Week #4 Report #

Project Focus & Approach #

Overall Goal and Relevance:
The capstone project aims to develop a comprehensive Alumni Portal, enhancing communication and collaboration among graduates, the university, and current students. This portal will support events, donations, and networking, making it highly relevant for fostering alumni engagement.

Specific Focus of the Week:
This week, we concentrated on developing services, testing, collecting external feedback, and iterating based on this input to refine the user experience and functionality.

Importance of the Week’s Work:
This phase is crucial as it ensures the project meets user expectations and functions seamlessly, aligning with our long-term vision.

Methods and Tools Used:
We conducted some kind of early User Acceptance Testing (UAT) based on the already implemented services with a small group of fellow users and used tools like Trello for task management and Postman for API testing.

These methods were selected to ensure comprehensive testing and iterative development, critical for achieving our project’s goals.

Results & Analysis #

Findings:

• External feedback highlighted areas needing improvement in usability and feature clarity.
• Testing revealed minor bugs in services and user interface inconsistencies.

Analysis:
Feedback emphasized the importance of a user-friendly design, while testing underscored the need for deep backend unit-testing and scalability. Addressing these aspects will improve user satisfaction and project alignment with initial objectives.

Implications for Overall Project:
These findings will guide further refinements, ensuring the portal is both functional and engaging, thus enhancing alumni interaction and support.

Conclusions & Next Steps #

Key Takeaways:

• Continuous feedback and testing are vital for identifying and addressing usability and functionality issues.
• Iterative development is essential for aligning the project with user needs and expectations.

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Address identified bugs and retest.
2. Continue gathering feedback and iterating on design and features.
3. Continue developing necessary services in backend.
4. Finalize frontend main service`s pages.

Challenges & Solutions #

Challenges Faced:

• Delays in integrating user feedback due to conflicting schedules.
• Minor bugs affecting portal functionality in different services.
• Troubles with integrating AI (ChatGPT) for spam filtering.

Approach to Overcoming Challenges:

• Scheduled dedicated feedback sessions to prioritize user input.
• Immediately addressed and resolved bugs in the services, followed by rigorous re-testing.
• Investigated AI integration for spam filtering, leveraging best practices and expert guidance.

Lessons Learned:
Effective scheduling and prioritization are crucial for timely feedback integration. Continuous testing helps maintain quality and performance.

External Feedback from Students #

During this week, we gathered valuable insights through Customer Development (CustDev) sessions with fellow students. Here are the key takeaways:

• Usability Concerns:
  Users appreciated the portal’s potential but noted that the navigation could be more intuitive. Some suggested simplifying the layout to enhance user experience and reduce the learning curve for new users.

• Feature Suggestions:
  Students recommended incorporating interactive elements like forums and discussion boards to facilitate alumni-student discussions. They felt these features would promote networking and community building.

• Functionality Observations:
  Users emphasized the importance of seamless integration between services. They particularly highlighted the need for a smoother connection between event management and donation processes to ensure ease of use and reliability.

• Positive Feedback:
  Many praised the focus on career development and networking opportunities, noting that these aspects are crucial for both current students and alumni. They appreciated the portal’s potential to foster professional growth and connections.

Summary:
This feedback has been instrumental in guiding our next steps, emphasizing a user-centric approach in refining the portal’s design and functionality. We aim to address these suggestions in upcoming iterations to enhance the overall user experience.

Customer Feedback from 319 Office #

can be found in the previous week report

Additional Development Updates from Team Members #

1. Julia Martynova:

   • Completed the demo version of the design this week.
   • Started working on the volunteer service and donation feature.

2. Apollinariia Azarskova:

   • Contributed to the Figma prototype by working on pages, animations, and other aspects.
   • Developed a chat creation program and currently engaged in microservices development.

3. Daniil Vasilev:

   • Implemented two core services: Project and Event Proposal Services.

4. Artem Volkonitin:

   • Conducted unit testing for AdditionalRequests and User Services.

5. Stepan Leonov & Ekaterina Zaitseva:

   • Continued frontend development, including the creation of a custom UI element library to streamline and accelerate development.

6. Dinara Murtazina:

   • Continued the integration of AI using ChatGPT for spam-filtering requests.

Summary: This week has seen significant progress across various aspects of the project, from design refinement and backend service implementation to frontend development and AI integration. Each team member’s contributions are crucial in advancing towards our project milestones and goals.