BigCommunity

Homepage
Sign up for events (User)
Create announcements (Organizer)
Tags selection (User)

Problem Statement

Residential life around University Town (UTown) is currently quite fragmented. Each residential college (RC) and UTown Residence (UTR) hosts its own set of Interest Groups (IGs), but these are usually open only to students from that particular residence. This creates limited opportunities for cross-residential interaction and makes it difficult for students to join activities or communities that match their interests, especially if their own RC does not offer them. Students are therefore missing out on enriching experiences that could come from exploring IGs beyond their immediate residence.

Solution: BigCommunity

BigCommunity is a centralized web platform that consolidates announcements and event details from Interest Groups across all residential colleges and student residences in UTown. It allows IGs to post open events and activities that are accessible to the wider UTown community, enabling students to discover and join groups that align with their passions, regardless of where they live.

How we built it

BigCommunity functions as a centralized and user-friendly platform where students can explore and join Interest Groups across UTown. Each IG can post announcements, event details, and participation opportunities that are open to the broader student community, while users can log in securely to access postings, manage their interests, and sign up for events.

For this project, we built the application using React Native, Expo, Expo Router, TypeScript, and Firebase. Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore are used to support user accounts, announcements, tags, and RSVP data. We also structured the app around shared context state and service layers so that announcements, profiles, tags, and signups stay synchronized across pages.

What inspired us

We were inspired by how disconnected residential communities can feel even though students live just a short walk from one another in UTown. There are many active groups and communities, but the visibility of those activities is often limited by residence boundaries. We wanted to make it easier for students to discover communities outside of their own RC or residence and participate more freely in campus life.

What we learned

Through building BigCommunity, we learned a lot about designing shared state across multiple pages, structuring Firebase-backed services cleanly, and handling syncing issues between frontend UI and backend data. We also learned how important permission design is in Firestore, especially when user profiles, event signups, and shared announcement data all need different access patterns.

Challenges we faced

One of the main challenges was keeping data consistent across announcements, tags, profile interests, and event signup records. Another was making sure the user experience stayed smooth while syncing Firestore data in real time. We also had to work through Firestore rules carefully so login, tag loading, and event attendance features would work without creating permission conflicts.

Impact and feasibility

BigCommunity fosters greater interconnection across residences, encouraging students to engage with broader communities and discover new experiences. It promotes inclusivity, more efficient communication, and a stronger shared culture across UTown.

From an implementation standpoint, the idea is highly feasible:

The required technology and infrastructure already exist, including campus connectivity and authentication systems.
With administrative collaboration from RC offices and OSA, event posting and cross-residential participation can be streamlined.
The platform can start as a small pilot with a few residences and scale over time as adoption increases.