SkillSwap

Overview

SkillSwap is a peer-to-peer skill exchange platform developed in an academic setting to explore user-centered design, full-stack web development, and applied usability research. The project enables users to trade skills directly—such as tutoring, programming help, or creative services—without monetary exchange, focusing on clarity, trust, and ease of interaction.

Problem Space & Motivation

Many existing platforms for learning or collaboration rely on payment, rigid marketplaces, or complex reputation systems. SkillSwap was designed to investigate whether a non-monetary, reciprocity-based model could support casual learning and collaboration while remaining simple and approachable for users.

Design Goals

• Usability first: Clear navigation and low-friction task flows.
• Trust through structure: Clear ownership of posts and profiles.
• Non-monetary exchange: Skills are traded directly, not purchased.
• Scope clarity: Features chosen to support core interactions without overcomplication.

System Architecture

SkillSwap is implemented as a full-stack web application with a client–server architecture. The frontend handles discovery and user interaction, while the backend manages authentication, data storage, and permission enforcement.

• Frontend: Responsive web interface for browsing and managing posts.
• Backend: API-driven service layer for users and posts.
• Database: Persistent storage for user accounts, posts, comments, and relationships.
• Authentication: Account-based access with ownership checks.

UX Research & Evaluation

SkillSwap was developed using iterative UX practices including personas, task-based usability testing, and heuristic evaluation. Users were asked to complete tasks such as locating specific skill trades, navigating to user profiles, and deleting their own posts. Observations from these sessions informed changes to navigation structure, labeling, and page layout.

Implementation Details

The implementation focuses on clearly scoped interactions and explicit user control. Posts are immutable once created; users may delete their own posts but cannot edit them. This constraint simplifies moderation and avoids ambiguity around post history.

• Post creation with tags and difficulty indicators
• User profiles with basic account information
• Delete-only post management for content ownership clarity
• Blocking and permission rules to prevent unwanted interactions

Team Contributions

SkillSwap was developed collaboratively as a team project. My primary responsibilities included the implementation of the HTML and CSS for the user interface, as well as the majority of the controller-to-database interaction logic. This work involved structuring page layouts, enforcing consistent styling, and implementing backend data flows to support post creation, deletion, and permission checks.

Other team members contributed to complementary areas such as database services and , enabling the project to progress as a cohesive system.

Limitations & Tradeoffs

SkillSwap intentionally omits features such as post editing, visible interaction history, and real-time messaging. These decisions reduce system complexity and allow the project to focus on core discovery and exchange workflows.

Future Work

• Optional post editing with version tracking
• Private messaging between users
• Improved search and filtering for skill discovery
• Accessibility improvements and mobile-focused refinements

Final Deployment

SkillSwap is delivered as both a hosted web application (served from an "Always Free" Oracle Server) and a public source repository. The final project includes the full codebase and server configuration.