Design of a progressive web app for on-demand translation service

Bc. Vasiliki Theodorou

Master's thesis

Abstract:

One of the currently blooming industries mainly based on the globalization and migration, is the translation industry and since there is space for improvement and area for investment in this field, this study aims to provide a design of a prototype for an on-demand translation service in Prague. The idea is based on the difficulties that foreign people often face when trying to get a service in Prague due to language and communication problems and the integration issues which arise accordingly. Moreover, the on-demand economy as a result of technology companies introducing on-demand mobile applications is explained. The design of the prototype was based on User Research as part of the User Centred Design (UCD) Strategy and further research regarding UCD, User Research methods and prototyping tools are presented. The strategy of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) is suggested in this study for the development of the above described application and the technology of PWAs is further analysed. The practical part of the current study includes the conduction of a feasibility study to evaluate the viability of the above described application, as well as interviews as a qualitative method of User Research, based on which the final prototype is designed. According to the main results of the market research, there is no PWA like the one described above in the Czech market. Moreover, an online survey which included 86 participants and was also part of the market research was conducted, and the main results indicated that 90.7% of the participants have faced difficulties in getting a service in Prague due to language difficulties and 52.3% replied that they had often faced these difficulties. Furthermore, 95.3% seem to believe that it is important for foreigners that this problem will be solved, 79.1% replied that they would use an application like the one suggested in this study and 44.2% replied that they agree that an application like the one described, can create a base for further interaction between locals and foreigners. Based on the results, future recommendations for the further development of the described application as an ultimate platform for the integration of foreign residents are suggested, as well as ways for generating profit and financially motivate the service providers. Finally, the main conclusions are presented.

Keywords

Progressive Web Apps, PWA, service workers, on-demand app, translation service, User-Centred Design, User Experience, prototype

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 29. 3. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Miloš Ulman, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Master programme / field:
Systems Engineering and Informatics / Informatics