Partner Up
This project was part of the Digital Shaper Program hosted by Techlabs Copenhagen in autumn semester 2020/2021.
Introduction
Partner up is a platform where students can find their thesis partners based on similar interests and ambition levels so the thesis writing process is more enjoyable and successful.
As students, we all come to this point: It’s time to write our thesis! While we often put a lot of time and effort into finding the right topic, we soon find ourselves with the question: “Who can I write my thesis with?”. At PartnerUp, we want to take away your worries, and help you in the process of finding the perfect partner! You only write your thesis once, so why not make it an enjoyable experience by writing it with someone who has similar interests, similar working styles and ambitions?
Come visit our platform and find your perfect partner today!
Methodology
What tools/methods from your TechLabs tracks did you use to solve the problem? How did you prepare and structure your work?
Web Development
Link to Github Repository
https://github.com/AndreiIlisei/testmodal
Tools
- We started by setting up a new, empty React file right away and shared it on the repository on Github, so that everyone has access to it. Github in general was a useful tool to share code and merge what each of us was working on.
- By looking at the Prototype, we structured our code into different components and pages in React, starting with the landing page and moving on to the main and profile page. Each page was itself structured into several smaller components that could be reused.
- We used JavaScript language in our React code
- For the Sign Up process, we used Firebase and connected it to our code in React.
- As “add-on” tools, we used Bootstrap and Flexbox, which really helped in the design of the main page dashboard.
- We also used the Styled Components and Material UI libraries in React for the styling of the website.
UX Design
Link to Figma
https://www.figma.com/proto/bK2HCfFIlT3OQpdYAmE9kv/PartnerUp?node-id=27%3A24&scaling=min-zoom
Tools
- Started out with surveys, asking people their experience when writing a thesis together with someone else, and also what is important for them when they have to choose a thesis partner.
- Persona and storyline was made to be in person’s shoes and imagining their pain points out of survey results and how our product could come in handy into their lives, and also seeing where we can add value in our product
- A mockup was created to plan and organize content, but also to test it
- A prototype was created to see the navigation, interaction, and user interface
- Two usability test rounds where done, as to test the prototype and if people like the product
- Contextual interviews throughout the usability test was conducted to ask generally about the product and their thesis experience
Project Results
Our App.js file, routing to different pages in the App 👇
The Landing Page Frontend 👇
The SignUp Pop-up 👇
The HomePage component 👇
The HomePage Frontend👇
The firebase configuration 👇
The login and signup functions using firebase 👇
Firebase overview over the people who created accounts 👇
Firebase database👇
Conclusion & Learning
One of our biggest challenges in the project was that we missed the data science part, in order to have a functional web app. Our idea was to calculate the probability of a good match between people on the website through a database algorithm. At this stage, we only have the front-end with dummy data.
We originally planned to integrate a database from Firebase, which is also our sign-up tool. As our group was left with only UX Design and Web Development students, we unfortunately lack the backend to the website, which would be vital for an actual implementation. We put a lot of work into learning how to have firebase as our database as we did not have enough manpower, but in the end we managed to get some idea of how to implement it as a backend. By using libraries like Axios and Redux and tools like Postman we managed to create a connection between the login and the user details, therefore when a person that will login it will have information like name, when he joined and the chance of uploading their own picture. As we did not manage to finish this part and have a good design for it and fix all the bugs, we decided not to have it implemented in the main code as it will interfere with other components.
Another challenge, especially in the beginning was to align the different tracks and make sure to meet our internal deadlines. It was also hard to align the team on the overall vision and keep everyone committed to it.
Overall, we did learn a lot from the tracks and learning module themselves, even if it included lots of individual work.
Details about the project team
- Sophie Ogon — Web Development
- Kitija Matisone — UX Design
- Andrei Ilisei — Web Development
LinkedIn Profiles
Sophie Ogon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-kristin-ogon-2aa20b172/
Kitija Matisone
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitija-matisone/
Andrei Ilisei
