Better

Bet on a better you. Turn your goals into reality by staking money on your commitments. Let friends support your journey and prove you can achieve anything.

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Inspiration

As college students, we have many things that we want to do, but we may lack the motivation to do them. What if there was an app that encouraged you to finish your goals? Better was created to bridge that gap between intention and action by introducing accountability, community, and financial incentives.

What it does

Better is both a mobile app and website that encourages users to accomplish their goals by allowing users to place financial stakes on the goals they want to complete. Friends can support each other by financially contributing to these goals, capping out at the amount the user puts up with their goal. When a user creates a goal, their objective is to complete it within the deadline they set.

  • If a user is successful: They win back the amount they staked, plus the money contributed by their friends.
  • If a user is unsuccessful: Friends get their donated money refunded back to them, plus another 100% of what they donated (paid out by the stake from the user). Any remaining funds go toward a charity they selected.

Our mission is to promote accountability, both toward personal goals and financial responsibility, to ultimately increase follow-through and long-term compliance.

How we built it

Frontend:

  • iOS app: Built using SwiftUI.
  • Web app: Built using TypeScript with Next.js.
  • Handles the user interface for creating and viewing goals, making contributions, and interacting with friends.

Backend:

  • Nessie API: Simulates payments for staking on goals or contributing to friends’ goals.
  • Knot API: Allows users to sign in to their preferred merchants for purchase-related goals to ensure accountability.
  • Firebase:
    • Stores all posts made on both platforms.
    • Updates user feeds in real time.
    • Tracks and manages users’ network of friends.

Challenges we ran into

We encountered several challenges along the way. One of our main concerns was ensuring that our explanation of the product wasn’t overly complex, given how nuanced the idea is.

Additionally, we wanted to provide a consistent UX between all our features between IOS and the web. This created challenges in delegation and integration, as we had to create both a native IOS app and a web app, forcing us to be realistic about which features prioritize.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to build a functional and cohesive product in a short timeframe. We successfully integrated multiple technologies and languages that most of us have never used before. In addition to its functionality, we were able to keep the design, UI, and UX relatively consistent and appealing.

What we learned

We learned how important clarity is when communicating a multi-layered idea like Better. We practiced simplifying complex workflows into digestible, compartmentalized pieces. This allowing us to gained experience in full-stack development and collaborative Git workflows. Most specifically, we were able to gain a lot of experience from integrating Knot API, Nessie API , and Firebase.

What's next for Better

Moving forward, we want to expand Better in several directions:

  • Adding social features such as comments, streaks, and progress feeds
  • Enhancing analytics so users can visualize their growth and financial patterns
  • Introducing AI-driven goal suggestions and progress tracking
  • Continue developing ways to verify completion of a goal

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