Friends Life Community App
Friends Life Community is a local Nashville non-profit organization that provides day programs for adults with disabilities. Working on this project as part of Vanderbilt’s student developer group, ChangePlusPlus, was my first experience being part of a dedicated team of developers to make a real impact. We developed an attendance tracking app for Friends Life, and the process of software development inspired me to pursue UX and Product Management as a career.
Full-Stack
Mobile
Features and Tech Stack
Friends Life requested an app to be made to replace their current attendance tracking system. Before, they were using a platform made for schools and classroom management, which was not a good solution for attendance tracking, plus it cost them a lot of money. We sought to develop an app that met all their requirements to facilitate attendance tracking while also saving them money.
Caregivers can:
- Track the attendance of Friends (adults with disabilities) by clicking on the attendance tab, which creates a record in the calendar that admins can access.
- Create posts that all users of the app can see.
- Keep track of which Friends they are responsible for and view the details and attendance records of those Friends.
- Send messages other caregivers and users for communication purposes.
The app was built with React Native and a javascript backend with Node.js. It is compatible on both iOS and Android.
Reflection
As a software developer on the team, I had my first exposure to writing robust API endpoints and responsive frontend features based on a design. Further, I had my first experience working in a large team of software developers, which has given me insight into how products are built from a technical standpoint, and how stakeholder requirements are translated into actionable steps for software developers.
However, my biggest takeaway from working with Friends Life has been understanding what I am most passionate about: designing user experiences. Understanding how developing software can improve the lives of helpers at Friends Life has encouraged me to learn more about what makes a product successful and impactful while also leading me to think about how our current design could be improved upon. Working on this project has also given me the technical expertise to pursue more advanced projects framed in a human-centered lens.
