Animal Crackers

Mock UI Diagram in Planning Stages
Android app Login Screen
Android app Search Menu
Webapp Homescreen
Search Result Menu

Inspiration

Ever wanted to shop local but the availability and sheer number of chain stores distracted you from that goal? Animal Crackers removes that distraction.

What it does

Animal Crackers is a search engine that enables the user the ability to search for local vendors using tags (i.e. coffee shop, seamstress) while removing the clutter of chain stores so that the user can support independent, local vendors. Animal Crackers also incorporates a loyalty program element that grants the user a "10% off any order" discount upon presenting their logged in menu to any participating shop staff member.

Participating shops must opt into the loyalty program in order to be featured on Animal Crackers, as well they may opt into an advertising package in order to feature their shop as the top search result on Animal Crackers for a limited time only.

How I built it

We built this project in HTML & CSS for the front end component, with Javascript elements for functionality. As well, we leveraged the API in Node.js and integrated that with the frontend to yield a meaningful output.

Challenges I ran into

Challenges that we ran into included integrating the frontend and backend components of the project.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm proud of having soloed this hackathon to completion. My previous attempts at soloing hackathons don't always result in a completed project so I'm happy that I was able to stick this one out, especially given the remote nature of the e-hackathon.

What I learned

I was able to improve my front end web development skills vastly (which just over a week ago were entirely non existent).

What's next for Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers was a means to an end, with the end being to develop my web development skills. The next steps would be to develop my iOS and Android programming ability, so the natural next step for Animal Crackers would be to develop an iOS and Android app for Animal Crackers!