BlockWise

Place recommendations based on a specific tag in the home tab
Search bar, with date & time and location filters
User's Profile, showing credit tracking, events attended/hosted, tags
Home tab, showing tags followed
Hosting events page

Inspiration

We were inspired to build BlockWise out of the issues we were facing when travelling to new cities, where we struggle to find genuine travel experiences with people who share similar interests. Similarly, we recognsise this as a prevalent issues affecting both tourists and newcomers who want to connect with like-minded communities. This issue is particularly important in our world where technology begins to isolate us, disconnecting us even from people that are in our own neighbourhood. We want to create a technology that flips this dynamic.

What it does

BlockWise allows users to host events or attend them. We utilise a credit system where you spend credits attending events and earn them back by hosting (e.g. group hangouts, city tours). This motivates people to genuinely connect with their community in a welcoming atmosphere, and with less financial constraints. The website works to find things you truly care about, users are able to select their interests under different tags. It also creates for a localised experience, prioritising events hosted near your block.

How we built it

Our team splits up into the front-end and backend teams. We drafted our mockups in Figma and leverage the help of Claude Coding Agent to build our frontend component. For the backend, we started off with a schema for the structure of events' data. Based off this schema, we created the backend logic and APIs. We added our HTML file to our repository, repalcing the hard-coded data and connect it to the backend.

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge we ran into was figuring out how to deemphasise financial transactions from the value of social connection. We want a system that naturally incentivise people to contribute and give back to their communities and have authentic experiences. Our solution to this is our current credit system. Another challenge we ran into was privacy issues regarding how to balance transparency and anonymity to allow users to feel safe using the app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The BlockWise team built a full-featured platform for discovering and hosting community events. The home page shows nearby events in real time, while the host planning section lets users create events, set details, and cap the number of attendees. Attendees can browse and book a time and venue, then leave comments to share their experience, though we intentionally left out a ratings system to keep the focus on community feedback rather than scores. Together, these features create a seamless flow from discovery to hosting to attendance.

What we learned

We learnt how to translate an ambitious idea under time constraints, and understand what core features to prioritise for a minimum viable product as our submission. We also learnt the value of intentional design choices on how users feel when interacting with the app. On the technical side, we gained experience structuring data around the relationships between hosts, events, and attendees, and coordinating handoffs between frontend and backend, as well as how we can leverage AI coding agent. Most importantly, we learned how to work as a team under pressure and efficiently delegating roles.

What's next for BlockWise

To improve public access and reach, BlockWise could expand into a native iOS and Android app with push notifications for nearby events and a credit streak system to encourage regular engagement. Future versions could also support multiple languages and regions, along with overseas event browsing, allowing newcomers to explore and plan around local events even before they arrive in a new city.