project-proposal-2025

[StudyPal]

Abstract

Are you new to university and not sure how to make friends, or are you just tired of studying alone? StudyPal is your helpful partner in managing your social and academic life. StudyPal connects you with people who share your course, interests and availability, whether you’re studying for exams, reviewing lectures or looking for someone to share a hobby with. Designed with new students and social comfort in mind, the platform makes it easy to stay motivated and make meaningful connections.

Author

Name: Xingyu Liu

Student number: 48146115

Functionality

The system provides a community focused platform where users can post invitations to connect with others for study or hobby. Posts can be customized and targeted to specific audiences based on academic and social preferences. With built-in privacy controls and UQ email verification, the application provides a safe and supportive environment, designed for new students experiencing social anxiety.

Features

The features of this system should have:

Account & Verification:

• Users must register with UQ email with an authorization code.
• Profiles include age, gender, major, hobbies and current courses.

Post Creation:

• Users can create posts finding study partners or social connections.
• Posts can include tags, short descriptions and preferred communication methods.
• Users can choose post visibility (e.g., visible only to users with a certain course, major or gender).
• User can add personal contact details on their post (e.g. discord, Instagram or phone number).

Browsing & Filtering:

• Posts can be filtered by course, major, hobbies or gender.
• Map or list-based interface to view relevant posts on campus.

Notifications:

• Users receive email notifications when someone interacts with their post.
• Email notifications when new posts matches user preferences.

Safety:

• Only UQ email can be used when creating account.
• Report tools for harmful/ inappropriate posts.

  Scope

  The MVP of Study Pal:

• UQ email based registration and verification.
• Profile setup with gender, age, major, courses and hobbies.
• Basic post creation with description, contact method and visibility filters.
• Feed of posts filtered by course, major hobbies or gender.
• Notification system for post interaction.

  Quality Attributes

  Security:

  Since users may share personal contact details and restrict post visibility, security is critical for StudyPal. The system will enforce strict account verification using UQ student emails and authorization codes. Posts will be protected by access controls, limiting visibility to specific user groups. The system will include a report feature to allow users to report inappropriate content, ensuring a safe community space.

Extensibility:

StudyPal will be designed in modular architecture which supports future updates without major system refactoring. Potential features include group posts, chat function, integration with Uni timetable and AI driven recommondation system. Clear defined interfaces and structured code will make prototyping and implementation of new features easier.

Maintainability:

The system will be designed to ensure different components (Profile management, post creation and notification) are decoupled and testable independently. This module combined with clear documentation and coding standards will allow developers easily handle bug fixing and updates.

Evaluation

Security:

Security will be evaluated through testing on UQ email verification code, ensuring only students from UQ can register. Post visibility filters will be tested to confirm they correctly filter out users who do not meet the criteria. Report features will be assessed by submitting test reports and it’s logged successfully, reviewed and acted based on the context.

Extensibility:

Extensibility can be tested qualitatively by reviewing the architecture’s ability to support new features without major changes to the current system. Implementing a prototype feature can be tested after MVP has been completed. This procedure can demonstrate how new components can be easily integrated.

Maintainability:

Maintainability will be evaluated by examining the system’s structure and ease of isolating and testing individual components. Code reviews will ensure proper documentation and consistent code formatting are implemented to ensure the readability and maintainability of the system. Minor updates will be simulated to evaluate how efficiently this system can be maintained without causing new issues.