UF sophomore Michael Ullman is not the kind of guy most people imagine when they picture a Web site designer.
He is a UF Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Club member, a painter, a pre-med major and a twin, with no aspirations to design the next Facebook. Instead, Ullman designed a Web site to aid UF students in their search for volunteer opportunities.
His project, GatorHelpers.com, is an open-source site where organizations can post their volunteer openings, and students can search for work for free.
"Anybody can create an account, submit events instantly, edit, click to remember events and search for postings with specific criteria," Ullman said. "The main thing I wanted in the design was for it to be a simple process."
The idea came to Ullman last year, when he was looking for a volunteer job of his own.
"Freshman year I tried to get the volunteer thing going, but it was a pain to find everything," Ullman said. "Then in my English class we had to write a proposal for a project, and I realized that given a couple of extra things, I could get a Web site like this started."
Ullman already had some design experience before starting this project. In high school, he worked for the Vietnamese-American Broadcasting Company, where he designed DVD covers. He also designed T-shirts and was commissioned to design Web sites for other site owners.
With help from his twin brother, David, and some money from his parents, who are UF alumni, Ullman began creating his site over a year ago.
"It was tough, and I invested a lot of time in this project," Ullman said. "I used vacations and weekends. I always put my schoolwork before the site,"
Despite his expertise, Ullman still encountered a few problems while trying to get it up and running.
"I got in over my head technically, and I wanted to scrap it," he said. "But I invested enough hours into it that it would be a shame if I just quit."
Ullman employed someone else to help create a skeleton of the site that he could work off of. He created a Facebook group and invited friends for a test run.
With its recent public launch, Ullman has just started to promote GatorHelpers.com around campus. He has many plans for the future of the site - like giving away football tickets to active users. He is currently pursuing support from the Center for Leadership and Service.
"I just want it to be a known alternative on campus, an easy way to get volunteer opportunities," Ullman said.
He sees his Web site as just one of many that are emerging as technology makes it easier to access information.
"Kids are trying to take initiative. If they don't see something they need out there, they just make it," Ullman said.
