BeanSprout

Inspiration

Children learn lifelong financial literacy as early as preschool. When conducting independent research, we noticed a significant gap in the market. Existing ‘banking apps for kids’ catered mostly to older children and teens, leaving a void for a younger audience. Determined to fill this void, we embarked on a mission to create something never seen before. We saw the need for a platform that could empower children to develop these healthy money habits from an early age. Inspired by their curiosity and eagerness to learn, we created BeanSprout, a plant-themed financial savings app designed specifically for kids aged 7 to 12. Our goal is to cultivate a generation of financially savvy individuals who can confidently navigate the world of money while having a blast along the way.

What it does

The foundation of our application is to teach children how to handle and save money. It allows the parent to open a savings account for their child. In doing so, the parent can download this application where it will teach the child the save money. The main page is divided into two sections -- wallet and savings. There, the user would be able to see an overview of how much money they are able to used and how much they have saved. Under the saved part, it would allow the user to create goals where they could learn to put aside money for larger purchases that they want. An example would be saving up to buy a new bicycle. Each new goal, the child would pick a seed and watch it grow as they put money towards that goal. The second portion is where they child to earn money from their parents. The 'My Task' portion lists the different chores that the child could do. By completing each chore, they would be paid in allowance.

How we built it

All designs and built were done within our team. Dana created the design for each page layout while Cynthia build the frontend of the application within Android Studios. Design elements were compiled using figma.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the hackathon, we challenged ourselves to step outside our comfort zone… way outside our comfort zone. The members of our team were complete strangers until yesterday morning. We still know very little about each other but we know our app like the back of our hands. We pushed ourselves to learn everything we can, taking a step by step approach until we got something we were happy with. This weekend, we truly embraced the concept of continuous learning, adapting to new tools and techniques on the fly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Words cannot express how personally proud we are to have completed this hackathon. The journey was filled with challenges and intensity, but our unwavering perseverance as a team led us to a product that we are proud of. The dedication to overcoming a steep learning curve, countless hours of hard work, and heaps of collaboration displayed throughout the event have left us with a great sense of accomplishment. This experience will forever hold a special place in our hearts as our very first hackathon.

What we learned

Over the past 24 hours, we have learned a lot. In addition to coding aspect, we also learned about planning and teamwork. We learned different coding languages and how the front end of an application works. We also learned that we should stick to our original idea instead of changing a few times midway through. We also learned how API works and am learning how to incorporate that into our application.

What's next for BeanSprout

We hope to collaborate with our original team members and take BeanSprout to the next level. We are excited to continue the app as we gain more experience in our respective fields. We hope the app can be expanded to a working prototype that we can possibly roll out to the public.