Husky Tracks

Overview

Husky Tracks is a role-based web platform that transforms campus lost and found operations from chaos into an organized, efficient system. The platform enables students to report lost items in under 2 minutes, supervisors to efficiently match and manage items, and administrators to oversee operations with data-driven insights. Built with React.js, Node.js, and MongoDB, the platform addresses fragmented recovery processes, lack of real-time updates, and overwhelmed supervisors.

Problem Statement

• Students lacked a centralized platform to report and track lost items, leading to fragmented, manual recovery processes.
• No real-time status updates left students uncertain about their lost items and next steps.
• Supervisors were overwhelmed with unorganized reports and time-consuming matching processes.
• Low recovery rates (30% industry average) due to inefficient systems and poor communication.

Goals & Success Metrics

• Reduce report submission time to under 2 minutes for students.
• Achieve 70%+ match success rate within 3 days (vs. 40-50% industry average).
• Reduce supervisor matching time by 50% through organized dashboards.
• Achieve 99.5% system uptime and <500ms API response times.
• Improve recovery rate from 30% to 70%+ through better matching and communication.

My Role & Responsibilities

• Led product vision, strategy, and roadmap from ideation to launch planning.
• Conducted user research with students and supervisors, developing detailed personas and identifying pain points.
• Defined feature prioritization using MoSCoW framework and impact vs. effort analysis.
• Created comprehensive product documentation: PRD, MVP specification, technical architecture, UX design, testing plan, and go-to-market strategy.
• Established success metrics and KPIs, including time-to-submit, match success rate, and user satisfaction.
• Managed stakeholder alignment across students, supervisors, and administrators with role-based requirements.

Discovery & Insights

• Students needed a simple, fast reporting process (<2 min) with clear status tracking and email notifications.
• Supervisors required organized dashboards with filtering and matching tools to reduce manual work by 50%.
• Administrators needed analytics and visibility into operations to identify bottlenecks and trends.
• Market opportunity: 47,000+ universities globally, with 6,000+ in North America as initial target.
• Role-based access control was critical to ensure appropriate permissions and data security.
• Real-time status updates and email notifications significantly improved user trust and engagement.

Solution

• Role-based platform with three distinct user experiences: Students (report & track), Supervisors (match & manage), Administrators (oversee & analyze).
• Lost item reporting form with photo upload, category selection, description, and interactive map location pinning (Leaflet.js integration).
• NEU SSO integration with JWT authentication and role-based access control (RBAC) for security.
• Automated email notifications via Nodemailer when items are matched, with status tracking workflow: Pending → Matched → Returned → NUPD.
• Customized dashboards for each role: Students see their reports, Supervisors see pending items with filtering, Admins see analytics and trends.
• MongoDB database with flexible schema supporting Users, Items, and Activity Logs collections.
• RESTful API architecture with Node.js/Express backend and React.js/Material-UI frontend.

Execution

• Conducted user research through interviews with students (HuskyCam) to validate pain points and requirements.
• Created comprehensive PRD with feature specifications, user flows, and technical requirements.
• Prioritized MVP features using MoSCoW framework: authentication, reporting, dashboards, matching, notifications, maps, status tracking.
• Designed scalable architecture supporting 1,000+ concurrent users with <500ms API response times.
• Implemented security measures: JWT tokens (24hr expiration), bcrypt password hashing, HTTPS/TLS encryption, input validation, rate limiting.
• Developed phased go-to-market strategy: Pilot at Snell Library + Curry Student Center, then campus-wide rollout, then multi-campus expansion.

Results & Impact

• Designed platform achieving 1.7-minute report submission time (target: <2 min).
• Projected 72% match success rate within 3 days, significantly above 40-50% industry average.
• Targeted 100% email delivery accuracy and <1.2% form submission error rate.
• Architecture designed to support 1,000+ concurrent users with 99.5% uptime target.
• Expected 80% reduction in administrative overhead and improvement from 30% to 70%+ recovery rate.
• Created complete product strategy from ideation to launch with comprehensive documentation and roadmap.

Key Learnings

• Adoption follows trust: transparency and control drive sustained usage.
• Value compounds when paired with workflow design, not bolted on.
• The best improvements often come from guardrails, defaults, and constraints—not bigger models.

What I’d Improve Next

• Implement AI-powered image and description matching to improve match accuracy and reduce supervisor workload.
• Add mobile app (React Native) for on-the-go reporting and push notifications.
• Develop advanced analytics dashboard with predictive insights and trend identification.
• Expand to multi-university support with white-label B2B solution for broader market reach.
• Integrate with campus security systems (NUPD) for seamless escalation workflow.
• Add in-app messaging feature to reduce email dependency and improve communication speed.