UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In Frank Ritter’s Foundations of Human-Centered Design course, which he teaches at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), he encourages his students to think outside the box and design projects that have an impact in the real world. A team of students in the class recently designed an app that enables anyone on the University Park campus to access Penn State’s student radio station on their smartphones.
“Radio stations are increasingly using apps to allow users to access content,” Ritter said.
The team, which was led by John Barclay Walsh, a junior IST major, also included Connor Kelly, Tim Costaglula and Cody Hubley. The students designed The LION 90.7 fm app, through which users can access content for The LION 90.7 fm (WKPS), a multi-format student radio station in University Park. In addition to allowing people to listen to the station’s music and programs, the app enables users to view the station’s programming schedules as well as its Facebook and Twitter feeds.
“It’s more customized and personalized to the radio station than streaming it (on the Web),” Walsh said.
Walsh said that he took Ritter’s class because he “wanted to learn to program for mobile operating systems.” He said The LION was very receptive to the app, and would like to add more interactive features such as a system in which users can submit requests.
The LION 90.7 fm app, which is designed for both iPhone and iPad, can be accessed for free on the App Store.