Visualizing Paths to Success

In the latter portion of Lambda School, also known as Labs, students were put on to teams to develop under a simulated “real-work” experience. Members of a team would be tasked to break down a proposed minimum-viable product into user stories, and then divide the work amongst the members of the team to deliver their iteration of the project.

What is Bridges to Prosperity?

Bridges to Prosperity is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect isolated rural communities to economic, health-care, and educational opportunities. They achieve this goal by building footbridges for these communities to allow them to traverse terrain, such as rivers, that could be perilous on foot. By building these bridges, travel time between points of interest could be cut in half for members of these communities.

Lets get technical…

During my time in Labs, I was put onto a team that was in charge of creating a data visualization tool for Bridges to Prosperity. Our product specifically focused on the work that Bridges to Prosperity has done for the region of Rwanda, and visualizing the location of the bridges, as well as their impact on regions that were affected by their existence.

In our React frontend, my team implemented technologies such as Chart.JS and eCharts to visualize the data of where bridges existed, and in what stage of development the bridges were currently in. This data was fed to our application through a backend that used a PostgreSQL database.

Looking forwards

Overall my team was successful in making the data pertaining to the bridges more tangible and easily processed by representing that data visually. The real takeaway from this exercise was mostly the experience of working in an environment that mirrors one in the real world. Being caught up to speed with the standards of collaboration and communication inside a team will prove to be beneficial for anyone looking to start a career in the tech industry.