FlushFinder

Inspiration

FlushFinder was inspired by countless student conversations and social media posts about the frustration of finding clean, accessible toilets on campus. We wanted to turn this everyday annoyance into a practical, engaging solution.

What it does

FlushFinder is an interactive platform that helps UNSW students easily find, rate, and review campus restrooms. It uses location tracking to help students find nearby toilets and displays real-time information, so no one has to waste time on unpleasant surprises.

How we built it

We combined crowdsourced data with a user-friendly interface and location tracking technology to create an interactive map. Google Maps API enabled the customisation of a map to have colour codings and walking distance radars. Additional features were built using full-stack for the addition of new reviews and ratings in the system.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was collecting suitable data given the lack thereof. We learnt that often getting it from crowdsourcing leads to it not being optimal for specific projects, however can give extensive amounts of data. By clustering data by building we were able to effectively solve our large issue.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of its ability to utilize geotracking abilities and customize the view for specific user needs. The humor in the UI, like presenting reviews on toilet paper rolls, has helped make this issue more approachable and encouraged student participation.

What we learned

The ability to learn how to utilize new APIs such as the Google Maps API within a quick amount of time. Efficiency by needing to scape large parts of the initial design. The power of using large data models found online.