HoosLost: Recovering Lost Items for Students

Inspiration

The idea for HoosLost came from seeing how often students post about lost items on Snapchat stories. We realized there was no dedicated platform for people to easily find and track down missing possessions. We wanted to create a space where lost and found items could be shared quickly, allowing people to reunite with their belongings.

What it does

HoosLost is a platform that allows students to post found items and search for missing belongings. Users can browse the listings, contact those who posted, and claim lost items. Once an item is found, it can be marked as "seen" to keep the platform up to date and avoid confusion.

How we built it

We started by creating a simple yet functional web interface where users can post and browse items. The backend was designed to manage the data, storing posts and ensuring that the status of each item is updated in real-time. We also integrated features to make the platform user-friendly and intuitive.

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge was learning how to implement dynamic functionality, as we had only worked with static websites before. Understanding how data persistence works and integrating it with the frontend was tricky at first. We also faced difficulties in setting up a system that could efficiently handle updates, like marking items as found or removing them from the listings.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of how we were able to make a functional platform from scratch. One feature we thought was particularly cool was the AI chatbot. While it’s still a little buggy, it’s definitely a unique addition that adds some interactivity and support to the platform.

What we learned

We learned a lot about data persistence and how important it is for creating a dynamic platform. We also gained valuable experience in designing user-friendly interfaces and building functional backends. The project pushed us to expand our skills beyond static websites, and we learned how to handle challenges that come with working with real-time data.

What's next for HoosLost

Next, we plan to implement a verification system to ensure that only legitimate items are posted and claimed. We also plan to focus on general fixes and improvements, including cleaning up the code base for better performance and maintainability. Additionally, we’ll be adding more features like notifications for matched lost and found items and expanding mobile compatibility to make it even easier for students to use the platform on the go.

Built With

• flask
• html
• javascript
• python
• sqlite