Dorm.io Marketplace

Homepage of Dorm.io
Example posts
Adding funds to wallet (Nessie API integration)

Inspiration

We were inspired by looking at Capital One's Nessie API that makes it easy to create accounts and customers. We thought about how popular reselling sites are with our peers, but there wasn't a site specifically for Virginia Tech students. We wanted this site to be for things all college students need like dorm room furniture, textbooks, school supplies, clothes and more. Then Dorm.io Marketplace was born.

What it does

Dorm.io is a reselling website for Virginia Tech students to buy/sell their college supplies and dorm essentials. Each user has an account with a wallet. They can deposit money to the wallet and pay with their wallet. This enables students to get all their school essentials at a lower price while not having to venture past campus.

How we built it

Our project is divided into two major sections, the front end and the back end. The focus of the back end is to wrap existing Nessie API functions into easily callable JavaScript functions. This process included brainstorming potential uses of Nessie's API calls. Instead of creating a banking software, our goal was to utilize the Nessie API to its full potential.

We drafted the front end using Figma, creating a refined UI that integrates important features such as the IBM Color Blind Safe palette and clearly labelled UI elements. We then began the process of translating the Figma mock to React, adding read aloud integration, and connecting the front end to the backend for Nessie API functionality.

Challenges we ran into

There were two main challenges our team faced in the development of Dorm.io which were understanding Nessie API documentation specifically differences between _id and customer_id and linking deposits and withdrawls to accounts and customers. We resolved both of these issues.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the number of accessible and inclusionary features we were able to add to Dorm.io. We used IBM's Color Blind Safe palette in the design of the website so users with red-green and blue-yellow color blindness can easily navigate the website. We also added a read aloud feature that is automatically enabled when opening the website to accommodate those with visual impairments. To be inclusive to our international students, we added a translation feature in the chat box, a currency equivalency feature, as well as icons to help non-english speakers navigate the website.

What we learned

Through this project we learned that the backend infrastructure of a bank is much more versatile then we expected. Capital One's Nessie API is outlined for a bank, but we transformed it into something unexpected and original. A reselling platform has many of the same features including customers, accounts, and deposits. If we continued this project, we would love to try to incorporate even more from Nessie API.

What's next for Dorm.io Marketplace

If we were to continue working on Dorm.io we would expand beyond Virginia Tech into colleges in the rest of Virginia and Washington DC. We would have users select their campus in their profile and choose from a dropdown menu which campus or city they would like to see listings from. We would use that selection to filter all of the listings to ones in the user's area. This would make Dorm.io accessible to a wider audience and give students more places to shop.