Step Up

Inspiration

Completing volunteer hours is a crucial part of a student's high school years, but students typically have to sign up for clubs to hear about volunteer opportunities. On the event hosts' side, they have to contact schools and clubs with their volunteer needs and wait for them to fill the slots. We sought to eliminate the middleman and give students direct access to volunteer opportunities to help both the students and the community.

What it does

Step Up is an iOS app that displays a map with volunteer opportunities in the area. Users can tap on an event to see its description and the host's contact information and reach out to fill the needed roles. Users can also post their own events for which they need volunteers. We also provide a consolidated list of all of the user's completed services so it is easier to keep track of their cumulative volunteer hours.

How we built it

We thoroughly designed a user-friendly user interface to maximize the user's experience. After the design phase, we created the algorithms for each page and applied it to the code using Swift in XCode.

Challenges we ran into

None of us were particularly fluent with Swift so there was definitely a learning curve. Furthermore, we only had two Macs that would be able to write the code, so we had to figure out how to best distribute our skills.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We utilized our individual strengths to complete all aspects of the project. The two members most familiar with Swift handled the code while the other two contributed through ideas, design, and research. We were able to overcome the daunting task of coding in an unfamiliar language to create a new product.

What we learned

We gained a lot of experience with Swift and the whole process that goes into creating apps, from back-end coding to front-end design and user experience.

What's next for Step Up

With enough resources, Step Up could viably be expanded from its local scope to a globally reaching app. We could connect volunteers with those in need all over the world and bring communities together.