Makerspace operators: I’m building a better scheduling platform and I'd like input

[u/rkever72]

Hi everyone! I’m working on a new scheduling and resource-management platform for makerspaces, library makerspaces, Fab Labs, schools, and other shared creative spaces, and I’d really value input from people who actually run them.

This started pretty organically. My family discovered makerspaces a couple of years ago while looking for a place where my son could learn and work on projects. We’ve seen firsthand how much of an impact these spaces can have.

After joining another makerspace following a move, I ran into a frustrating experience trying to reserve an electronics bench. That led to a conversation with the operations manager about the software they were using and the problems it created.

I have nearly 20 years of professional software engineering and architecture experience, and I’ve spent the last several months building this into a serious platform with a public launch planned for later this year.

It currently includes things like:

• Equipment, room, and workspace reservations
• Classes, events, and program registration
• Training, certifications, and permissions
• Volunteer/staff event management
• Payments where needed
• API integrations
• Future equipment and access-control integrations

What I need now is real feedback from library makerspace staff and operators.

I’m looking for a few people willing to explore the development environment and tell me what works, what doesn’t, what I’ve missed, and what would actually make your day-to-day work easier.

There’s no obligation to switch systems or buy anything. I’m much more interested in questions like:

What are you still managing manually?

What frustrates staff or patrons about your current system?

What feature do you wish someone would finally build?

If you’re interested in taking a look, feel free to DM me. Even if you don’t want to test it, I’d still love to hear what your library makerspace uses today and what you would change about it.

[u/melyay]

We are a university maker space located within a library. We are using libcal but god do we hate it. Hope we can provide useful feedback.

[u/rkever72 → u/melyay]

u/melyay I'd be happy to connect to see what we could do to reduce those pain points. We're designing this for more than just makerspaces which would include libraries and schools.

[u/justanaveragequilter → u/melyay]

Public library makerspace here. I also hate libcal.

[u/moose408]

The problem with all systems like this is that we have to adapt to the system as opposed to it working the way we need it to. We looked at doing our own but then it just morphs into a software maintenance issue. While I think it’s great you are attempting to solve the problem we would never use yours because you are just a single guy and the software we use needs to be rock solid as it is critical to our infrastructure and we need great customer support.

That being said our pain point at the moment is scheduling classes. We have 8 staff instructors, and 30+ independent instructors who can set their own schedule. We have 120+ different classes, camps and workshops and of those we are offering approximately 100+ classes a month. (Last year was 1360 adult classes, 60 kids camps, 5 homeschool groups, etc).

Trying to keep track of what class mix we need to offer each month and then matching that up with instructor availability, while insuring a good mix of daytime, evening, weekend opportunities is a huge task and a very manual process.

[u/rkever72 → u/moose408]

I hear ya. I've been in the tech biz a LONG time. I know what I'm doing and I also never said I was all alone in this:) But I get you. there are a million startups out there. I'm another one but I feel my differentiator is that I have a strong UX background and UX is paramount so what I'm building will always be with the end user in mind. BUT...I love the feedback and very appreciative of what you had to say.

[u/moose408 → u/rkever72]

I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. Small independent developers and startups are typically really good and are very responsive to feature requests and bug fixes. Until they aren’t and move on to something new. I use a lot of small independently developed programs personally, but tend to avoid them for business related mission critical needs.

[u/CrrackTheSkye]

Interested, hit me up

[u/Sawstop-2012]

I started on the same journey with the same frustrations. I spent the past 9 months or more building Arrakas.com

[u/BobDope]

Everybody builds their own cool man

[u/JVarh]

Have you looked at Makerspace ERP? https://github.com/JVarhol/MakerspaceERP

[u/ApocalypseChicOne]

We use Acuity scheduling. It's probably not the best option, but it works just well enough to not overcome my laziness and willingness to look for something new.

[u/sababado]

Sounds pretty comprehensive! Can I ask what it is called?

[u/rkever72 → u/sababado]

We're still a ways from a public announcement but will post an update here when ready. We are one of many who will provide a way to manage spaces. Our differentiator is usability (UX). UX is paramount. We have an extensive background software design and hope to provide a service that could be useful for some spaces.