UChicago Pulse is a web app built to help students navigate campus life more efficiently. The core inspiration came from a common pain point: not knowing how busy dining halls are until you're already there. After talking to fellow students and experiencing long lines ourselves, we realized there had to be a better way to share real-time crowd insights.
What started as a simple idea — a map showing which dining halls are crowded — quickly grew into a broader platform that now also includes a campus events board, helping students stay in the loop with academic, social, and club-related events.
Frontend: Built with React + TypeScript using the Next.js framework and Tailwind CSS for clean, responsive design.
Map Integration: We used the Google Maps API (via @react-google-maps/api) to create an interactive map of all dining locations on campus.
Busyness Ratings: Students can submit how busy a location feels ("not busy", "somewhat busy", or "very busy"). These ratings are aggregated and displayed live on the map.
Event System: A dedicated events page showcases upcoming student-hosted activities with filters for different types of events.
Location Tracking: We implemented browser geolocation so students can automatically rate nearby locations when they’re on-site.
Built With
- next
- typescript
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