Inspiration
College students—especially at UMD—often struggle to find meals that fit their dietary needs, whether that’s vegan, high-protein, halal-friendly, or allergen-aware. Dining hall menus are hard to navigate, and nutritional transparency isn’t always accessible in a quick, actionable way. We wanted to make healthy eating on campus as easy as ordering food.
What it does
TerrapinEats is a mobile-friendly web app that helps students discover healthier dining hall options at UMD. It lets users:
Browse dining halls and live menu items Filter meals by dietary preferences (vegan, protein, halal, allergen-aware) View curated “healthy picks” instantly Add items to a cart and simulate ordering Choose delivery/pickup locations on campus
The goal is to reduce friction between wanting to eat healthy and actually doing it.
How we built it
Frontend: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (custom UI with responsive mobile-first design) State management: Lightweight in-browser cart system Data modeling: Structured menu + dining hall data with tags for filtering UX design: Focused on fast discovery (chips, search, categorized menus) Simulated ordering flow: Cart → checkout → live order tracking UI
Challenges we ran into
Structuring dining hall data in a way that supports flexible filtering and search Designing a clean UI that doesn’t overwhelm users but still shows enough information Managing state (cart, filters, navigation) without a full framework Making the experience feel realistic (e.g., order tracking, delivery flow) without a backend
Accomplishments that we're proud of
A polished, end-to-end user experience—from browsing to order confirmation Intuitive filtering system that actually makes healthy choices easier Clean, modern UI that feels like a real product, not just a prototype Simulated ordering + tracking flow that adds realism and usability
What we learned
Simplicity in UX is harder than it looks—every extra option adds cognitive load Good data structure is critical for features like filtering and search Even without a backend, you can prototype meaningful product experiences Building for a real user base (students) sharpens product decisions
What's next for TerrapinEats
Integrate real-time UMD dining API/menu data Add personalized recommendations based on user goals (fitness, dietary needs) Nutrition breakdowns (calories, macros) for each item Authentication + saved preferences Real order integration with campus dining or pickup systems Expansion to other universities
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