SlugHaus

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  Home Tab with the interactable map

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  User interface for submitting review

Inspiration

Reflecting on our time as students at UCSC, the challenges we faced in finding suitable housing served as the inspiration for our project. Navigating the housing landscape at UCSC proved to be a daunting task, especially with the limited information available about the campus and its ten colleges on the official housing website.

Choosing a college from the array of options became a stressful and anxiety-inducing process, as the lack of comprehensive information made it difficult to make informed decisions. This struggle extended beyond incoming students; even continuing students faced challenges when searching for on-campus apartments.

What it does

Motivated by these firsthand experiences, we envisioned a solution to alleviate the stress and uncertainty associated with finding housing. The result is our web application, SlugHaus, a platform designed to empower students with detailed insights, streamline the decision-making process, and provide a seamless experience for both incoming and continuing students in their quest for the perfect housing match. Our project aims to transform the housing journey at UCSC, offering a user-friendly solution that addresses the unique needs of students at every step.

How we built it

This project was separated into two parts, the user interface where students can view the colleges and ratings, and the back end where it stores and manages all the data for the ratings. The front end was achieved with the use of a framework called Next.js, with an integration of the Google Maps API. For the backend, we used a combination of Python and Flask to store, manage, send, and receive form data filled out by students.

Challenges we ran into

Embarking on this project presented challenges as many aspects were new to the majority of our team, such as Flask and Google Maps API. Navigating the learning curve of unfamiliar technologies required extensive research, collaboration, and time management. Despite initial hurdles, our team demonstrated resilience, turning challenges into opportunities for growth. Through collaborative problem-solving and efficient time management, we successfully achieved our project goals, gaining valuable learning experiences along the way.

What we learned

Throughout this project, our team as a whole was able to gain valuable new skills in both frontend and backend. Even when we faced trouble with our code, we were able to find a way around our problems and fix it. Whenever we couldn't achieve what we initially wanted, we were able to find an alternative to our problems. This iterative process not only refined our technical abilities but also instilled a sense of resourcefulness and creativity in overcoming obstacles. It highlighted our teamwork and determination to overcome obstacles, ensuring the success of our project.

Project slides

https://prezi.com/view/kXSlTZmHCVPkPtcSBXKc/

Built With

• flask
• javascript
• node.js
• python
• react.js