Now that my group is a few weeks away from finishing our project, the site is beginning to have a lot of functionality.

One of the features that I was very satisfied with was the ability to create an account and log in. It might seem simple, but this feature allows people to have their own profiles and interact with each other. User interaction is the key that makes social media so addicting for billions of people. Even though making an account and logging in might seem like a simple web development feat, it is exciting that our project is nearly at the point where we can allow users to interact with each other.

The next feature that we created is the user profile. Currently, there is no way to view other people’s profiles, but that will be implemented later. For now, we are pleased to announce that each user can view their own profile containing user information and pictures, assuming they are logged in. Later, they will be able to change their pictures and view other people’s profiles.

It may seem like a simple accomplishment, but the logo is now complete! Have a look!

This logo took a while because we wanted it to be meaningful. The “ark” represents rescuing animals, which is the goal of the project. The colors were carefully chosen to match the theme of the site.

When logged in, viewers can swipe left and right to match with animals. In addition, animal shelters can match with potential owners. The feed works just like Tinder, but it is optimized for computer screens. It took a long time to develop and is still not finished. It currently uses stock photos and appears to be a 3D stack of “cards” that can be swiped with the mouse.

The final touch that the site really needed was a color scheme. We decided as a group to use the colors from this palette:

Color Palette #4447 | Color Palette Ideas (colorpalettes.net)

We chose these colors because we agreed they appear to be warm and welcoming, which perfectly aligns with our goals.

So, what remains on the front end? Our site is nearly finished, but it still needs a good home page with news items. In addition, some pages need more polishing and UX/UI improvements. I believe we will finish the site not only with all the goals we had planned from the start but also with some additional stretch goals, including a chat feature. This is all very exciting, and I am looking forward to giving the next update.