving the app based on users feedback. After the basic app has been evaluated and improved, we will be able to introduce other features to the app,

such as the feature that can turn the ‘Maps’ tab into a satellite navigation system. This will allow users to understand the basics of the application, without being overwhelmed by many different

features that they may not use.

The analytics of the downloads should also be checked regularly to gain an idea of what age ranges are downloading the app, this will allow the developers to create extra features and updates that are more suitable for the most popular age range, allowing the updates to be more specific to the

audience that is populating the app most.

4 weeks

Some of the special features that are introduced in the updates can be

purchased within the app, for example the update allowing the ‘Maps’ tab to turn into a satellite navigation system can be priced

at around 99p, allowing the users to receive more variety within the app as well

as creating revenue for the application.

Gant Chart for Production of App