On The Moov

Login page
Home page
Volunteer accepting a user request
User dashboard: Blue requests have been accepted by volunteers, red requests have not been accepted yet
What the On the Moov was using prior

Inspiration

On the Moov is a student-led organization at UT created to connect disabled students to volunteers who can assist them in getting to classes and events. From experience, we know this organization has a fantastic cause, but its means of connecting people can be improved. The current system of connecting students to volunteers is just a simple Google Sheet. While this does accomplish its task, its hard to manage. We aim to streamline the process of getting help to Longhorns in need.

What it does

This web app allows students to request assistance traveling from place to place around campus, facilitating scheduling and matching volunteers and students who need help. There are two main types of clients: users and volunteers.

Users can block out time slots on their own calendar to request assistance during specified time periods. They can also specify their starting location and where they need to get to.

Volunteers then have the ability to view all of the times that users have requested assistance and commit to volunteering for a time slot with just a couple of clicks. This adds that time slot to their own schedule on the app.

How we built it

The front-end of our web app was designed mostly with Bootstrap. We also used a popular JavaScript calendar system called Full Calendar to create an interactable calendar. On the back end, we utilized MongoDB to store client login information, as well as user requests for assistance.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge we ran into was definitely collaboration. We initially created a Github repository, but due to the fact that we were all working together at the same time, we found that even Github wasn't a perfect solution. We ended up making use of Visual Studio Code's Live Share feature so that we could all work on the project simultaneously and see each other's changes in real-time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created a functional login system from scratch using MongoDB. Creating a functional calendar that displays only the necessary content for users. Having two types of user profiles that can utilize the application in different ways.

What we learned

We learned how to use a database and create an account/login system from scratch using MongoDB, a tool that none of us had ever used before. We also gained a much deeper understanding of how to use Bootstrap to simplify the process of designing our front-end.

What's next for On The Moov

The next step for this app would be to expand this service to more locations than just UT Austin, as there are always people out there who need assistance.

There are also a couple of potential extensions that could be added to this application:

A verification process for volunteers to ensure the safety of users
Integrating with Google Calendar to add events to both the users' and volunteers' calendars making it easy for them to keep track of events
Integrating with Google Maps to simplify the process of inputting to and from locations and adding the ability to view the route that will be taken.
Integrating with an API such as Twilio to provide real-time notifications
- This could allow volunteers to immediately know when a user posts a request for assistance
- Users could also immediately know when a volunteer has offered to assist them