Student/Citizen Development with the Kurogo Platform

Presenters:

• Matt Willmore, Mobile App Program Manager, University of Notre Dame
• Nikita Shamdasani, UNC Chapel Hill
• Kyle Koser, University of Notre Dame
• Zach Waterson, University of Notre Dame

This presentation showcases some of the work that has been done by students with the Kurogo platform.

CarolinaGO

• Collaboration between 3 students and ITS at UNC
• Student-driven intiative created through collaboration with ITS
• Mobile app team has continued to work with Modo Labs for actual app dev, University departments and other campus stakeholders.

Step 1 – Gather Feedback

• Student priorities listed in focus groups, a kind of “dream list”:  account services, news, maps, notifications, social media, sports, building info, student info and resources

Step 2 – Research other university apps

• Developed sense of feasibility by using other apps for comparison:  Harvard, MIT, Ohio State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Princeton, Georgetown
• I looked for partners, specifically a developer who could explain things in layman’s terms without being condescending, a designer and a project manager

Step 3 – Development of App

• Student government special project
• Independent project with Carolina Creates
• Collaboration between CarolinaGO team and ITS

Our Choice to Use Kurogo

• Free Android iPhone versions
• Future development opportunities
• Sustainable trajectory

Step 4 – App Release

• Soft launch in October of 2014
• Modules:  emergency alerts, calendar, dining, athletics, campus map, video, news, virtual pit

Challenges

• Maintaining consistency in app framework:  differences in backends among departments
• Integrating student priorities:  having services like Sakai on app was important in focus groups, but do not always have capability to integrate
• Expanding app while keeping UX simple:  expanding offerings important, but have to figure out best categorization for main page of app

Past Semester’s Tasks

• Lots of collaboration with interested groups

Notre Dame Past, Present, Future

• Missing 4 modules:  weather, webcams, OIT, lab finder
• What to do?  Grab some students!
• Told students:  focus 100% of your efforts on learning Kurogo, it’s all PHP (we don’t know PHP).  OK, learn PHP first, then learn Kurogo.
• Worked with another student to develop Mobile Printing – student-coded, OIT-owned
• Based on Print@CU (github.com/saarons/printatcu)

Present

• Saw NYU’s transit module and wanted our own (SafeRide)
• Directed 3rd student to develop backend in Summer 2014
• “Here’s what I want it to do; look at NYU as an example.”
• Demonstrated O’SNAP beta to Student Government; they had the same idea and were going to approach us
• Aligned our needs very quickly with Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP) and transitioned this into recognized student-developed project
• Front end of O’SNAP contains a picture of where you need to stand by the building for pickup – it’s all shown on the map.  Images stored in an AWS bucket
• 10,000 rides/year
• 50% app requests through O’SNAP module within 30 days of launch (other 50% calling NDSP Dispatch).
• Adding text notifications via Twilio (all API-driven so it’s quick and easy to add)
• STUDENTS LOVE THIS SERVICE
• Student Govt. post about O’SNAP:  http://studentgovernment.nd.edu/get-involved/osnap/
• Student Newspaper post about O’SNAP:  http://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/04/osnap-enforce-student-safety/
• Student Newspaper post about O’SNAP:  http://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/08/student-government-launches-new-initiatives/
• Notre Dame Security Police post:  http://ndsp.nd.edu/crime-prevention-and-safety/osnap/
• O’SNAP on the Notre Dame mobile app:  https://blogs.nd.edu/at/2015/01/21/osnap-on-the-nd-mobile-app/

Future

• Keep momentum going
• Other needs, including & beyond Kurogo
• Need to strike a balance between student dev and university needs
• Governance!
• Working on a strategy to connect departments needing development with students wanting to develop
• Projects would be hosted in “civilian” AWS account that ND owns and provisions resources for
• Participating departments agree that OIT is NOT responsible for issues
• High-reward, low-risk modules
• What happens when students leave?  Document, break work into scheduled segments (semesters/terms/etc.), don’t forget the high-reward/low-risk balance.
• Departmental Publisher modules (commencement, admissions, etc.)
• We build it and give it to the customer, or give them the keys from the start
• Continued engagement & consulting to ensure info is accurate, timely and makes the best use of the template

We LOVE Open Source and Kurogo!

• We’re open sourcing all student-developed Kurogo modules:  weather, webcams, transit (ride request & shuttle schedules), transit backend.
• MIT license (do whatever you want with it)
• Available via Modo Labs package channel