LastCall. A Bar Scheduling App

Frankie Soltero, Raiya Dhalwala, Zoë Dupre, and Ritika Mishra

Department of Computer Science, Tulane University

Professor Maus

April 30, 2025

Project Summary:

Our project LastCall. is a scheduling app developed specifically for bars and the hospitality industry. Bars, in particular within the hospitality industry, have a difficult time creating schedules because of how flexible their schedule and employees have to be. Unlike a restaurant which usually has set hours, bars often cater their hours to accommodate when a “rush” might occur. Two of our group members, Raiya and Frankie, work at the “college bar” the Boot. The Boot in particular creates their schedule completely based on the predicted business of the bar that week. For example, if there is a football game on Saturday at 11 AM, the bar will open at 8 AM instead of its usual 11 AM. Furthermore, bars like the Boot can go from empty to hundreds of customers within a matter of 20 minutes. While the bar may start out the day with one bartender, the day may end with 5 even 6 bartenders working. The current scheduling system at the Boot is incredibly tedious for the managers as well as the employees. Currently, every week each employee texts their availability for the week to their manager. The manager then has to go through every single employee and accommodate their schedule while also trying to create a schedule that meets the business’ needs - often taking 3 or more hours per week. This currently culminates in a pdf of a massive excel sheet being sent in a group chat every week. It is very hard to see individuals' names, and often people are accidentally scheduled even when they said they were not available. We wondered why this was the system, and why the Boot had not employed an app to make this process easier. 

When discussing this with the manager of the Boot, he explained why commonly used apps like 7Shifts did not meet his needs. Existing competitors like 7Shifts cater primarily to restaurants and lack the aforementioned qualities that a bar schedule needs. We sought to create an app which would be as malleable as possible, and make creating and reading a schedule as simple as possible. We wanted to make a 3+ hour process into a 20 minute process, and make it look nicer. Our app provides an intuitive solution to the issue of confusing scheduling. This is important for bars as the fluctuating operating hours and rotating staff need a flexible scheduling system being able to handle this influx throughout their season. If the manager can spend less time on tedious scheduling, then they can spend more time on their business.

For our project we built the app using react native which allowed for cross-platform development. We also used Expo which handled the app configuration, build processes, and testing. Expo's managed workflow allowed us to integrate third-party libraries, access device features, and maintain a rapid development cycle without having to manually configure Xcode or Android Studio projects. We wrote the app in TypeScript. For backend functionality, we utilized Firebase services - specifically Firebase Authentication for user management and Firestore for real-time database storage of schedules, user profiles, and availability data. UI design relied heavily on libraries like DropDownPicker for customizable dropdown menus, react-time-picker for web-compatible time selection, and native React Native components styled with StyleSheet.

The completed app allowed managers to generate multi-day schedule templates, assign employees to specific roles and shifts, and publish the final schedule for employees to view. Employees could input their weekly availability (per day and time) and view their assigned shifts through a clear interface. A major result was successfully integrating real-time updates between the manager and employee views, ensuring that changes made by managers immediately reflected on the employee side. 

The significance of these results lies in demonstrating how React Native combined with Expo and Firebase can create a cost-effective scheduling solution without requiring expensive software. However, there were some limitations. For example, the system does not yet flag when employees are working too much (for example working a night shift and then a morning shift). We also had an issue with certain parts of the web component suddenly not working because of changes in expo libraries/the platform in general. We would like to make the web component work as well as the app side. Additionally, reliance on Firebase’s free tier introduces constraints on read/write operations that could impact scalability for larger organizations. 

Project Reflection: 

LastCall. is a unique project in that it is tangible and can realistically turn into a profitable application. Other than the Boot - the number 1 college bar in America - being a future user of our app, we have garnered interest from several more similar businesses. At the SSE capstone we connected with many industry personnel who encouraged us to create an LLC for LastCall., and they told us how promising our project was. We found the Expo to be very rewarding, as it allowed us to converse with potential investors and mentors we met during our pitches to the expo crowd. Furthermore, we won fan favorite at the expo which demonstrated the potential of our project.

Starting in the summer, we plan on beta testing our app with the Boot. Once we receive feedback from that process, we plan on fixing our app, and then launching it. When the app succeeds at the Boot,  we plan on partnering with other similar businesses such as Bruno's Tavern, Tj Quills, Tchoup Yard, The Palms, The Boot Store, and Boot Pizza. We are hoping to launch a subscription based model to handle our read requests costs on our firebase server. Using a model based on employee size per bar and a monthly subscription would be most profitable and suitable for our target audience. While our project does not solve a massive societal issue, it helps improve the lives of service industry workers everywhere. By using our app, workers can spend less time being confused about their schedule, and spend more time on other activities.

Technical Reflection:

A huge part of our project was building on top and implementing work that has been done by others. The app relied on existing frameworks like React Native and Expo, along with libraries such as DropDownPicker and react-time-picker. These tools provided foundational components that we adapted to our specific needs rather than building everything from scratch. In particular, many UI components were amalgamations of existing React Native libraries. Furthermore, expo allowed us to create development builds in order to test and amend our app. Firestore gave us a platform to create and store a real time database, but we created a database structure that optimized storage, and stored data in a way that would make our app unique. For example, we stored user availability with the user rather than within an organization so that a user's availability could persist throughout multiple organizations. This taught us that effective software development often involves customizing existing solutions, not reinventing them. Our project is not groundbreaking, but we were able to find a gap and fill it. 

Before working on this project, none of us were familiar with app development, or platforms like react-native and expo. We relied primarily on self-motivation to learn how to use these platforms as well as to learn typescript. Typescript is similar to Javascript, so it was fairly simple to learn. We also relied on the extensive documentation for expo and firestore. We used tutorials and stack overflow discussion posts to help us with specific bugs that arose. It was especially difficult trying to figure out which react libraries would be best for our app, and work cross platform. Interdisciplinary Integration
LastCall also provided an opportunity to integrate computer science with the needs of the hospitality industry, making it a true interdisciplinary experience. Luckily, Frankie and Raiya understood bar operations such as shift structures, roles like barbacks and bartenders, and manager-employee workflows, to design the app properly. The scheduling system was not only a technical challenge but also a business problem. By combining technical skills with real-world business knowledge, we learned that effective apps need to meet the specific needs of the domain it is trying to serve.

Professional Reflection:

Project management was critical to the success of LastCall. We kept our project on github, and everytime a member met a goal (such as implementing availability) they would merge their branch. This was definitely challenging because we had not used github extensively previously. Managing our time independently was a large part of our project because we each had different tasks to complete. One thing I took away from the project is setting realistic milestones.
Effective communication was key in developing LastCall. Throughout the last year, we met many times with the manager of the Boot to receive feedback on our project, and to make sure we were meeting all of his needs. We wanted our app to fill in the gaps that similar apps had not. We presented many times throughout the semester which improved our presenting skills. Furthermore, our project relied heavily on live demos, and we learned that it was important to always have a demo video as backup if the app malfunctioned in the moment. Our Linkedin is our main form of communication with our future customers and investors. Using a QR Code we were able to create and maintain our future network for LastCall. once it’s available on the app store. 

Although LastCall. was initially designed to solve a scheduling issue for a specific bar, the app has broader societal implications for the service industry as a whole. Service industry workers often face unstable and unpredictable work schedules, which can lead to financial instability, stress, and burnout. According to a 2018 study published in the journal Science Advances, unpredictable scheduling practices significantly increase material hardship and psychological distress among workers (Schneider & Harknett, 2019). By providing a clear, accurate, and accessible scheduling platform, LastCall. empowers employees by giving them better visibility into their upcoming shifts, reducing confusion and last-minute changes. This, in turn, supports greater work-life balance and improves workers' rights by promoting fairer scheduling practices.

Fairness and equity were central considerations in our app's design. LastCall. bases scheduling assignments solely on employees’ stated availability, helping to eliminate favoritism, unconscious bias, and inconsistencies that can arise in manual scheduling. Every employee’s availability is treated equally within the system, which promotes transparency and fairness in shift assignments.

We also aimed to make LastCall. as accessible as possible. We chose clean, intuitive layouts and simple navigation structures to accommodate a wide range of users, including those less familiar with technology. Future planned accessibility features include adding screen reader compatibility for visually impaired users, ensuring sufficient color contrast for users with colorblindness, and enhancing touch target sizes for easier use by individuals with motor difficulties. Our goal is to make LastCall. a tool that improves working conditions for all employees, regardless of background or ability.

Beyond helping individual workers, LastCall. also supports managers and local businesses by making operations more efficient. Reducing the time and stress spent on scheduling allows managers to focus on improving service quality and growing their business. In cities like New Orleans, where tourism and nightlife are key drivers of the economy, stronger local businesses enhance the overall experience for visitors and contribute to broader economic vitality. By improving both the worker experience and business operations, LastCall. ultimately supports a healthier, more resilient hospitality industry.

References: 

Daniel Schneider and Kristen Harknett. "Consequences of Routine Work Schedule Instability for Worker Health and Well-Being." Science Advances, vol. 5, no. 6, 2019, eaax1619. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1619