Throughout the design process of iTea, our team has experienced project team development similar to a real world setting. With countless hours spent on system design, marketing, software development, integration, and testing, we have learned about system development and team work through our hard work. The experience of developing an idea and turning it into a real product has definitely enriched all of us.

Future Recommendations:
The idea for iTea can easily be extended for any type of business or service, and not just pizzerias. A good example came from an interested individual at Senior Design Day. "It would be great if we were driving along the high way and used this (application) to find the nearest Starbucks!"
Even though iTea is a fully working implementation of our initial concept, there is till much room for improvement. It would have been great to implement the software on an actual cellular phone. Another clever idea to implement would be the use of GPS into the application. Instead of having the user input their closest intersection, GPS enabled phones can use that to pinpoint exactly where they are.

How could your project be extended/improved in the future?

It has been difficult to gain the trust and confidence of the businesses that we have approached to participate in our research and development. Our experience has shown that some pizzerias are hesitant to give out information about the nature of their business or information on the types of products/services they offer. To resolve this matter, we realize that we must develop an alternate method of approaching these businesses so that they not only have some sort of an incentive to participate, but also do not feel alienated. One possible solution may be to eliminate the use of surveys. We also need to reassure these businesses that the information they release to us will be used for research purposes only and will not be released to any third parties. On the technical side, we would like to add a feature allowing participating businesses to manually update their information. We would also like to add a Point-of-Sale (POS) feature that would allow us to provide users with statistics on the types of items that were purchased within a period of time in a meaningful way.

Are there any new project ideas that came up (even if entirely different from your current project, describe)?

Surprisingly there were no entirely new project ideas that came up once we decided to work on iTea. There was however, a shift in direction for the project. In fall 2003, we had decided to work with SMS technologies to bring iTea to a reality. But through our research, we felt that implementing iTea in BREW would facilitate a higher standard in development platforms.
We have also considered developing a system that will allow individuals with a Stevens ID to order food from catering services such as Colonel Johns online or from the convenience of their wireless device. The system would be smart enough to automatically deduct currency (i.e. duck bills) from the user’s account and would allow users to place orders in advance. Resulting in less time being wasted waiting on line.

Any other information that will help future SD students when deciding and working on their own projects (info not already listed elsewhere on your project website).

Our recommendation to future students is to start implementation early. This also entails forming a group and an idea early on in the semester. There are so many issues that can and will go wrong during implementation. Acquiring parts, development tools, and resources all take longer than expected. All in all, we trust that future students will be able to develop great projects, but to save yourselves some headaches and stress, plan ahead!
In response to the difficulty experienced with local pizzerias, expect to encounter resistance from businesses asked to fill out surveys and/or supply any product/service information; be assertive, yet polite and professional. In addition, set reasonable goals and understand the amount of time and man power required to implement various features of a project.