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Revenue for theSHAFT
Monetization Pathways
> Digital Advertising
> Future: off-campus housing listings
Other Stakeholders
> Spectator (Admin)
> Spectator (Revenue, Ad Sales, Marketing)
> Columbia/Barnard University Life
> Landlords and real estate company clients
Costs of Clubs@CU
> DigitalOcean Droplet
> Work Study for qualified staffers
> Future: launch advertising costs
About theSHAFT
full launch Spring 2021
How might we demystify and provide reliable information about on- and off-campus housing for thousands of students?
Demystifying the System
In Spring 2020, Columbia Housing changed its website, selection, and lottery system.
theSHAFT introduced Housing 101 to answer the most pressing student questions.
Intelligent Calculations
In Spring 2020, Columbia Housing changed its housing lottery system.
Spectator has kept record for years of past lottery data. We built an algorithm for lottery number conversion that 1. translates new numbers to old system equivalents and 2. visually maps onto floorplans the likelihood students will get certain rooms or suites.
P2P Recommendations
Columbia Housing charges the same rates for every room, but students know rooms, suites, and buildings are not created equal.
theSHAFT introduced a crowdsourced review page with upvotes and downvotes to provide current and future students with accurate dorm descriptions.
Side by Side Comparisons
feature in development
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Columbia Housing profiles every dorm building, but users--especially first year students--struggle to compare their options.
theSHAFT introduced a side-by-side comparisons page where users can easily mix and match dorms and survey differences in their amenities.
revenue
future
Future for theSHAFT
Covid-19
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I project that a record number of Columbia and Barnard students will choose to live off-campus
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I predict that it will be at least 5 years until the vast majority (95% pre-pandemic) of Columbia and Barnard students choose live on campus for all 4 years of the undergraduate careers
Proposed Iterations
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Off-campus listings designed to showcase clients' properties
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Housing 101 for first-time renters in New York City
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MAYBE: Off-campus listings for graduate students at Columbia's Medical campus
Project
Credits
Product Team
Cindy, Product Manager
Mirah, Lead Product Designer
Cecilia, Product Manager
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Sagarika, Product Designer
Philippe, Product Designer
Aaron, Product Designer
Anissa, Product Designer
Trang, Product Designer
April, Product Designer
Engineering Team
Karlo, Head of Engineering
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McKenna, Engineering Manager
Elaine, Engineering Manager
Caroline, Engineering Manager
Amina, Engineering Manager
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Spectator Associate Engineers
full launch Spring 2021
Special thanks to Spectrum writers for writing theSHAFT's content.
credits
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