Case Study

SIC – Digital Transformation Implementation​

SIC - University of Alberta

in Education

13,000+ Employees

Alberta, Canada

About Client

SIC - University of Alberta

The Student Innovation Centre (SIC) is a creative, tech-powered space where University of Alberta students explore ideas, build skills, and turn concepts into real-world impact. With cutting-edge tools, hands-on workshops, and mentorship, the SIC helps students from any discipline innovate, experiment, and grow.

Challenges Facing SIC - University of Alberta

The Student Innovation Center at the University of Alberta faced significant operational inefficiencies in managing its valuable resources: study rooms and specialized equipment. Manual booking processes led to frequent conflicts, underutilization of resources, and a lack of transparency for students. Key challenges included:

  1. Inefficient Resource Allocation: Difficulty in tracking real-time availability of rooms and equipment.
  2. Poor User Experience: Students struggled with a cumbersome booking process, leading to frustration.
  3. Lack of Communication: Absence of automated reminders and confirmations resulted in missed bookings and confusion.
  4. Limited Oversight: Administrators lacked a centralized system for managing bookings, user access, and performance analytics.
  5. Scalability: The existing ad-hoc solutions could not scale with the growing demand for resources.

Project Objectives

Our primary objectives for the SIC Space Booking System were to:

  • Develop an intuitive, web-based platform for booking study rooms.
  • Implement a comprehensive system for renting out specialized equipment.
  • Provide real-time visibility into resource availability to prevent conflicts.
  • Establish a robust user authentication and role-based access control system.
  • Automate communication through email and in-app notifications for booking confirmations, reminders, and updates.
  • Empower administrators with tools for efficient resource management, user administration, and performance analytics.
  • Ensure a responsive, modern, and user-friendly interface accessible on all devices.

Our Statergy

Our development approach followed an agile, iterative model to ensure client needs were continuously met and integrated throughout the project lifecycle:

  1. Preliminary Assessment & Requirements Gathering: Engaged with SIC stakeholders (students, staff, administrators) to define core functionalities.
  2. Design & Architectural Planning: Designed the application’s modular architecture.
  3. Iterative Development & Implementation:
    • Core Booking Functionality: Built the foundational booking flows for both rooms and equipment, including availability checks and conflict resolution.
    • User Interface Development: Created user-facing pages.
    • Administrative Tools: Developed an admin panel for comprehensive oversight.
    • Advanced Features: Implemented recurring bookings, waitlists, image galleries, notifications, and dynamic theme customization.
  4. Testing & Quality Assurance:  Ensuring data integrity, functionality, and performance.
  5. Deployment & Continuous Improvement.

Results & impact

Our development approach followed an agile, iterative model to ensure client needs were continuously met and integrated throughout the project lifecycle:

  1. Preliminary Assessment & Requirements Gathering: Engaged with SIC stakeholders (students, staff, administrators) to define core functionalities.
  2. Design & Architectural Planning: Designed the application’s modular architecture.
  3. Iterative Development & Implementation:
    • Core Booking Functionality: Built the foundational booking flows for both rooms and equipment, including availability checks and conflict resolution.
    • User Interface Development: Created user-facing pages.
    • Administrative Tools: Developed an admin panel for comprehensive oversight.
    • Advanced Features: Implemented recurring bookings, waitlists, image galleries, notifications, and dynamic theme customization.
  4. Testing & Quality Assurance:  Ensuring data integrity, functionality, and performance.
  5. Deployment & Continuous Improvement.

What SIC - University of Alberta Says About Us

“Working with the Arnson Innovate transformed our vision for the Student Innovation Center booking system into reality. The system is not only robust and incredibly efficient but also genuinely intuitive for our students and staff. The new role-based access controls have streamlined our administrative tasks, and the automated notifications are a game-changer for reducing no-shows. This project has significantly enhanced how we manage and utilize our innovation resources.”

Isaac Awotwe Manager, Programs

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