ROOME

Web App Cover
App Example Design
Web Swiping through possible roommates

Inspiration

ROOME, a fun take on the combination of “roomie” and “room me”, tackles the challenge that many first-year college students face when searching for a dorm roommate. Originating from our own struggles, we found existing options like Instagram and StarRez inefficient and limited. Instagram's process is convoluted, while StarRez relies on basic questions that hardly reflect personal compatibility.

What it does

ROOME stands out by leveraging detailed user profiles, including niche interests, majors, and desired roommate qualities, to facilitate matches similar to how Tinder's algorithm works.

How we built it

We built Roome using React JS for the front end and connected that to MongoDB as our backend. We used Figma to create a comprehensive mockup of the app.

Challenges we ran into

At first, we wanted to use React Native to implement it as a running mobile app, but since we had limited experience and limited time, we decided that we would use regular React and make it a web app that could be viewed on mobile screens. We also ran into challenges using Node.js and MongoDB, but with the help of mentors and YouTube, we were able to implement and use them in the backend aspect of our project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are extremely proud of our ability to tackle a problem that can help future college students as we know what an impact a bad roommate can have on our well-being.

What we learned

We learned how to use React, MongoDB, and Node.js, and how to effectively have a working environment for the entire team to work in.

What's next for ROOME

Recognizing the frequent posts on our UMD Snapchat story about needing roommates for off-campus housing or handling lease takeovers, we intend to integrate features to address these needs in one streamlined platform.