Dev Log #9: Ian Hynds

May 8th, 2025

End of Semester

As the semester wraps up, so does the work on Beyond the Tassel. With our official handout scheduled for May 1st, our team focused heavily on making sure every part of the experience was polished, functional, and presentation ready. This included both the AR spaces and the website, which needed to be fully updated and refined for public use. While most of our major components were already in place, the last-mile work was critical.

User Testing

A major technical hurdle we faced involved the 360  spaces within the experience. During user testing, we discovered that some of these scenes were unexpectedly crashing when users interacted with certain elements. The crashes weren’t always consistent, which made debugging trickier, but we were ultimately able to isolate the problem: memory overload in some devices. There were also issues with buttons that linked to incorrect scenes, and some missing or broken audio. We updated the resolution of the 360 environments so as to not overwhelm the user’s data cache. Once those fixes were implemented, we re-tested and saw a noticeable improvement in app stability and user experience.

Sticky Note Scene 

Beyond the tech side, the sticky note scene also received its final updates this week. This scene was especially important to us, since it was designed to feature messages of encouragement, advice, and reflection from CSUN alumni.  However, one of the challenges we ran into earlier in the semester was a lack of submissions through our alumni survey form. To help boost participation, we promoted the form through the CSUN EMP Instagram account and were grateful to get a repost from the official CSUN Alumni page as well. Thanks to that outreach, we were able to gather more messages just in time to incorporate them into the final build.

First Official Hand-Out

Once everything was tested, updated, and compiled, we launched our first big handout and demo session on Thursday at 2:30 PM. The plan was to distribute our QR-coded graduation cap cards to students as they passed by, giving them access to the experience and a brief explanation of how to use it. Unfortunately, we ran into some bad timing. The usual flow of foot traffic wasn’t there, and very few students were passing through that part of campus. Despite the low turnout, we still handed out around 40 cards and were able to give a few demonstrations to students who were curious and willing to engage. It wasn’t the launch we had envisioned, but it was still meaningful to see the project live in other people’s hands.

Other Hand-Out Opportunities

Knowing we had more work to do to get this into students’ hands before graduation, we began reaching out to professors and departments across campus to ask for short in-class demo opportunities. These micro-presentations have been helpful in explaining the experience in person and making sure students have the cards. Looking ahead, we’re preparing for one final distribution push during commencement itself. Our goal is to get the remaining QR cards into the hands of as many graduating students and guests as possible.

Final Website Updates

As the person overseeing the website, it’s been especially meaningful to document each phase of the project. I updated the site this week to include final images, team reflections, and all blog entries from our group. It now serves not just as an archive, but as a public showcase of what student-led innovation can look like when it blends creativity, technology, and purpose.

In Conclusion

This has been a semester of long nights, group chats, unexpected bugs, and breakthrough moments. It’s taught us a lot about time management, teamwork, and how to bring an ambitious idea into reality. Beyond the Tassel wasn’t just a capstone project; it became a community effort, a learning experience, and a celebration of what’s possible when we build something together.