Building Hope @ CHODI

A mobile app for connecting non-profits with contributors

Introduction: This is a senior milestone project in which I led a team of 5 to collaborate with external sponsors, delivering a successful real-world mobile application. Throughout the project, I served as the lead designer and developer, guiding other team members in building the application. Additionally, I used Agile to create Gantt charts and sprints to keep the project on track, ensuring timely delivery. I assisted with software system documentation and maintained timely communication with our sponsors. I organized weekly meetings to facilitate efficient collaboration. Upon receiving the project, my team and I made modifications to the design based on the previous team’s low-fidelity prototype. Ultimately, we utilized the Dart language to develop and successfully run the application on the Android and iOS simulator.

Role: Team leader, User Research, UML Diagrams, User Interface Design, User Testing, Front-end Developer.
Duration: Jan 2022 - June 2022 (20 weeks)
Sponsors: Thi Nguyen & Christine Dinh
Methods: Surveys, Personas, Wireframes, Prototype, User Testing.
Tools: Paper, Figma, Agile, Github, Android Studio(Flutter), Xcode, AWS
Link: Generalized Design Document, video demo
Solution: An ios and Android mobiel app that connects non-profits, individuals, and corporations with each other to donate resources.

Overview and Purpose: Project ChoDi is a mobile and desktop application designed to help connect non-profit organizations (NGOs) to individuals and businesses interested in contributing time or material to their causes. NGOs using the app should find it an effective tool for connecting them not only with potential financial contributors, but also with volunteers who can contribute their expertise and manpower to running local events or fundraisers. Individuals and businesses using the app should find it an effective way to investigate vetted and secure NGOs that sponsor causes they believe in, then securely contribute resources and manpower to their efforts.
Our mission is to connect individuals who seek to make a positive impact with charities and non-profit organizations in need of volunteers, all for the purpose of effecting positive change in our communities.

Our Mission Statement

How Does ChoDi Help?

ChoDi provides a one-stop shop for users to find organizations that share their values and see how much they’re contributed to them.


Deliverable

  • Fully functional login and registration system, integrated with an industry-standard cloud database powered by Firebase.
    • Database is shared with our sister team, who has built out the web application designed for NGO use, and contains all the vital information about NGOs on the platform.
  • A so-called “Impact Screen” that will allow users to easily view their overall monetary and temporal contributions at a glance.
  • A system for searching for new organizations to support based on user interests, location, or previous preferences.
  • A database of events hosted by local NGOs that users can sign up for and get credit for attending.

Lessons Learned

  • Flutter Fundamentals!
    • Thanks to an impromptu two-week crash course filled with every shred of documentation, useful YouTube tutorial, and Udemy course we could get our hands on, the team successfully picked up Flutter well enough to proceed with the project.
  • ABCs of Mobile Development
    • At the same time, other members of our team researched the best practices for designing mobile applications, so that our app would be built on top of the most robust foundation possible.
  • Firebase-fu
    • We learned the ins and outs of storing, retrieving, and manipulating data on the Firebase via trial by fire, and became all the better of a team for it!

We are ChoDi. We create hope and opportunity by direct impact.:rainbow: