iSchool Capstone

Award Winner

2015

Never Forgotten

People with Alzheimer’s disease constantly struggle remembering daily tasks. Much of the current scheduling systems still remains paper‐based. In addition, communication between caregivers, family members, and the patient largely happen through phone calls and many events continue to overlooked due to miscommunication. To face these challenges, we proposed to build a kiosk application for the Alzheimer’s patient to use that will digitalize the paper‐based system in place and ease the process through automation. Additionally, the kiosk application will be paired with mobile application for the caregivers and family members to easily track and monitor daily events. Our features aims to make a difference by lessen the cognitive load of the user by creating a one‐place‐to go therefore, replacing the confusing paper‐based system. Respectively, this will help the patient be more independent thus, helping the caregivers through shared reminders and calendars to see all that is going on.

OnTheFly

The popularity of internet-based social networking services such as Facebook has surged over the previous decade, with more people than ever using these tools to connect with their friends and family. These services are lacking, however, when it comes to helping users engage with others based on mutual interests for daily, location-based activities such as going to the gym, sharing a meal, or studying for an exam. OnTheFly is a multi-platform mobile application which leverages the user's existing Facebook connections to help facilitate this process, providing users with an easy, intuitive method for creating short-term events they want to share with others. OnTheFly is designed to both support existing friendships as well as encourage new ones; users can invite their existing Facebook friends to events, and privacy settings allow users to choose whether they share their event with existing friends only, or open it up to the entire OnTheFly community.

Point

Communication is an essential tool to express our needs. Unfortunately, not everyone has the skills or foundations necessary to communicate. Children who fit this description require additional support to build their verbal skills and may need training to interpret what others are trying to say. Point is a free tablet application aimed at giving children who have yet to build the foundations of communication an alternative voice. It does this by providing prepackaged line drawn icons that cover words commonly used among young communicators, but also gives you the ability to create your own words. Point focuses on the first words of communication rather than complex sentences like other applications do. Whether your child is at school, the park, or at the dinner table, Point provides your child with a large vocabulary in a quick and easy to access format.

Prizmiq Analytics

To help online retailers understand how customers are interacting with their products, we created Prizmiq Analytics. Prizmiq, a startup based in Seattle, is paving the way for 3D product experiences on the web by providing scanning and hosting solutions for 3D product models. Prizmiq Analytics records online-user interactions with 3D models and provides a visual dashboard that helps deliver and display the most important information to retailers. The analytics dashboard will help provide information like how long users are interacting with a product or what color of a product users like the most. Also, for the first time, we are allowing retailers to see how their users are moving in 3D space with interactive 3D visualizations. This will enable retailers to understand their customers’ behavior, the successes and failures of a certain product’s design, and how to make the product better.

Scaffold: where work gets done

Nearly a million jobs are posted to Craigslist each week that range from landscaping to construction. Craigslist, and similar online platforms, offer little protection or assurance to both job seekers and job posters. Other services that do, such as Labor Ready, require strict guidelines and a long hiring process. Our team has addressed these issues with the creation of Scaffold. Scaffold is an online communication platform that connects people seeking to work with people looking to hire through a quick, direct, and dependable process. Unlike our competitors, we are not an employer, but simply connect our users. With two-way anonymous reviews and a managed messaging system, Scaffold minimizes potential abuse and provides a space for local micro-economies to flourish.

Skill Swap App

Students who want to improve their skills, learn new skills, or build social network may feel frustrated when they cannot find someone to help. On the other hand, a large amount of on-campus activities or resources are sometimes underutilized due to poor-information conditions. To fill the gap between resources and demands, we developed ‘Skill Swap’, an iOS mobile application that allows UW students to build their own profiles, find a partner from whom they can learn or to whom they can offer help, and stay informed of on-campus events that are of their interests. In addition, our app encourages students to share skills, minimize training costs, and build social network. Willing to share skills and learn something new with no expense? Come and try our Skill Swap App!

So-So

The So-So app is the ultimate night out companion! We tackle the problem of how to easily keep track of friends when out in the city so that everyone is safe and happy. With features like safety zones, friend tracking, and SOS alerts it conveniently fits the needs of anyone’s night out. Initial setup of the app includes choosing your preferred safety settings and connecting with your contacts. When heading out for the night you invite your group and start “Night Out Mode”. Once started, So-So tracks everyone in you group for the night, and applies your preferred safety features until the “Night Out Mode” times out. There is no other app that functions quite like So-So. It’s what the So-So Sober you would want!

Spottr

Having an exercise partner can provide multiple benefits during a workout. For weight lifters having a spotter when lifting, can allow the participant to lift heavier weights, push through more repetitions, maintain proper form, and most importantly ensure safety throughout the exercise. Our own research has shown that people often enjoy having someone to workout with, but also uncovers the difficulties of finding a training partner. Our app Spottr is a social utility application for mobile devices to help connect local gym goers. Designed in mind for weight lifters, Spottr hopes to make the process of finding a workout partner at your gym as easy as possible. With Spottr, users can create a post looking for a training partner, or reply to other posts to connect with other users to coordinate for more effective, satisfying, and safe work outs.

Step Stone

With a 21% increase in homelessness over the past year alone, the resources available to Seattle’s homeless are now more important than ever. However aside from word of mouth, the ways to find the nearest shelter or free shower are minimal and dated. Step Stone, a mobile friendly web application, is designed as a resource that aggregates information on amenities in the Seattle area. These amenities could be a place to sleep, get medical aid, or even a place offering free bus tickets. Additionally, Step Stone tracks and displays the capacity of participating homeless shelters in real-time, helping users decide where to seek shelter. Coupled with SMS and email capabilities for institutions to send news and updates to users, Step Stone is the ideal tool to

TapEat

Uncertainty makes us uneasy. When we walk into a busy restaurant and see a long line, we feel uncertain, sometimes even intimidated. We want to know whether it is worth it to wait or find another place to eat. TapEat helps remove that uncertainty. Our application provides the wait time for you, the customers, so that you can make an informed decision of where to eat. You don't have to guess or physically go to the restaurant to find that information—you can access it on your phone anywhere. Better yet, once you make the selection, you can check into the line with the app and will receive a notification when your table is ready. You can use the wait time, otherwise spent sitting in a waiting area, to do something productive. We help make your dining experience more pleasant and enjoyable by reducing meaningless wait time.