Hello blog viewers,
Did you know that April has
been designated as ‘National Stress Awareness Month’?
This is a national effort to make people aware of stress and its
harmful effects, correct misconceptions,
and provide them with successful coping strategies.
During
this week, while researching more about stress, I learned that the origin of stress
dates back to the early 1900s. The word “stress” is derived from the Latin word
“stringere” which means ‘to draw tight.’ and it was rats
who helped us understand the concept of stress and its effects on the
body.
Hans
Selye, an endocrinologist, used different methods to stress the animals, by
exposing them to extremes temperature, starving them and making them exercise
excessively. When he euthanized the animals, he found that the physical effects
were the same regardless of the form of torture to which they were
subjected. This research has provided
insight into the effects of stress and the importance of coping strategies.
There are several coping strategies we can adopt to avoid or
minimize stress: taking time to unwind, exercising, engaging with our family and friends, and providing
community service. I hope to incorporate these
strategies into my app in the next few weeks.
Now onto the work I have achieved in the seventh week of my SRP: I
have finally created a graph that will show user’s stress levels; however I
have not linked it to the core data yet. I have also decided to include only three
tabs in the app: one for stress, one for graphs, and one for the user profile.
This will improve the user interface, as the user will not have to keep
switching between tabs to find what he/she is looking for.
The graph I have created will map the user’s stress level (from 1
to 5) throughout the past week (Sun through Sat). This task seemed daunting at
first, but after reviewing a couple of tutorials, I managed to create a basic graph.
There is a bit more work I have to do before the final graph is complete. Here’s
a sample image of the weekly graph (The data shown is sample data and is not
rendered from the core data yet):
I plan to display the stress event count and average stress level
for the given period of time show in the graph (in this case, a week). For the initial version, I will have multiple
graphs that show weekly, monthly and yearly stress level data.
Over the next week, I plan to work on creating a monthly graph and
a yearly graph and connecting the core data to all of the graphs. I will also review the Human Interface
Guidelines from Apple as this is a critical component of any mobile app that
focuses on UI/UX design of the mobile app.
I hope to see you all in my next blog post!
The graph of the weekly stress levels looks great! What does the one billion events on the graph mean? Good luck connecting the graphs to the core data this week.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The events placeholder is meant to show the number of stress incidences (the number of points on the graph) that the user experienced for the week. I had put in a large random number (one billion in this case) as a test to see whether or not the number would fit in the placeholder.
DeleteI can imagine how this app could one day be linked to other technologies like the health app on the iPhone or a fitbit!
ReplyDeleteThe graph looks great! What does the average on the graph indicate? Is 1 low? Is 3 normal or average? What is considered high stress from normal stress (which we all have)?
Thank you! The average on the graph indicates the average of all of the stress incidents which are rated from 1 (low) to 5 (high). This is a subjective scale as each person rates their stress at a different level. I would consider a student who is expecting a college decision any minute would have a higher stress level (maybe 4 or 5) than a student who's about to take a chemistry test (2 or 3).
DeleteYour app has come a long way! The stress levels 1-5 remind me of the pain levels doctor use when they say how bad is you pain on a scale of 1-10.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I had considered making the stress level scale 1-10 but decided against it since I felt that the numbers lost their significance.
DeleteAesthetically, will the graph look like this in the final version (colors, lines, etc.)? Or will the user have the ability to customize the look?
ReplyDeleteI will most likely change the background color of the graph multiple times before releasing the final version (I have already changed it this week to a lighter blue). The user will not be able to customize the color in order to keep the app as simple and easy to use as possible.
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