Scrollmate is an original web app I developed as part of my final project for BrainStation’s web development program. During the 3-month diploma course, I dedicated countless hours (and sacrificed a lot of sleep) to learning a wide range of technologies, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Git, Node.js, React, Sass, Express, MySQL, DOM APIs, Web APIs, User Authentication, OAuth, Heroku, and Jest. We also gained valuable insights into the tech industry and learned the importance of networking.
The final two weeks of the program were focused on our highly anticipated “Capstone Project.” Unlike previous projects with well-defined deliverables, this one required us to come up with our own criteria and ideas. While that freedom was exciting, it also posed a challenge in terms of narrowing down a manageable concept given the possibilities we had explored throughout the program.
Here’s my original video demo of Scrollmate, created as the final submission for the course:
To begin, I thought about what initially drew me to development. Among many things, my passion for philosophizing, persuasive writing, and data stood out. This led me to explore the Google Books API, which provides programmatic access to a wide range of book-related data. The idea of creating my own API, enhanced by user input data, gave rise to Scrollmate.
The goal of Scrollmate is to complement the functionality of existing platforms like Goodreads (and who knows, maybe one day I’ll develop it to that level—or even sell it!). While Goodreads offers a comprehensive hub for managing book-related data, it lacks a convenient way to facilitate discussions about the books you’re reading without fear of spoilers.
With Scrollmate, I aimed to address this gap by allowing users to input their current progress or page number in any book (retrievable from Google) and engage in forum-style discussions with others at the same point in the text. The app’s unique feature is that it ‘unlocks’ advanced-position comments as users progress further, creating a precise online book club experience.
Please check out the Scrollmate video demo to see exactly how it works. I believe this app could serve both social and academic purposes. While the app is not yet deployed, I plan to release it soon and enable users to freely discuss what they’re reading through Scrollmate’s backend API. My next step is to integrate OAuth support so users can securely save and manage their data, a crucial feature for the app’s intended functionality.
The tech stack I used for Scrollmate includes HTML, CSS, Sass, JavaScript, npm, Git, Node.js, React.js, Express, and Web APIs. There’s still plenty of work ahead, but I’m excited to continue developing this project. If you’re interested in seeing where Scrollmate goes next, or have any feedback, I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!