Welcome to our 4th Mobile Development Competition by Mobile Senegal and Mobile 4 Senegal!
The competition was administered through Github.
Results
Grand prize winner: Jarmode
54 students / 18 teams participated in the competition. The finalists were: Casa Tour, an app from developers of Ziguinchor on tourism in Casamance; SenCivique, an app on how to be a new type of Senegalese (NTS) also from developers of Ziguinchor; and Jarmode, an app that collects models and maps tailors of Dakar developed by a team from Dakar. And the winner was Jarmode! Congratulations!
The competition was organized by stages (1 to 5) such that teams understand the process to develop apps. We emphasized good software engineering practices and required teams to do 2 sprints to develop their apps. 6 teams made it to the finish line. 8 teams stopped at Phase 1 (Idea and benchmarking). 2 teams gave up at phase 2 (Requirements) and phase 3 (Design and list of testers).
Training
To prepare the competition consider registering for our training that will take place on 7/17 from 9 am to 2 pm: http://www.meetup.com/mobileinnovationsdakar/events/129277412/
Description and goal
We have been reviewing quite a number apps over the years. We mentored developers after the 2012 MobileSenegal competition and had the pleasure, after 3 years of sustained work, to see 5 Senegalese apps released in the Nokia Store (4) and Google Play (1). We are currently running an App Clinic to permit developers to improve their apps. We often observed things that developers have overlooked and their apps could be tremendously improved if they would do basic preparation and planning (even before they write one line of code!) and understand UI/UX and quality assurance practices and techniques.
In continuing our efforts to promote the development of quality mobile apps in Senegal and to celebrate our 5 years, we decided to launch a competition. This competition aims to be more than a regular competition as it is structured in phases and guided. It will permit you to develop an app using the right tools and practices. These tools and practices are aligned with the ones of the industry. You will be judged on the app, the process and all the artifacts you will produce to develop this app. You will learn a lot, we promise! Take part of the journey now!
We encourage you to like our Facebook page to get the latest news on the competition and to contact us at mobilesenegal AT gmail.com.
Philosophy
We want to see good apps developed in Senegal and, as professionals in mobile and education, we propose a new model that we hope can achieve this goal. We are organizing this competition completely voluntary because we believe there is a need and because we are passionate about mobile and sharing.
The apps will remain your solely property. You will not submit code in the competition – only requirements, design, and testing documents, as well as screenshots, videos and executable files.
You want to learn about mobile app development, about software engineering, then join us now! Let’s go back to the basics and focus on quality apps before even talking about business models!
Theme
A simple and local app that can be used and useful for the population in Senegal.
The app can be in French, English, Wolof… We recommend you to do simple apps that focus on a small number of features. You will need to work in phases and code in sprints. We want to see improvements in your work. We want nice-looking apps! Look is important in the app world!
Technology
- jQuery Mobile: http://jquerymobile.com
- Android SDK: http://developer.android.com
- Apache Cordova: http://cordova.apache.org/
You will develop a mobile app using web technology. Your jQuery Mobile web site will be packaged to an Android app using a tool such as Apache Cordova. We are interested in the app, not the mobile web site! Everybody will be using the same technology such that it is fair!
Eligibility
You are a developer in Senegal and you are part of a team of 3 members.
Rules
Submissions are in French or a local language.
What can get you eliminated:
- You do not submit your own work
- You use art that is copyrighted
- Images that do not respect the ratio
- Missing deadlines
- No delivery of the required material
- The app is not consistent with the theme
- An app that is supposed to do 10 things and does not even do 1 thing well
- The apps is far from be finalized
- Apps that do not follow the standard of the Android platform
- Apps that are not developed in jQuery Mobile
- Mobile web sites that are not packaged into Android apps
- Grammatical and orthographic mistakes
- Mix of French and English in the app
- No improvement in your work between the different submissions
- The app is already on the market
- The app was a winning app of another competition
- You are a company
- Quality is better than quantity!
Deadlines and submissions
- July 17th – Description and benchmarking of the app, and teams. Use this form to submit your work.
- July 19th – Results of phase 1
- July 25th – Requirements. The submissions will be done directly in the github and the Google Docs that were created for you. We are waiting for the product backlog composed of the user stories that describe the features and constraints of / on your app.
- July 29th – Results of phase 2
- August 5th – Design and list of testers. The submission format will be described later on.
- August 7th – Results of phase 3
- August 14th – First submission of the apk. Sprint 1 takes place from 8/7 to 8/14. The submission format will be described later on.
- August 17th – Bug reports of the testers. The submission format will be described later on.
- August 21st – Final submission of the apk. Final report of the testers. Sprint 2 takes place from 8/14 to 8/21. The submission format will be described later on.
- August 23rd – Presentations of the 6 finalists and reception
[Please check back after each deadline for new instructions]
Judging criteria
- Following the process and submitting the required deliverable on time. (Did the team follow the process we put in place? Did they submit all the deliverable?)
- Value. (Does the application fill a need? Is the application relevant to the theme? Does it have a defined impact?)
- Innovation and creativity. (Is the application innovative? Does it show creativity? How does it compare with similar apps?)
- Usability. (Is the application usable? Is it easy to use? Is it implemented following the usability standard of the targeted platform? Will the application be easy to use by its beneficiaries?)
- Quality. (Is the application ready to ship? Is the quality of the application of professional level?)
Prizes
Winner (1st place)
- 3 Samsung notebooks
- Mobile developer kits
- MobileSenegal collector tee-shirts, bags and goodies
- 3 credit cards of $50 to register in Google Play and buy apps
For the 3 best teams
- Mentoring during 1 month to release the apps in the store
Reception
The reception will take place on August 23rd at the Adenauer Foundation in Dakar.
Sponsors
We are looking for sponsors! If you are interested, please contact us at mobilesenegal AT gmail.com
Supporters
GDG Dakar
Thank you for their posts promoting the contest!
Organizers
Contact
Contact us at mobilesenegal AT gmail.com
Note
All decisions of the organizers and judges are final. By entering, participants warrant and represent that they agree to be bound by these contest rules and the final decisions.