Overuse of alcohol at a young age can lead to dangerous in-the-moment and long-term consequences. However, current legal restrictions and preventive approaches are not sufficient to reduce alcohol abuse; information gaps and misinformation regarding alcohol safety remain. To address this, we created BACtracker, an app providing easy-to-access information about alcohol and safe drinking practices to young adults, especially those within gender minorities. Featuring an extensive Information Hub and personalized Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Calculator, our app helps young adults make more informed, accurate decisions about alcohol consumption to keep them and their communities safe.

In Kenya, the lack of formal addresses hinders package delivery. Our solution utilizes remote sensing images and mapping platforms to create a robust digital addressing system. We developed a prototype using GIS technologies, efficient design, and intuitive UX. Through UX research and development, we created an MVP that streamlines last-mile delivery and enhances user satisfaction. This benefits e-commerce, logistics, and end-users with a digital address. Accurate addresses improve emergency response and the delivery of essential services like healthcare and education. Our solution tackles this challenge, providing efficient delivery and improved accessibility in Kenya's address system.

It is common that when couples become parents for the first time, their relationship experiences more strain and stress as they navigate new challenges. Our project is centered around growing stronger bonds within young families by improving communication between partners, bringing into the spotlight memorable experiences and helping to manage the hectic lives of parents. Our solution creates a fun experience for couples to share and record memories so that their relationship continues to grow with their child.

This project was started to address the issue of building community engagement for special collections and archives. We noticed that there were several collections in the UW Special Collections that were not being utilized because they have not been rehoused or accessioned. We decided to attempt to create a volunteer event that would make use of these collections while increasing community awareness of Special Collections. After our initial test of the event, we have realized that although there are adjustments to be made with the event, overall, it will be beneficial to bringing people in to see the collections.

As of 2022, individuals with disabilities face a significantly lower employment rate of 21% compared to 65% for those without disabilities. Moreover, only around 36% of them have the chance to work in management or professional careers, while only 3% of STEM employees identify themselves as individuals with disabilities. We’ve created a website full of career growth resources for people affected with disabilities by leveraging reliable online data sources, Azure Cognitive Search, and OpenAI tools to identify relevant information to help people with disabilities get started in Tech. Accessible design, assistive technology, and online resources empower disabled tech learners.

Maintaining preschool libraries is important for early childhood development; it is an area that is unsupported by administration. We cataloged, categorized, and weeded the WCCC library, emphasizing socioemotional themes and titles that represented the student body. We cataloged the existing library and determined new categories books would fall under; then color coded them, giving them new places on labeled shelves. We also determined which books from the collection would be weeded out either due to content or condition. We recommended books that fit the goals of the school and met student needs, providing this list to the school’s administration.

Budget Builders is a board game that teaches players of all ages about participatory budgeting (PB) in an engaging way. Created in partnership with the Black Brilliance Project, the game promotes civic literacy and awareness of PB, which may be a method used by the city of Seattle to distribute public funds. Players debate city projects, vote, and answer trivia questions to earn funding for their budgets. Budget Builders offers a creative solution to the lack of awareness surrounding PB in Seattle, educating players about civic engagement through a hands-on experience.

Building a Storytime was born of the reported discomfort and lack of preparedness experienced by storytellers when first presenting storytimes. This project sought to answer these concerns by observing veteran storytellers present storytimes for a range of ages and formats. This observation was coupled with an informal survey sent to storytellers across the US inquiring about their training experiences. The results of the observation and research were compiled and quantitative and qualitative data were extracted. The resulting data was presented and used to create a website with advice, resources, and sample storytime plans to help support new storytellers.

Data.wa.gov is a digital catalog of open data and consists of a collection of data sets and visualizations uploaded by independent authors. These assets have nearly 1,200 tags applied to them as user input is uncontrolled, leading to numerous duplicates and variants that have reduced the effectiveness of the tags as a whole. We created a tag protocol that consists of defined rules and edge cases along with a dashboard and future recommendations. This solution provides structure to their tag list, and increases data quality, searchability of assets, and sustainability, by reducing tag maintenance and preserving tag effectiveness.