Touring an Online Study Cafe

by 10 Best Design

If you follow the numerous internet usage trends among younger individuals, there is a good chance you have noticed YouTube channels that promote "study sessions" that stream live during a certain time. The mechanism is simple: Users who access the channel, which invariably plays lo-fi hip-hop music in the background along with an ambiance track, can participate in a sidebar text chat. A background image shows a coffee shop interior with limited animation.

How would you build a website that improves upon the aforementioned YouTube experience? What kind of tools would you use to develop it? These questions were recently posted by a student to an online forum dedicated to web design, and the project outline boiled down to:

  • The cafe is open 24 hours a day.

  • The background animates according to the timezone of the IP address; for example, visitors who arrive in the late afternoon and stay for a couple of hours will get a sunset effect.

  • The music will be chosen by visitors who can pick from various playlists.

  • The ambiance will also be selected by visitors; examples would include a Christmas cafe, Korean tea shop, a seaside spot in Ibiza, an old bookstore with a cafe section, and a modern shop such as Starbucks.

  • A web-based text chat app will be accessible to visitors.

  • A podcast will be available to visitors who wish to take a 15-minute break from studying.

The recommendations given by forum members included:

  • Using Firebase for the bulk of the project. This framework includes a chat feature, a reservations module, and plenty of database functionality where the backgrounds can be stored and called up. This approach presents a learning curve, particularly with regard to responsive design.

  • Since the project will require quite a bit of coding, some users proposed Mozilla Hubs as an option. With this tool, users can create virtual reality spaces designed to work with modern browsers. While the exact cafe experienced as explained above may not be fully achieved on Mozilla Hubs, it can always be used as a wire framing tool to get the idea of how the project will look like. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/webdesign/comments/mqod7r/virtualcoffeeshopwebsitehowcanidoitis_it/.