UVMaps
Revolutionizing UVM travel
OUR INSPIRATION
The University of Vermont has a large and beautiful campus. To fully take advantage of that, UVMap is designed to be a student's best friend. Much like Google Maps & Apple Maps, UVMap seamlessly provides mapping and travel assistance to fulfill your navigation dreams. Utilizing Apple Mapkit algorithms and presentation, UVMap brings the same convenience to the University of Vermont campus. Able to navigate to any building on campus, as well as giving you campus-specific directions, getting to class has never been easier.
Beyond just navigation, this app is loaded with functionality to fully support students here at The University of Vermont. First stop is the main page, featuring the map and a modern GUI with gadgets to help students track their distance, recommended leaving time, methods of transportation, and more. Next stop is the schedule page, where students can search through UVM's classes and customize their own weekly and daily schedules. This functionality also enables students with up-to-date class tracking, which allows them to plan out their week and courseload, and also build potential schedules for the future. The last stop is the settings page, where students are able to customize the app to their liking, and also fine-tune how the app specifically helps you.
DEVELOPMENT
It all started on the night of September 23rd. The five of us were paired up to work on this project for the rest of the class - a semester long ordeal. Not knowing each other, and being new to iOS mobile development, the odds were stacked against us. But that did not hold us back from deciding on an extremely hard concept. We wanted to provide a mapping application for the students at the University of Vermont. Providing UI & presentation to buildings and locations all across campus, this app would not be a walk in the park. Relying on our teamwork and problem solving, we got to work on a project we could barely even envision, much less create with our own hands. Fear and doubt were not in our vocabulary.
Ty got us started, laying out a sturdy foundation of design and structure to the application, working hard on the project right from the start. He carefully and meticulously planned out every nook and cranny of the app, making sure to provide seamless functionality with a sexy and modern design. This wasn't just another school project. This was a solution. On a conceptual level, Ty was behind it all. The hardest thing of all was the map. As days passed, and brainstorm sessions provided little breakthroughs, Jack was our miracle man. Our map expert and git conflict resolution master, Jack helped keep things moving smoothly. Mapping algorithms and UI presentation is thanks to this Jack-of-all-trades. Emmett was the perfect diligence man, taking on the settings page all by himself. Simulating MacOS just to use our iOS mobile development software, Emmett proved that he was not backing down. Emmett provided standardization behind the shadows, making sure everything was uniform while also preparing user maneuverability for the entire app. Tate was our design prodige. Finalizing our walls of defense - the log in and sign up pages - Tate made sure implementation of the backend and the design of the first page of the app were in tip-top shape. Finally there was Nate, who helped design and configure the schedule page. Making sure students had flexibility and functionality through their classes at the University of Vermont, Nate did not disappoint.
A picture of Xcode, software we used to write SwiftUI and build our app.
A picture of our Cumulative Flow Diagram in Jira, which helped us track progress throughout the project.
On the development side, UVMap is using Swift: SwiftUI which provides efficient mobile development for all Apple mobile devices. Additionally, the implementation of our Google Firebase backend brings a whole new load of functionality including a login/signup page and credential encryption. Throughout this process, we've exercised agile development methodologies, including elements of Scrum management, CI/CD development, and more primarily through Github and Jira.
We wanted to make a positive impact on the community we are a part of. And the rest, my friends, is history. We worked together diligently through many months to produce an app that would help those for years to come - revolutionizing travel at the University of Vermont.