Overview

PanDineMate is a web application / data visualization dashboard that provides people assistance in making more informed decisions on where to eat amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

My Role

• Designed and built front-end features that coomunicate between user and the Yelp API.
• Served as the project manager to breakdown challenging parts into manageable pieces.

Key Features

Location preference selection
Restaurants are first displayed by distance to users location. Users can either allow the web app to access their current location or manually change their location using the location selection button.

Restaurant preference selection
Users can refine the restaurant recommendation display by using the “Search Option.” Users can enter keywords (business name or cuisine name), set price range, set rating standard and select the option for whether restaurants provide delivery options.

Restaurant information display
When a user clicks on a restaurant on the map, the name of the restaurant will pop up and the corresponding information will be displayed on the left. Information displayed is provided by Yelp developer database, including restaurant picture, location, phone number, rating and price range.

Covid information display
Covid information is displayed using a Leaflet map and a data dashboard. The background map is color coded based on the number of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks -- the darker the area, the more positive COVID-19 cases are found. The COVID-19 information is updated in real time with the Philadelphia API Explorer.

When a user clicks on a restaurant, COVID-19 vaccination information of the zip code area is displayed on the top right using a pie chart.

Finally, a COVID-19 risk assessment of the area is displayed on the left bottom of the sidebar. We coded three levels from low risk to medium risk and to high risk based on vaccination rate and number of new COVID-19 cases. For high risk areas, we suggested ordering take out and delivery. We also recommend that everyone wears a mask and brings a hand sanitizer when eating out.

Reflection and Takeaways

Through working together with my team to create this web application, I was able to not only apply technical skills I learned in class but also gain experience in coding in a team. I learned the importance of both execution and strategic planning, including planning out features, break down challenging problems into manageable pieces and delegate tasks so the team can complete the project in a short amount of time.

Upon reflection, I realized that presenting COVID-19 risk by using zip code boarders might not be the best way for if a restaurant is located on the fringe of an area, it is hard to associate the restaurant with data in only one area. In the future, I would love to conduct more user research and improve features in an iterative process.

Please shoot me an email if you want to download PanDineMate. We would love to share our code for building better products together.