Between February and June 2024, I developed Atclub, a social network app, in a team of four.
This project was part of the CODEV project at IMT Atlantique, an academic project to design and build a solution to a real need.
On campus, many social networks were in use (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, etc.), which made communication between clubs very scattered.
So we came up with the idea of bringing all these exchanges together in a single app: Atclub.
Although the project received a lot of positive feedback, the arrival of WhatsApp Communities, which group several chats in a single interface, limited the chances of rolling Atclub out across the school.
Even so, this experience was very formative, especially for my skills in Firebase, data management and backend development.
At a glance
Context
- CODEV project at IMT Atlantique, from February to June 2024, in a team of 4.
- On campus, communication between clubs was scattered across several social networks.
Actions
- Co-development of the app with Flutter (frontend) and Firebase (backend).
- Features: authentication and user management, data storage and retrieval, real-time messaging, posts and filters.
Results
- App beta-tested with several users.
- Not deployed because of an adoption barrier (arrival of WhatsApp Communities).
Project overview
The screenshots and diagrams on this page are in French.
The need
The goal was to bring all of the school's club communication channels together in one central place, so that students would not have to juggle several apps and would be less likely to miss important information.
The team
The Atclub development team was split into two groups:
- Frontend
- Backend (which I was part of)
Design phase
Architecture and design
During the design phase, we defined the product's software architecture as well as its graphic and visual identity.
We also designed the data model for the database.
As well as the colour palette and the logo for the frontend.
Technology choices
We used:
- Flutter for cross-platform development (Android / iOS)
- Firebase for the database, authentication and hosting
- GitLab for collaboration and version control
The software architecture looked like this:
The advantage of Flutter was that it let us deploy the app on Android and iOS, as we felt it was essential for it to be available to all students, whatever their operating system.
Firebase is a platform that handles the database and authentication without code, while supporting a large number of users.
Implementation phase
During the implementation phase, our app evolved step by step.
Code
An example of the app's code:
Database
Product demo
Main features
- Sign-up and profile creation
- Club news feed
- Instant messaging
- Search and filters by interest
- Club and post management
User profiles
The app differs depending on the type of user.
There are three profiles:
- Members of student associations (BDX)
- Club presidents
- Standard users
Features vary depending on the profile.
Demo videos
Demo videos show the app's main features.
Video: editing a profile
Video: adding a club (student association member)
Video: adding a post (club president)
Full presentation video of the app
Deployment prospects
As mentioned above, Atclub was not deployed in the end because of the arrival of WhatsApp Communities, a very attractive alternative.
It was therefore hard to convince users to adopt a new app.
Security
Before any deployment, user data security has to be guaranteed. Firebase makes this easier to manage.
Data security was central to development.
Firebase provided reliable access management and authentication, but we also looked at:
- securing exchanges (HTTPS, Firestore rules)
- managing permissions (administrators, moderators, users)
- protecting personal data
Beta tests
A beta test procedure was set up to assess how easy and intuitive the app was to use.
Users had to complete simple tasks (create a club, send a message, edit a profile, etc.) without outside help, to assess how easy the app was to pick up.
The feedback helped us improve:
- navigation (a more intuitive menu bar)
- icon clarity
- app response time
Skills gained
This project helped me strengthen several technical and soft skills.
Technical skills
- Mobile development with Flutter / Dart
- Data management and authentication with Firebase
- NoSQL database design and modelling
- Client-server architecture and backend logic
- Version control with Git / GitLab
- Collaboration and continuous integration (CI/CD)
Interpersonal and methodological skills
- Teamwork and task allocation
- Communication and coordination between teams (Frontend / Backend)
- Writing technical and functional documentation
- Presenting and promoting an academic project
- Identifying and adapting to a strong competitor (WhatsApp), and drawing lessons from it for UX and product positioning
Conclusion
Atclub was a complete project, combining design, development, visual design and user testing.
Even though it was not deployed at the school, it was a formative, hands-on experience of running a digital project.
I came away with a better understanding of the technical, UX and strategic challenges of developing collaborative apps, and with the motivation to keep building innovative, useful solutions.