NightOwl

Inspiration

Walking across campus alone at night can make students feel vulnerable. We wanted to explore how technology could help students feel more confident getting around campus and make personal safety easier to manage. That's what inspired us to build NightOwl, a campus safety app designed with Georgia State University students in mind.

What it does

NightOwl provides a mobile-friendly experience focused on campus safety. Students can interact with walking-session flows and manage trusted contacts in one place. The app is designed to be accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, and it can be added to an iPhone Home Screen for an app-like experience.

How we built it

We built NightOwl using Next.js, React, and TypeScript, with a responsive interface designed for a straightforward user experience across screen sizes. We also prepared the project for mobile use and deployed the web app so others can try the demo online.

Challenges we ran into

One of our main challenges was bringing the user interface, mobile experience, and core user flows together into a cohesive demo. We focused on making the experience easy to navigate while keeping the project organized and ready for future development.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Turning an idea into a working demo: We brought NightOwl from concept to a live, accessible web app.

Mobile accessibility: We made NightOwl responsive and successfully installed it on an iPhone Home Screen for an app-like experience.

A campus-focused solution: We designed the project around the safety concerns students may face when traveling around campus, especially at night.

A shareable, collaborative project: We deployed NightOwl and merged our code into GitHub, making it easier for teammates and judges to access and test the demo.

A foundation for future growth: We established a foundation for future safety features, including real GPS tracking and emergency-contact notifications.

What we learned

We learned how important it is to design around real user needs, build responsive experiences, and collaborate through version control and deployment workflows. We also recognized that a safety-focused app requires careful testing and reliability before users should depend on it in real-world emergencies.

What's next for NightOwl

Our next steps include exploring real GPS-based walk tracking, background safety monitoring, and reliable emergency-contact notifications. These capabilities are future goals and would require implementation and thorough testing before being relied on for personal safety.