Group&Work
Fall 21 Industry Project
Introduction
Group&Work is a task management platform that aims to help companies better manage their project deadlines. Group&Work currently has a website that companies use to manage their logistics and product-development teams. Group&Work wanted our team to develop a mobile version of their website for the clients.
The Team
Wesley Judy — Project Manager
Steve Chen — Developer
Prabhdeep Kainth — Developer
Caden Newton — Developer
Timeframe
Oct–Nov 2021 | 6 weeks
Tools
Figma: used to design the app’s user interface
React Native: JavaScript library used to code the app’s UI and functionality
Group&Work API: allows us to access user data from Group&Work’s server
Redux and Redux-Saga: used to store user data requested from a server
Google and Microsoft Sign-In APIs: allows the user to sign in to the app with Hoogle and Microsoft
UI Kitten: a React Native user interface library
The Project
A mobile application for Group&Work that includes login screens, a chat list, a messenger screen, a notification screen, and two profile screens. Both the user interface and API integration needed to be implemented for all of these screens.
Design
The Group&Work team provided us with a Figma document that included the UI/UX designs for each screen they wanted us to create.
Development
We signed an NDA, so we cannot provide a graphical representation of the data flow in the app our team created. However, we used Redux as our state manager. Essentially, it held the API data we needed to access when developing the app. We also used Redux-Saga to handle API calls and fetch information from the Group&Work API.
Takeaways & Challenges
Takeaway — Communication is Key
When developing in a group setting, one’s communication skills are extremely important. Developers need to communicate their ideas with their peers and managers before proceeding with their assigned tasks. In order for developers to complete their tasks well and efficiently, anything that is ambiguous should be cleared up before starting on designated tasks. Asking for help is key too.
Challenge — Following Company Standards when Developing
Everyone has a unique way of coding. One of the biggest challenges our team faced was adapting to the coding protocols Group&Work had. We all come from different coding backgrounds, thus we initially didn’t code in a standardized way. After the first two weeks, we were able to familiarize ourselves with the starter code Group&Work provided and with the coding protocols they set in place. Consistent code in a company/group setting is very important.
Conclusion
It was great to work with both Bohdan and Yevgen, Group&Work’s CTO and CEO respectively. They were very responsive to any of the questions we had and were very friendly and understanding. Bohdan was especially helpful with the technical aspects of the mobile app. Everyone on the Group&Work learned to be a better programmer from his feedback, whether it be from video calls we had with him or his comments on Github. Thank you Bohdan and Yevgen for this great opportunity!
