a senior capstone blog

Well, hello, world!

My name is Danica Dale and I am a senior at Oregon State. This is my sixth and final year in college, and my third at OSU. I am pursuing my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, with a minor in User Experience Research and a Focus Area in Human-Computer Interactions. Basically, I’m studying to be a professional nerd and I’m proud of it!

So why the name?

This blog is dedicated to my four loved ones that I have lost this year. So much that I do is for them – my work, my degree, and now, this blog. My senior capstone project is obviously not about them. However, this much loss during a school year changes a person. Any loss changes a person. We all navigate grief differently, and this life-altering year has positively changed me as a person. It is our choice to decide whether or not it changes us for the better. It is my hope that throughout this blog, you find a sense of discipline, direction, and hope which I have gained through this grief experience.

Then what’s the capstone project?

I’m glad you asked! The formal title is OSU Class Registration Software. What we are doing is curating our version of the registration process here at Oregon State. It recently underwent a big change, and some of us felt that it was not entirely suitable for our needs. While more flexible and modern, we wanted to add our improvements from the perspective of a student. Some of what we will tackle includes:

• explicit search
• advanced search / improved filters
• cross-platform: laptop, mobile, OS
• section filters (Ecampus, in-person)
• emphasize prerequisites
• less cluttered, better flow

Almost poetically, there are four us on the team. I cannot wait to curate a website that is both beautiful, and functional, with these students.