DF-Let's Dine by Team No.Mad

Wristband Number: 112, 761 and 264.

Inspiration

With the closure of "Techno Edge", the crowd in "Deck" has significantly increased especially during lunch time. Whenever we are looking for empty seats, we are not always sure if we can use the table that are not fully occupied. Checking if the owners are willing to share the table requires explicit asking which tends more troublesome.

So why not have a list of tables whereby the owners are willing to share their tables?

What it does

Connect those who are willing to share their empty seats with those who are looking for empty seats in a crowded setting.

Scenario DECK is especially crowded and thus finding a fully unoccupied table is a difficult task. Andy is having his lunch at DECK alone. He is occupying a table of four. He does not mind sharing the empty seats who others. He created an "open invitation" to anyone who is looking for free seats.

Jamie and her two friends are looking for a table in DECK. Since most of the table are occupied and accommodating 3 pax in such a situation is difficult, Jamie decided to look for those who are willing to share their seats on "Let's Dine" platform. Using the platform, she is able to locate tables that are open for sharing. Jamie found the listing by Andy. Jamie and her friends decided to join Andy's table.

How we built it

Firebase Database
Firebase Hosting
Bootstrap
JavaScript
Balsamiq Mockup (for wireframing)

Challenges we ran into

Unfamiliar with noSQL and we are using FireBase.
Two out of three members are unfamiliar with JavaScript and we have to learn and apply the concepts while on the job.
One out of three members is unfamiliar with HTML and CSS. He had to learn and apply the concepts while on the job.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Managed to build the minimum-viable-product (MVP) with most of the main features working as intended.

What we learned

Building a working product under limited time is possible as long as we planned our priorities right. Initially, our ideation includes advance features that aim to reduce the process of user input which aims to improve user experience. As the clock ticks, we know that we need to get our basic features right first before looking into advance stuff. Unfortunately, with unintended bugs that takes up lots human hour for bug fixing, we are unable to implement those features.

What's next for Let's Dine

If it DOES work out, we can work together with NUS Office of Campus Amenities to include QR codes on each table so that user can quickly create the invitation for others to join their seats. The QR code also aims to mitigate the number of system abuse as the need to scan requires the user to be at the physical location before he or she can create the invitation,