Scavenger Scouts

Go outside to enjoy nature and be rewarded for your efforts!

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Inspiration

We were inspired by the birds, trees, and the kinds of critters that you don't normally see. We wanted to inspire people to go and discover a world just outside their front door, while also having some fun rewards at the end.

What it does

Scavenger Scouts invites individuals to create an account, and then complete for the various tasks we have designed for them. After completing a task, a user is rewarded with a personally designed badge!

How we built it

We utilized the MERN stack of technologies in order to create our web application. MongoDB Atlas hosts our database, and localized versions of Express.js, React, and Node.js enable us to develop the server and front-end portions.

Challenges I ran into

Allison

One of the main challenges I faced was learning how to work with the MERN stack. I originally attempted the MEAN stack, but then found an awesome tutorial from freeCodeCamp that helped me pick things up. I also attempted to tackle the user profiles, and ran into difficulties with authentication and working in a system that didn't plan for the utilization of Redux.

James

I spent many of the first hours after deciding on our tech stack familiarizing myself with the different tools that make up MERN. Beside React, they were all totally new to me and I had to spend time to understand them conceptually, not to mention be able to develop with them. Designing a system to interface with the UI to allow the user to both save their badge-collecting progress and reload it was the most significant technical challenge I confronted.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Allison

I'm proud of the fact that I was able to use a cloud database and connect it to a web application. I'm pleased with the badges I designed, as well as being able to create a system that can recognize registered users.

James

Despite the learning curve, I'm happy we've made a functioning program that accomplished its core goal using a tech stack neither of us were familiar with. Doing all that - alongside developing some lovely sprites for the badges - is something I'm quite proud of.

What I learned

Allison

I learned about the MEAN/MERN stack for the first time this weekend. I gained more knowledge on each of the systems in the MEAN stack, as well as how to work with a hosted database system.

James

This was also my first time learning the MERN stack, as well as my first time being heavily involved in developing both the front-end and back-end systems in a single application.

What's next for Scavenger Scouts

Besides refining the UI and creating a more interesting and intuitive site design, the biggest feature that would come next is to develop and expand on the user profile systems. A reach goal of this project was to allow users to take photographs to document their discoveries and allow them to save these pictures and share them with other users.

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