Building Next Gen Web-Based Application Software for Harvard

The Approach

Designing a Scalable, User-Centric Web Application

HIRC partnered with LaunchPad Lab to deliver a cutting-edge solution through an Agile development process involving bi-weekly sprints. 

The project kicked off with an in-depth discovery and product strategy phase that included product workshops to better understand the inner workings of Model UN. As a result, the teams defined the project goals, determined the project scope, and built alignment across the entire team.

The team met regularly to obtain feedback, demonstrate progress, and ensure the right steps were taken when building the product. This collaborative approach continued throughout the project to gain feedback and implement changes.

The Solution

A Flexible and Scalable Web-Based Software Application

LaunchPad Lab developed a unified web application for HIRC, built on Ruby on Rails and Ember.js, hosted on AWS.  The application’s key features include:

The Committee Assignment System

When applicants register, they can ask to be assigned to a specific country. The HIRC team considers these requests but ultimately assigns them based on the school size and the delegation.

By creating a backend system, admins can create committees and assign countries. The interface identifies the committee’s status, the number of available seats, and the number of open seats. Admins can add countries to the committees as necessary for their events. In addition, the system is capable of handling older countries and special characters. 

The Delegate Assignment System

Once a school is assigned committees and countries, they can log in and manage their delegation. The school administrator would then assign delegates to the open spots. 

The user-friendly interface, incorporates visual cues to guide users in completing tasks. School administrators can easily log into their application dashboard to view their assignments and assign students to the various open delegate spots.

Invoicing and Quickbooks Integration

The HIRC team uses Quickbooks Online (QBO) to invoice and accept payments from applicants. QBO is less intuitive than other accounting tools, making invoicing and customer management more difficult. 

HIRC needed a system to handle different types of invoicing for the various conferences. For example, Harvard Model UN requires a registration fee when an application is submitted and then a student and advisor fee once the application is accepted. Harvard National Model UN only requires a registration fee if the application is accepted, while National Model UN China does not.

The LaunchPad Lab team designed a simple solution to integrate with QBO, create invoices, send them to users, and display invoice notifications in their dashboards.

Reporting & Exports

The web app enabled the HIRC to manage applicants and assignments easily. However, since their conferences were real events, they needed reporting and exports to help facilitate them. 

The team created four primary types of reports:

• Delegates
• Badges
• Emails
• Awards

Each report was exported as a CSV file and emailed to the requester. These reports help sign in attendees, print badges, and manage the event.

The Results

Streamlined Operations and an Enhanced User Experience

The new web app and automated processes have transformed the way the HIRC team manages events and applications, saving many hours of work in managing each conference, resulting in: 

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  Weeks of manual work saved by streamlining invoicing and reconciliation.

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  Faster application processing with automated workflows. 

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  Modern UX/UI drastically reduced the time taken to handle assignments.

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  Automated custom reports and exports driving more event management.

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  Enhanced accessibility for non-English speakers with an inclusive user experience.