Proposal Due: Monday, 3 February
Project Due: Monday, 14 April

Innovation

One of the more challenging (and hopefully fun) aspects of this project is that you are to come up with your own web application idea. While there are general requirements your application must meet (see details below) you are free to innovate and design a web experience that you are personally interested in and passionate about.

Your app must be original and innovative. It is ok to come up with a "better mousetrap," but don't simply replicate an app that already exists. Substantially improving upon an existing app idea or giving it a novel spin of your own is permissible, provided your "novel spin" is functional (as opposed to simply cosmetic), and requires non-trivial additions and/or changes.

You may also take an existing idea and apply it to a new domain, as long as the conversion requires the addition of innovative features. (For example, implementing "Yelp for U-Pick Blueberries" wouldn't make for a good project, because you would be simply copying Yelp and changing the name of some fields.)

To come up with an idea, think about web experiences that frustrate you. What existing sites have missing features (in your opinion)? What web app do you wish somebody would write? Talk to your friends. What apps do they wish somebody would write?

Project Objective

The objective of this project is to allow you to demonstrate your abilities to use the tools and techniques covered in class. Not all web applications will meet this objective. For example,

• avoid applications that are thin wrappers around a machine learning model or external web service. Similarly,
• avoid applications that don't make non-trivial use of a database or data store.

Such applications won't allow you to use enough of the course's tools and techniques.

Use of Previous and/or Collaborative Work

Projects must be entirely your own work. They may not be re-branded tutorials and/or book examples. (For example, you may not take a "Toy Store" tutorial and convert it into a "Book Store" project.) You may also not use any of the examples from this course as the base of your project.

You may use your previous projects (a personal side project, a project for a previous course, even a project from work) as a basis for this project provided:

1. You disclose that the project is based on previous work, and
2. the basis project is almost entirely your own work. For example, you may not use a project from previous work if that project was developed by a team.

Projects that are heavily based on the work of others will receive a failing grade.

You may not use ChatGPT or similar software to write any part of your project.

Deadlines and Deliverables

By Monday, 3 February, please submit

• A brief description of the app you propose to implement (including a description of its innovative aspects)
• A GitHub or Bitbucket repository to which I have read access.

By Monday, 14 April, please submit

• Instructions on how to access the app (e.g., the URL).
• Credentials for an account that I may use to test the app.

Lightening Talks

Each student will give a 5 – 8 minute presentation during the week of Monday, 14 April. Your talk should consist of a brief overview of the idea underlying your app, the implementation and a live demonstration of the features of your web app.

Grading

To earn a "D"

• Your app must be sufficiently functional to allow the user to complete at least one useful, primary task.
• Your app must contain at least two correctly functioning CRUD pages that utilize a database/data store.
• Some content must be accessible to all users (including guests / those not logged in).
• Users who log in may access their personal content.
• Users (whether logged in or guests) are not able to access the content of others.
• At least one page must be styled using CSS such that all components are fully visible and appear in a reasonable place.
• At least one page must use JavaScript to improve user interaction (e.g., validate input before contacting the server).

To earn a "C", you must meet all the requirements for a D, plus

• Your app must be sufficiently complete to be of some use to someone.
• The application is not merely a copy / re-implementation of an existing application.
• All required pages must be styled using CSS such that all components are fully visible and in reasonable place.
• At least one page is styled such that all components are correctly sized (e.g., there are not any "jagged" rows or columns of content).
• At least one page has all form elements styled nicely (as opposed to using the raw, unstyled HTML form elements).
• The application contains custom JavaScript logic written by you. By "logic" I mean things such as calculations, conditionals, and loops (as opposed to simply using a few lines of JavaScript to connect DOM elements to a JavaScript library).

To earn a "B", you must meet all the requirements for a C, plus

• The application must provide some service currently unavailable in the market. Either the application implements something completely new, or it adds non-trivial improvement to an existing app. It is not sufficient to simply port an existing app into a new domain. For example, it is not sufficient to make "Yelp for Tacos" unless doing so entails making a significant change or addition to Yelp. (Simply adding a few data fields is not sufficient.)
• The app uses asynchronous JavaScript to update a web page. (Using React satisfies this requirement.)
• Some of the logic is covered by Unit tests.
• Your app must do at least two of the following:
  • allow new users to create an account
  • provide features accessible only to administrative users
  • utilize some third-party API (e.g., Google Maps)
• The application is correctly deployed where I can access it from my laptop.

To earn an "A", you must meet all the requirements for a B, plus

• The idea for this application must be sufficiently innovative that it could potentially be successful in the marketplace (if given sufficient time and resources).
• All pages must exhibit near-professional styling (including, but not limited to correct sizing and placement, appealing color choices, enhanced styling of forms, etc.)
• At least one page must exhibit responsive design and look good on a variety of devices and screen sizes.
• There must be automated end-to-end tests for at least one key feature (beyond simply sign-in/sign-up).

If a requirement doesn't seem to apply to your proposed app, feel free to propose an alternate. Please submit any proposed changes to the requirements to me by mid-semester (i.e., don't try to cover for missing/incomplete features by trying to modify the requirements at the last minute.)

Updated Friday, 3 January 2025, 3:31 PM