Exhale: Quit your Nicotine Addiction

PITCH DECK IS LINKED AT BOTTOM

Inspiration

Currently, we are in an e-cigarette epidemic. Despite the number of users of cigarettes quickly declining, especially in the younger population, number of e-cigarette users (specifically JUUL) is increasing at a swift pace. Already, 5.3 million minors are using e-cigarettes. From 2017 to 2019, e-cigarette use among high school students has risen by 135%, and there is no sign of it slowing down. There is a huge gap in the market for a discrete tool for minors to use in order to battle an addiction that is incredibly difficult to recover from. I wanted to provide an option for those who want recovery but do not feel like they could commit due to lack of resources/motivation.

What it does

Exhale is an app that provides structure + support essential to move towards a nicotine addiction free life. It has a multitude of features that are essential to ensure a safe environment for a difficult process:

1. Only available for teens In order to make this a safe community, you must go through a student verification process to make an account

2. Discrete Application Many teens do not want parents/family members to know that they are a user of an e-cigarrette. In order to prevent barriers to downloading the app, the app image and name is abstract and a login is necessary to see more information on your profile/the application.

3. Track Your Progress + Achievements See quantifiable proof that your efforts ARE working! Keep track of your e-cigarette use, how your cravings decrease over time, and your money saved! 5% of the users total money saved from not using e-cigarettes can be donated to the charity of their choice. Unlock achievements that recognize your milestones!

4. Community Support is at your fingertips from other teens who know first hand what you are going through. Follow different forums, such as tips & tricks, success stories, etc..

5. Live Support Chat Need someone to talk to, support to deal with cravings, etc..? The live support chat is a tool available that allows any user to text a certified counselor.

How I built it

I used wireframe.cc to create the wireframe in the slide deck. A lot of the illustrations, logo, etc.. was created in Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The programming was done on python and used tutorials + online websites to help guide me in creating it.

The entry I submitted includes a youtube video of a walk through of the app (how it would look like to a user who was logging in, looking at her progress/accomplishments, contributing to forum) that I made through a screen recording on my phone and the slide deck, which I made in google slides.

Challenges I ran into

Going into the hackathon, I already had an idea that I was very excited and passionate about making a reality. I initially had a partner who had a deep knowledge of coding and would be incredibly valuable to the project as I have very little coding experience (one semester in my freshman year). However, in the afternoon she decided to switch projects so I had to figure out the majority of the coding on my own. I used every resource I had on hand (mentors, peers, and even my dad over the phone who has a lot of experience with coding) to help me figuring out the basics, work through bugs, and have a fresh set of eyes on my work.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am proud of asking for help, staying engaged and in the moment, and listening to my body. I worked incredibly hard on the design aspect of my presentation (slide deck) as I know that it needed to make up for my coding inexperience. I do feel proud of the end product, although I think that the app could have been much more clean if I had a partner. I took full advantage of the resources available, from the various workshops I attended to reaching out to mentors/peers. I am very introverted, so being in a packed building with hundreds of other girls is not my dream place. Regardless, I had an incredible time and met some incredible people. As a perfectionist, it was difficult to finally turn in the project and "finish", but I felt tired and drained, so I did what I knew would be best for me mentally and physically and went to sleep :)

What I learned

1) It does not matter your previous experience with coding... you still add value 2) Ask questions, no matter how small 3) Celebrate your small victories + use incentives to not give up (stretching, have a snack, watch a youtube video, ...)

What's next for Exhale

I definitely want to hone in on the app and its design. In the future, I want to make the interface more user friendly and clean/professional. The marketing component in my pitch deck is something that I will put in motion once I feel happy with the app interface.

Built With

• adobe-illustrator
• google-slides
• photoshop
• python
• wireframe.cc