Well, I've been distracted from school long enough now that I figured I'd start blogging about my distractions.  Summer is coming quickly, after all, and that marks the start of the violent dash to get many of the projects I have planned into full swing.

I need to sit down and make a more concrete plan before I write more about specific projects, but the general idea is a more connected, modern student body.  I find it interesting that while we live in the 21st century and we all study towards a career that is at the forefront of modernization, our student society is still running many of its operations several years in the past.  Let's change this!  We're engineers (or will be some day), for crying out loud, so let's start acting like it and make the wonderfulness start now.

Many of the projects are communications oriented, but some are collaborations with other portfolios who could benefit from a "communications" based idea.  For example, Services is in desperate need of a room booking solution.  I know many people think I make the projects sound grossly grandiose, but in reality many of them are just small projects of grandiose importance (at least in my mind).  And if we look closely, a room booking website is just that: super simple yet greatly needed (and not done yet!... why?).

The trick here, however, is that there are many of these small projects, and many of them focus towards helping students out.  As a software engineer(ing student), I feel that in order for a large group of small things to be useful, they must be consistent.  And thus the birth of the first project:  The Engineering Unified Experience (or euX).

euX aims to bring all of the EUS's online (and offline... more later) "products" together via two key items: user interface (euX UI) and connection interface (euX Presence).  The user interface is obvious: the overarching "theme", if you will, that dictates how exactly the website or software is laid out.  With a common layout, students can easily identify the service and get to using it right away instead of having to learn yet another interaction paradigm.  The connection interface is a bit more abstract, but it will make more sense as more of the projects are outlined.  euX Presence will allow students to use a single username to access all of the services provided by the EUS.  Conveniently enough this will be the same username used to access services at McGill. (firstname.lastname).  The goal, again, is creating a branded, identifiable experience for students.  A student can access the main EUS site, login, and not have to log in when using any other website.  Boring and standard, right?  But still... it needs doing!  The more exciting part of Presence, and where the actual project lies, is in the physical side.  Presence will extend to allow students to use their ID cards to connect to the new physical services.  We all know what a pain typing in our full McGill username can be, so with the swipe of your wallet, you'll be able to start using physical services!

This may sound rather boring (... not to me though, I love this stuff and I promise you'll notice the benefits, just give me a chance!), but it is an important first step.  To get the project rolling, I'll be drafting out an interface guideline that will be polished with the help of other students and hopefully even a professional or two.  If you are interested, PLEASE let me know!  I intend to get in contact with swissmiss to gather a few initial tips and tricks (if not more involved aid), so check out her site and see what she likes, as her simplistic taste is what I am aiming for!