The University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH Manoa) boasts a vibrant campus life with over 200 Registered Independent Organizations (RIOs), alongside numerous active but unofficial groups. Despite this rich diversity, students faced a significant challenge in navigating the extensive array of clubs, often struggling to discover and engage with these groups. This gap highlighted a clear need for a centralized, accessible platform where students could explore and connect with clubs that match their interests and schedules.
The solution to this fragmentation was the development of the “Club Hub” application, a digital directory designed to offer UH Manoa students a streamlined interface for browsing student clubs. This application not only lists both registered and unregistered clubs with comprehensive details like activities, meeting times, locations, and contact information but also integrates functionalities that enhance user engagement through personalized recommendations and updates.
The core structure of Club Hub was built around three main collections: Profiles, Projects (representing clubs), and Interests, along with three associative “join” collections to facilitate many-to-many relationships among them. This architecture allowed for rich, interconnected data queries and manipulations, providing a dynamic user experience.
The development of Club Hub was an exhaustive yet rewarding endeavor that significantly enhanced the student engagement landscape at UH Manoa. It provided practical experience in tackling real-world software development challenges and emphasized the importance of clear communication, thorough planning, and adaptive project management. Moving forward, the project lays a solid foundation for further enhancements, such as integrating advanced data analytics and expanding user interaction capabilities, to continue improving how students connect with campus life.