Inspiration
We were inspired to build this website after learning about the effects of the California Housing Crisis. After learning about how difficult it was for college students to find housing off campus and roommates to split the rent with, we decided to build a website the combined these two features into one.
What it does
Our website allows users to create listings for housings that can be appended to our mongodb database. Using these listings, we show them on a main page, so that users can filter houses that they would prefer. Afterwards, users can like houses / townhouses / condos that they would prefer living in. Based on that information and the user's interests given when they sign up, we are able to create an mostly ideal roommate match.
How we built it
We built the website using Python, specifically Flask as our backend, and HTML as our frontend. We used Tailwind.CSS for formatting and beautifying our website. Together, we collaborated in person and offline using AWS Cloud 9 where we could actively see each other's edits.
Challenges we ran into
One challenge that we ran into was over scoping the project, so in the end, we weren't able to finish the entire project how we envisioned it. Also, the Cloud9 server significantly helped us collaborate, but in the beginning, we weren't able to set it up properly.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
One accomplishment that we're proud of is implementing the OpenStreetMaps API as that had caused us a lot of trouble during the hackathon.
What we learned
We learned a lot about programming during this hackathon, but we also learned to not over scope, especially when the hackathon only lasts 24 hours.
What's next for Dormouse
The first thing that we intend to do is finishing the project as we envisioned it. After that, Dormouse heavily relies on user interaction to work well as users will need to create listings, so we intend to host the website on a domain, and advertise it in colleges and on Google.