wait.

Layovers? Long waits for board times? If only there was a way to pass the time... Oh "wait". There is!! Welcome to wait. Providing entertainment & social connectivity, for a better flight experience.

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Inspiration

Based on our surveys, about 75% of people mentioned that waiting was one of the worse experiences when flying. Although shortening the actual waiting time was something less in our control, we wanted to create something for users to by pass the time! Because of this, we've decided to create a Social media-like app where flyers can pass time by interacting and sharing their vacation plans or pictures with fellow passengers!

What it does

Users will be prompted to enter in there flight number based on their physical/digital boarding pass and instantly be connected with other passengers who boarding the same flight! The chat dashboard feature can be used for informational purposes regarding their destination (i.e. sharing recommendations on attractions, answering any questions/concerns, etc.) and/or for socializing with other passengers before, during, and after the flight! (i.e. share photos, sparking conversation with someone new, etc.)

How we built it

Our front-end application was built using HTML, CSS, React.js, and our backend was developed with node.js, express.js, AWS, and PostgreSQL. We were able to successfully integrate the American Airlines Flight Engine Mock Data API to cross check valid data to ensure that users would be grouped in message threads accordingly. In addition, we developed our own API endpoint using Heroku to connect the infrastructure of our application to our PostgreSQL database hosted through AWS. We also used the last hours of the event to add touches to our UI to make it fun and responsive!!

Challenges we ran into

  1. Environment Configuration - Version Control
  2. Integration of Front-end with PostgreSQL Database
  3. Creating consistent routes
  4. Passing global functions, states, & variables
  5. Adding responsive styling
  6. Solidifying a project idea and goals

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Functioning MVP (minimum viable product)
  2. Successfully integrated a sponsor's API
  3. Creating our own API
  4. Dividing & Conquering tasks
  5. We didn't sleep!

What we learned

  1. Planning and designing should take up the majority of the project
  2. Aim low and over deliver
  3. Focus on getting an MVP (minimum viable product) then focus on the details
  4. Research technologies beforehand
  5. Web development is epic, but also a pain at times
  6. UI/UX engineers are actually built so different.

What's next for wait.

Thank you TAMUHACK!!! This was our last hackathon as TAMU students! You guys rock! :')

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