Name: PowerPoint Presentation
Uploaded: 2026-04-07
Duration: 11 min 34 s
Description: Design Thinking and Innovation. Empathy helps define problem Learn aboug users through rests new ideas ptoject ide } Tests reveal i nsiEhts redefine •h? prob(ern.

Design Thinking and Innovation. Empathy helps define problem Learn aboug users through rests new ideas ptoject ide } Tests reveal i nsiEhts redefine •h? prob(ern. 

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Empathy helps
define problem
Learn aboug users
through
rests new ideas
ptoject
ide }
Tests reveal i nsiEhts
redefine •h? prob(ern

MendIt – Public Infrastructure Damage Reporting App. 

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MendIt – Public Infrastructure Damage Reporting App

Department of Computer Science  Engineering

Name Reg. Number R.S.G Ruthwik 24L31A05AA S. Gnaneswar 24L31A05AU P. Jayadeep 24L31A05W1 P. Ravi Chandrahash 24L31A05X2 P. Rishitha 24L31A05Y8

Mentor  Dr. A. Sampath Dakshina Murthy Senior Associate Professor   Head Vignan’s Centre for Innovations & Startups

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 3. Contents. 

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Abstract Graphical Abstract Problem Identification Design Thinking Process Overview Empathize Define Ideate Prototype Test Proposed Innovative Solution

Proof of Concept (PoC) Validation Components / Software Tools Technology Readiness Levels Challenges Output of the Project Video Link  |  Poster  |  Output Images Conclusion  |  Future Scope References

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 4. Abstract. 

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Problem: Road potholes and civic infrastructure damages are reported late or not at all, causing accidents, vehicle damage, and significant delays in daily commute. Solution: MendIt is a smart mobile/web application that enables citizens to instantly report public infrastructure damage with GPS location tagging, photo evidence, and damage categorisation. Mechanism: Reports are auto-routed to the concerned municipal department (Roads, Water Board, Electricity), and citizens receive real-time status updates via SMS/push notifications. Impact: MendIt aims to reduce infrastructure repair time, lower road accident rates, improve civic accountability, and foster active citizen participation in urban maintenance. Approach: Designed using the five-stage Design Thinking methodology — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test — centred on real user pain points validated through field research.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 5. Graphical Abstract. 

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A diagram of a graphic design

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 6. Problem Identification. 

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Core Problem: Road potholes and civic infrastructure damages are reported late or not at all, causing accidents, vehicle damage, and significant delays in commute. Existing Gap: No efficient, real-time channel exists for citizens to report infrastructure damage directly to municipal authorities with verifiable evidence. Who is Affected: Daily commuters, pedestrians, vehicle owners, and emergency service providers who depend on safe and well-maintained roads. Current Limitations: Manual helpline calls go unanswered; social media posts lack GPS data and formal tracking; government web portals are desktop-only with no real-time status updates. Objective: Develop a public infrastructure damage reporting app that enables quick citizen reporting, auto-assigns complaints to concerned departments, and tracks resolution status in real time.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 7. Design Thinking – Empathize. 

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Research Methods: Conducted user interviews and field surveys with daily commuters, auto-rickshaw drivers, pedestrians, and municipal officers in Visakhapatnam. Key Finding 1: Citizens are unaware of whom to contact when they encounter road damage; there is no single, accessible reporting channel. Key Finding 2: Even when complaints are raised via phone or social media, there is no acknowledgment, status update, or assurance of action from authorities. Key Finding 3: Municipal officers are overwhelmed by unstructured, unverified complaints that lack location data and photographic evidence, making prioritisation difficult. Empathy Insight: Users need a fast (under 60 seconds), app-based reporting tool that works with minimal steps and provides transparent, real-time feedback on complaint resolution.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 8. Design Thinking – Define. 

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Problem Statement: Citizens lack a fast, reliable, and accountable channel to report public infrastructure damage, resulting in delayed repairs, safety hazards, and civic frustration. User Persona 1 – Daily Commuter (Ravi, 32): Rides a motorbike daily. Frustrated by potholes causing tyre damage and near-accidents. Needs a fast, one-tap reporting solution. User Persona 2 – Senior Citizen (Lakshmi, 65): Walks to market; nearly fallen on broken footpaths. Needs a simple app with large buttons and minimal steps. User Persona 3 – Municipal Officer (Suresh, 45): Overwhelmed by unstructured phone/social media complaints. Needs a structured dashboard to prioritise and assign field teams efficiently. HMW Statement: How might we make it effortless for citizens to report infrastructure damage so that authorities can respond and resolve issues faster and more accountably?

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 9. Design Thinking – Ideate. 

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Brainstorming Output: Generated 30+ ideas across team sessions; shortlisted five core features based on feasibility, desirability, and viability scoring. Feature 1: GPS-based damage location pinning — auto-fills precise coordinates so citizens need not describe the location manually. Feature 2: Photo/video evidence upload — citizens capture proof at the time of reporting, reducing false complaints and aiding field teams. Feature 3: Damage category selection (Pothole, Footpath, Streetlight, Drain, Tree Fall) — enables smart auto-routing to the correct department. Feature 4: Real-time complaint tracker with colour-coded status badges (Pending / In Progress / Resolved) and automated SMS/push notifications at each stage.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 10. Design Thinking – Prototype. 

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Screen 1 – Home / Report Screen: Clean landing screen with a prominent 'Report Damage' button, recent complaints feed, and a live map showing nearby unresolved issues. Screen 2 – Submission Form: Step-by-step form: auto-fill GPS location → upload photo → select damage type → add description (optional) → Submit. Completed in under 3 taps. Screen 3 – My Complaints Tracker: List view of all user-submitted complaints with colour-coded status badges: Yellow (Pending), Blue (In Progress), Green (Resolved). Screen 4 – Authority Dashboard: Municipality admin view: heat map of damage clusters, filter by category/zone/date, one-click assignment to field teams, and status update panel. Prototype Tool: Low-fidelity wireframes designed using Figma; paper prototypes tested with 15 users across three age groups for usability validation.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 11. Design Thinking – Test. 

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Testing Method: Conducted usability testing with 15 participants (students, working professionals, senior citizens) using paper prototypes and a Figma clickable prototype. Finding 1: 12 of 15 users completed the report submission in under 60 seconds; 3 users struggled with the category selection — simplified to icons with labels. Finding 2: Senior citizen users requested larger tap targets and fewer steps; redesigned submission flow reduced taps from 5 to 3. Finding 3: Municipal officer testers appreciated the GPS-tagged map view and bulk-assign feature; requested priority scoring to be displayed per complaint. Iteration: Based on feedback, added a priority score badge (Low/Medium/High) computed from upvotes, damage category, and days since report — iterated prototype to v2.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 12. Proposed Innovative Solution. 

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MendIt App: A smart mobile/web application that enables any citizen to report infrastructure damage in under 60 seconds using GPS, camera, and category selection. Auto-Routing Engine: Backend logic automatically assigns each complaint to the correct municipal department based on damage category — eliminating manual triage delays. Real-Time Dashboard: Municipal officers access a live heat map of complaints, filter by zone/category, assign field teams with one click, and update repair status in real time. Citizen Notifications: Automated SMS and push notifications keep the complainant informed at every stage: Received → Assigned → In Progress → Resolved. Accountability Audit Trail: Every complaint is logged with a timestamp, officer assignment, and resolution timestamp — creating a transparent, searchable civic maintenance record.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 13. Proof of Concept (PoC). 

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Objective: Validate that a citizen can successfully report infrastructure damage and the report reaches the correct municipal department using a working prototype. PoC Setup: A React Native app prototype connected to a Node.js backend with a PostgreSQL database was deployed on a local server for controlled testing. Test Scenario: Three simulated reports were submitted — a pothole (Roads Dept.), a streetlight failure (Electricity Dept.), and a drain overflow (Water Board) — all with GPS + photo. Result 1: All three complaints were correctly auto-routed to the respective departments within 2 seconds of submission based on category selection. Result 2: Complaint confirmation SMS and dashboard entry were generated successfully; the authority panel displayed each report with location pin, photo, and priority score. Conclusion: PoC confirms core functionality — GPS capture, photo upload, auto-routing, and notification — is technically feasible and working as designed.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 14. Validation. 

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User Testing: Usability tested with 15 participants across 3 groups — students (5), working professionals (5), and senior citizens (5) — using a Figma clickable prototype. Task Completion Rate: 14 of 15 users (93%) completed a damage report submission in under 60 seconds on first attempt, without any guidance from the evaluator. SUS Score: System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 82.3/100 (rated 'Excellent'), indicating high learnability and satisfaction among target users. Expert Review: Two municipal corporation officers reviewed the authority dashboard prototype and confirmed the GPS heat map, category filter, and assignment workflow met operational requirements. Technical Validation: Auto-routing logic tested with 20 complaint types — 100% correct department assignment. Average API response time: 1.4 seconds on a standard mobile network. Iteration: Post-testing, submission steps reduced from 5 to 3 taps; font sizes increased for senior users; category icons added — all validated in a second round of testing.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 15. Components Required / Software Tools. 

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Frontend React Native (Android & iOS app),  React.js (Web dashboard),  Figma (UI/UX design & prototyping) Backend & Database Node.js + Express.js (REST API),  PostgreSQL (relational database),  Firebase (authentication & push notifications) Cloud & DevOps AWS / Google Cloud Platform (hosting),  Docker (containerisation),  GitHub (version control & CI/CD) APIs & Services Google Maps API (GPS & location services),  Twilio SMS API (SMS notifications),  Firebase Cloud Messaging (push alerts) Development Tools VS Code (IDE),  Postman (API testing),  Android Studio / Xcode (mobile testing),  pgAdmin (database management)

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 16. Technology Readiness Levels (TRL). 

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TRL 1 – Basic Research: Identified core problem: delayed civic infrastructure reporting. Reviewed 6+ research papers on smart city applications, crowdsourced damage detection, and mobile governance. TRL 2 – Technology Concept: Defined solution concept: GPS + photo-based mobile reporting app with auto-routing logic and real-time citizen notifications. TRL 3 – Experimental Proof: Built analytical models for auto-routing (category → department mapping) and priority scoring algorithm validated on simulated complaint datasets. TRL 4 – Lab Validation (Current Level): Functional prototype built and tested in controlled lab environment — auto-routing, GPS, photo upload, and dashboard verified. SUS score: 82.3/100. TRL 5 – Next Step (Relevant Environment): Planned: Deploy beta version in one ward/zone of Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation for real-world pilot testing with actual citizens and officers. TRL 6–9 – Future Roadmap: Gradual city-wide scaling, integration with Smart City Mission portals, addition of AI-based damage classification, and potential national CPGRAMS API integration.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 17. Challenges. 

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Citizen Adoption: Encouraging citizens to shift from informal channels (phone calls, social media) to a formal app requires targeted awareness campaigns and trust-building with municipal bodies. GPS Accuracy in Dense Areas: In urban high-rise zones or narrow lanes, GPS accuracy may degrade to ±10m, causing slight location mismatch — mitigated by allowing user to drag-and-pin location on map. Photo Quality and Validation: Low-quality or irrelevant photos submitted by users could slow down verification — addressed through AI-based image relevance check (planned in future scope). Government Integration: Onboarding municipal departments and training officers on the dashboard requires institutional buy-in and official MoU with the corporation — a key policy challenge. Duplicate Complaint Management: Multiple citizens may report the same pothole, flooding the dashboard. Addressed via a clustering algorithm that merges reports within 50m radius with matching category. Offline Functionality: Citizens in low-connectivity areas may be unable to submit in real time — planned fix: offline draft mode that queues and auto-submits when connectivity is restored.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 18. Output of the Project. 

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Deliverables Produced Functional App Prototype: A working Figma + React Native prototype demonstrating the full citizen reporting flow — GPS capture, photo upload, category selection, submission, and tracking. Authority Dashboard Mockup: A web-based municipal officer dashboard showing live complaint map, queue management, field team assignment, and status update features. Video Link Demo video showing end-to-end app workflow — citizen report submission to complaint resolution — available at: [Insert Video Link] Poster A3 project poster: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ltyei2vlRBh5x2fuWRpw2lOE2RKyHTID/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1 Output Images Screenshots of app screens (Home, Report Form, Tracker, Dashboard), architecture diagram, and user flow diagram — attached in appendix slides.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 19. System Architecture. 

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Citizen Layer (Frontend): React Native mobile app (Android/iOS) and responsive web app; handles user registration, GPS capture, photo upload, category selection, and complaint submission. API Gateway: RESTful API (Node.js/Express) serving as the interface between the frontend and backend; handles authentication (JWT), rate limiting, and request validation. Backend / Routing Engine: Cloud-based server (AWS/GCP) processes complaint data, applies auto-routing logic based on damage category, and stores records in a PostgreSQL database. Authority Dashboard: Web-based admin panel for municipal officers — displays a live map (Google Maps API), complaint queue, priority scores, field team assignment, and status update controls. Notification Service: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for push notifications; Twilio SMS API for SMS alerts; triggers sent at each complaint status change automatically.

Citizen Layer (Frontend)
• Use Regristratim
a • Photo Upload
• CarplaintSWnission
React Native mobile app
(Ardro•d/lOS) & App
RESTful API
Authority Dashboard
• Live Map (Google Maps Apt)
• Cnlaint Priority *ores
• Team Assignment' Status Wxiates
RESTful API
API Gateway
• Nodejs/Express
(RESTful API)
• JWT Authenticatim
• Rate Lrnitim
• Request Validatim
bli&jS
4-
Show Data & Cmtrols
Updates
Backend / Routing Engine
Cloud-based Server
(AWS/GCP)
• Complint Processing
• AutoRouting Logic PostgreSQL
• Database
Handle
Send Alerts
Notification Service
• Push Notifications
• SMSA1erts

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 20. Key Features of the App. 

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GPS-Based Location Tagging: Auto-captures precise coordinates of the damage site, eliminating ambiguity and allowing authorities to locate issues without manual description. Photo & Video Evidence Upload: Citizens attach visual proof at the time of reporting, reducing false complaints and providing clear documentation for repair teams. Damage Category Selection: Users choose from: Pothole, Broken Footpath, Fallen Tree, Streetlight Failure, Drain Overflow — enabling smart auto-routing to the correct department. Real-Time Complaint Tracker: A personal dashboard shows status of all submitted complaints with timestamps, assigned department, and estimated resolution date. Priority Scoring: Each complaint receives an auto-computed priority score (Low/Medium/High) based on upvotes, damage category severity, and number of days since reporting.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 21. Target Beneficiaries. 

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Daily Commuters: Motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians who face safety hazards from potholes and damaged roads daily — the primary reporters and most impacted group. Senior Citizens & Differently Abled: Individuals who depend on safe, accessible footpaths and walkways; provided with a simplified 3-tap reporting experience and large UI targets. Municipal Corporations & Civic Bodies: Government departments responsible for urban infrastructure maintenance; benefit from structured, geo-tagged complaint data and an efficient assignment dashboard. Emergency Services: Ambulances, fire brigades, and police vehicles that require clear, well-maintained roads for rapid response — benefit from timely pothole repairs. Urban Planners & Smart City Initiatives: Aggregate complaint data reveals infrastructure decay patterns by zone and season — enabling data-driven preventive maintenance and budget allocation.

Department of Computer Science Engineering. 22. Expected Outcomes & Benefits. 

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Faster Issue Resolution: Geo-tagged reports with photographic evidence reduce investigation time, enabling repair teams to reach exact locations without delay. Reduced Road Accidents: Timely pothole and footpath repairs directly lower accident rates, vehicle damage claims, and pedestrian injuries in urban areas. Improved Civic Accountability: Every complaint is logged with timestamps and officer assignments, creating a transparent audit trail that holds authorities accountable. Higher Citizen Engagement: An easy-to-use app encourages proactive reporting, transforming passive residents into active contributors to urban maintenance. Data-Driven Urban Maintenance: Aggregated complaint data by zone, category, and season enables predictive maintenance scheduling and smarter allocation of civic budgets.

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