INSS 725 – Information Systems Practicum 2

Here is the link:

hey my advisor said add these things –

What You NEED to Add Before Calling It Fully Functional

1. Authentication & User Roles (CRITICAL)

If your site involves students + advisors, this is non-negotiable.

Add:

• Sign up / login (email, Google, etc.)
• Role-based access:
  • Student dashboard
  • Advisor dashboard
  • Admin panel

Without this, your app is just a demonot a real system.

Tech ideas:

• Clerk, Firebase Auth, Auth0
• JWT sessions

2. Database Integration (Backend Reality)

Right now, if your site is mostly frontend, it wont scale.

Add:

• Persistent database:
  • User data
  • Messages
  • Appointments
  • Notes/history

Good options:

• Supabase
• PostgreSQL
• MongoDB Atlas

Vercel itself doesnt handle full backend/database wellyou usually need external services

3. Core Feature System (Your Value)

You mentioned advisorsso your site needs a clear core function.

Examples:

• Appointment booking system
• Messaging/chat system
• Advisor recommendations
• Document uploads (resumes, plans, etc.)

Ask yourself:

Why would someone come back to this site weekly?

If you dont have a strong answer thats the missing feature.

4. Real-Time Communication

For advisor-based platforms:

Add:

• Live chat ( / Firebase)
• Notifications (email + in-app)
• Status indicators (online/offline)

5. Proper Testing Layer

Youre in deployment, so now you need:

• Unit testing (functions)
• Integration testing (flows)
• User testing (real people)

Tools:

• Jest
• Cypress
• Playwright

This is what separates it works for me vs works for everyone

6. Performance Optimization

To handle many users:

Add:

• Lazy loading
• Image optimization
• API caching
• CDN usage (Vercel helps here automatically)

Vercels edge network improves speed globally

7. Security & Trust Signals (VERY IMPORTANT)

Right now your site likely looks like a dev project.

Add:

• Custom domain (NOT .vercel.app)
• HTTPS (already there but upgrade cert if possible)
• Privacy Policy + Terms of Service
• Contact page
• About page with real info

Low-trust sites often:

• Have low traffic
• Use generic hosting
• Lack real company info

8. Analytics & Monitoring

You need to track users:

• Google Analytics
• Error tracking (Sentry)
• Logs (Vercel / backend logs)

If you dont track users, you cant improve the product.

9. Mobile Responsiveness

Test on:

• iPhone
• Android
• Tablet

Most users = mobile first

10. UX Polish (What Most People Skip)

Small things that matter A LOT:

• Loading states (spinners, skeletons)
• Error messages (not just something went wrong)
• Clear navigation
• Consistent design system

The BIGGEST Missing Piece (Most Important)

If I had to guess what your site is missing:

A clear, structured user journey

Example:

1. User signs up
2. Chooses role (student/advisor)
3. Lands on dashboard
4. Takes an action (book, message, upload, etc.)
5. Gets feedback/confirmation

If your site doesnt guide users like this it will feel unfinished.

If You Want This to Be Real Startup Level

Add these next:

• Payment system (Stripe)
• Email system (Resend, SendGrid)
• AI assistant (OpenAI API)
• Admin analytics dashboard

Quick Honest Feedback

Right now youre likely at:

Deployed project stage

To reach:

Real product used by many people

You need:

• Backend + database
• Authentication
• Core feature loop
• Trust + UX polish

done

2 days ago

Last thing is we need a full report of what you did and used and how you did all that stuf

done

2 days ago

The live demo on the login page has to go. We are having issues logging into the account. The life cycle does not need to be connected to the student resource page. The life cycle also isn’t congruent with what it says on our previous website I sent you. There are many issues and this has to be up and running by Sunday.

WRITE MY PAPER