Enhancing campus lost and found: a full-stack prototype solution bridging official systems and student initiatives

Abstract

This is a final year implementation-based project for a full-stack solution application for handling lost items in the campus of Nanyang Technological University(NTU). The project and report cover a comprehensive analysis into the current status quo of how missing items are handled in Singapore’s University campuses on the official level, as well as student-led initiatives on the student community level. From there, unaddressed gaps are analyzed and translated into functional and nonfunctional requirements that best suit the needs of students and staff. The application includes a fully functional prototype, consisting of frontend, backend, scalable cloud storage solution, caching system and authorization & authentication mechanism etc. The report also goes into detail of each design consideration, as well as more theoretical concepts like database read/write patterns, the traditional relational vs non-relational schema considerations as well as caching strategies when designing the application. Other good software practices and related software testing concepts are also introduced as part of usability testing. The project serves as a prototype that could be adapted for broader institutional use, offering a seamless and effective solution for lost-and-found item management.