Flicker

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project was that we often eat out with friends, and most of the time the experience was less enjoyable. We took all the things that we saw needed to be improved on in the dining experience and made sure to include features that covered those problems.

What it does

Our hack starts with user created accounts where a consumer would access a QR code from a restaurant that they are dining at, then it proceeds to go through the entire ordering process such as adding specific items to the cart.

Based on this, we made it available for consumers to split the bill among others that they dine with. With it being as easy as scanning a QR code, users are able to add others to their bill and then select who ate which items. This takes the hassle out of figuring out who owes who, how much to pay someone, and takes away the possibility of someone not paying you back. Splitting the check was something we noticed was difficult for a lot of restaurants, so we wanted to automate the process, along with ordering to make it much easier for consumers, as well as allows for restaurants to become more automated, reducing their operating costs. Our idea is that our company will foot the bill that is split to other users, and a charge for their portion will appear in their account that they have to pay off.

How we built it

First we started with a brainstorm for the items and processes we needed to include. Then, we moved onto mapping the order of the processes and functions. Within our group, we split up responsibilities such as some people were in charge of the front end, while others worked on the back end. We then used Github and MongoDB to make sure that our project all linked up.

Challenges we ran into

A challenge that we ran into was ensuring the safety of our users. When looking at the options for splitting the bill, we realized that it wasn't particularly hard for some users to take advantage of our system. From there we had to re-think our whole process to make sure that users were not taken advantage of. We ended up brainstorming ideas of how some users might take advantage of each system we thought of and finally decided to change from a remote system to a process that happens in the flesh.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we finished planning and coding some intricate processes within the time limit. We were able to include many of the things we thought of that would increase user enjoyment. In addition to the many different features that are available on our website.

What we learned

I think one of our major achievements was the ability of working in an team environment for coding. This hackathon really brought out the process of developing a project. Deciding who should work on what, making sure that what we coded did not conflict, communicate what parts we needed from who, and brainstorming as a team were all skills that we picked up in this tight period.

What's next for Flicker

After this, we want to look for ways to improve customer satisfaction with the process, while also making sure that vendors are a priority. Things such as allowing for vendors to customize the process with background pictures, or adding special sales will definitely improve traction among both consumers and vendors.