Longhorn Lineup

Inspiration

As current students in CS 429 (Computer Architecture), visiting TA office hours has become a regular part of completing each coding assignment. However, every time we arrive at the GDC, we’re met with a lengthy waitlist and are left with nothing more to do than physically write our names down and wait hours to be called. Moreover, we noticed the integrity of the list becoming compromised as some students add their names multiple times, while others even erase or replace other students’ names with their own. With this hack we aim to fix these issues, making help hours more systemized and accessible for our busy schedules.

What it does

Longhorn Lineup provides a structured and efficient way for students to join, manage, and interact with the office hours queue. The platform digitizes the sign-up process, preventing common issues such as line-skipping, multiple entries by the same student, and unauthorized changes to the list. With Longhorn Lineup, students can join the queue by simply signing in and clicking join queue which places them in line based on a first-come, first-served basis. Students are able to leave the queue, providing estimated wait times to other students who may be at home and checking to see if they should come to help hours or not. We used a voice tool to tell students which student's turn it is and which student is up next in the queue.

How we built it

We developed Longhorn Lineup using a combination of modern web development tools and frameworks to ensure a seamless user experience. The frontend was constructed with a combination of HTML, tailwind, and JavaScript, leveraging responsive design principles to create a dynamic, user-friendly interface. By incorporating Tailwind CSS, we streamlined the styling process, allowing for efficient and maintainable UI development. JavaScript was utilized extensively to implement client-side logic, enabling real-time updates, interactive elements, and event handling without the need for server roundtrips, enhancing responsiveness and performance. This approach not only facilitated a responsive and visually appealing design but also supported the implementation of advanced functionalities, such as real-time queue management and browser-based speech.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge we ran into was learning how to navigate Github with multiple contributors to a project and ensuring that we correctly push and pulled branches. Another challenge we encountered was implementing a notification system to alert students when they were approaching their turn in the queue. Although we aimed to integrate this feature to enhance user convenience, we faced limitations due to payment requirements for handling real-time notifications.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of successfully creating a functional and user-friendly platform that can handle the high volume of students needing TA assistance. The project not only works smoothly but also addresses the integrity issues found in physical sign-up systems. Additionally, adding the voice feature was nice so that students are able to quickly know if they are next in line without having to constantly check the whiteboard.

What we learned

This project provided us with substantial hands-on experience in leveraging JavaScript to develop a dynamic and responsive user interface, essential for modern web applications. Additionally, it strengthened our collaborative abilities and expanded our technical expertise in web development, including advanced database management and comprehensive version control practices.

What's next for Longhorn Lineup

In the future, we aim to add features such as notifications via SMS or email, and integration with UT Austin's existing systems to make it even more seamless for students and teaching assistants. Expanding the platform to support multiple departments and courses could also be a next step.