Capstone — Spring 2026

Design-Based Research Project

D.A.D. — A Digital Extension

For our capstone, we partnered with Doing Exceptional Deeds (D.A.D.), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in San Marcos, CA that supports youth, families, and seniors through character-first programs. Our team built a companion web platform to extend their digital presence — adding community-driven content, instant AI support, and direct communication between the organization and the people they serve.

Team — William Windle · Ethan Wong · Nicolas Diaz

Live Project
Frontend + backend deployed and accessible now

Open the Site ↗ Backend API ↗

Exceptional Deeds

Community Support

Active

What We Built

AI Community Assistant
Redesign Website
Public Deed Submission
Photo Carousel
Admin-User Chat System

Impact

Delivers a clean, engaging homepage that makes programs and actions easy to find

Provides instant support through an AI assistant, reducing wait times for help

Encourages community involvement by allowing users to submit their own “exceptional deeds”

Showcases positive stories through an interactive photo carousel

Strengthens communication with a direct chat system between users and administrators

AI Frontend Jekyll + Liquid REST API Python / Flask

Feature Highlights

Four core features built and shipped as part of the capstone, each targeting a real gap in the organization's digital reach.

Homepage redesign and community carousel

Homepage Redesign + Community Carousel

Programs displayed as numbered tiles (01–06) with clear hierarchy. Users submit community stories; admins curate which get featured on the homepage carousel.

Submit a Deed

Anyone can share a positive contribution with the community. Stories of impact build momentum and encourage others to get involved.

AI Assistant

A scoped chatbot available site-wide — answers questions about D.A.D. programs and redirects or collects contact info when it can't help directly.

User–Admin Direct Chat

Users can open a direct conversation with D.A.D. staff. Admins see all active threads and choose who to respond to; users only see their own exchange.

Preview Into Launch

The platform is built and live at deeds.opencodingsociety.com. Below is a look at the deployed homepage — the same layout that D.A.D. can hand off, extend, or adapt independently after the capstone wraps.

1 Frontend deployed via GitHub Pages at deeds.opencodingsociety.com/dad

2 Backend API running at dad.opencodingsociety.com — handles submissions, chat, and AI queries

3 All features tested end-to-end; admin dashboard functional for deed approval and chat management

4 Codebase documented and transfer-ready for D.A.D. staff or future student developers

Capstone Presentation Practice

Before presenting to the actual organizations, we did a practice run with our listener to get honest, direct feedback on both the project and our delivery.

What Went Well

The website design landed well — polished and visually clear

Introducing ourselves up front set a personal tone before diving into the project

What We Need to Improve

Avoid "they" / "them" — speak directly to the audience, not about them

Be navigated to the relevant feature on screen when describing it

Keep the website front and center throughout — no jumping away

Takeaways for the Real Presentation

1 Speak directly to the audience — no "they" or "them" at any point

2 Navigate to the relevant feature before describing it — show, don't tell

3 Keep the website front and center for all commentary and transitions

4 The design and intro already work — carry those forward unchanged

What the CTE panel told us

After we presented, the feedback wasn't just "nice job." They pushed us to think bigger — what happens if this isn't just for one nonprofit? What if schools used it too?

Their feedback

Take these features into schools, not just nonprofits

Let students submit deeds to a leaderboard

Let the community vote on the best deed each week

What that could actually look like

A school version of the same deed submission flow, scoped to a campus

A weekly leaderboard showing the top deeds at your school

Students upvote the one that meant the most — the community picks the winner

Read our full CTE reflection ↗

Looking back — and what comes next

We built something real for a real organization. That's what the capstone was supposed to be. But we also know we only scratched the surface of what this platform could do.

What we built

1 A homepage that actually tells D.A.D.'s story

2 A deed submission system — share a good act, get it featured

3 An AI that knows the organization and can answer questions 24/7

4 A direct line from community members to D.A.D. staff

What we'd build next

→ Port this to schools — same idea, campus-level community instead of nonprofit

→ A deed leaderboard — students compete to do the most good each week

→ Community voting — let the school pick the best deed of the week, not just an admin

→ School logins so deeds are tied to real students and real accountability

What we're leaving behind

Most school projects get turned in and forgotten. We didn't want that. This site is live, the code is clean, and D.A.D. can actually use what we made. That was the whole point.

A working site D.A.D. can hand to volunteers or future developers
A codebase anyone can pick up and extend without starting over
A clear picture of what to build next, based on real feedback from CTE
Proof that a student project can leave something genuinely useful behind