What is UBCORB?:
UBCORB originally started as a 2020 Hackathon project; The purpose of this application is to provide an efficient and simple way for students to book study spaces on University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO). The current method for booking study spaces requires users to utilize UBC's study booking website; Which isn't optimized for mobile browsers and/or smaller devices. Personally, as a student myself I understand the annoyance that comes with booking study spaces on campus; This application is designed to serve the students of UBCO.
Documentation for application (Google Drive Link): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KlZVa4FYj4zvlR_YZidqJjvvS5IzXTv5?usp=sharing
Please note, this project is also a submission for a COSC 341 - Human Computer Interaction Assignment.
Project Overview:
How to run the application?
Please follow one of the two methods provided below:
- Download the (.zip) folder, or clone the repository into Android Studio.
- Access the APK folder
What I learned from this project:
From this project, I've learned a lot about the back-end, privacy, teamwork, and maintainability work that goes into creating a mobile application. Whilst the front-end work is rather fun, and most the time easier to implement; it's all these other factors that play a enormous role into determining the success of your application. When I presented this prototype to UBCO, they loved the idea! They were unable to grant me access to their NOVELL API due to the fact that UBC is actually making a switch from their NOVEL API towards a more central widely used API (such as CWL). They also stressed the importance of maintainability. The maintainability of the application comes into question about who will maintain the code, and provide regular updates for the application, for after when I graduate. The university stressed that, due to the current COVID-19 situation, the team of developers on their end wouldn't be able to ontake any additional work due to the already intense workload they are enduring. User privacy was another factor that they stressed. Ensuring that student's data was secure and safe from breachment was something we talked about with them on the phone. The university also suggessted that we don't hard code the building options into the app. This becomes an issue for when the university decides to demolis/create study spaces on campus, as this would require the hardcoded options to be manually updated by a developer on our end. In conclusion, the university strongly understood the need for the application. Thanks to the developers that helped me with this project, they understood that the university should implement a mobile solution for students to book study spaces on campus. I strongly hope that this repo encouages/inspires other students to implement solutions to ongoing problems for students in todays world.
Footnote:
This application was implemented using a Pixel API 28, but is also optimized for other devices. Please ensure you have a fairly updated API and version of Android Studio.
This project currently is in testing phases. This application is currently being tested against a Firebase DB, until an implementation is made later on to allow the application to interact with UBC's website.