What it does
The platform matches people who are willing and able to help others, to those in need. In the UK, and by proxy many countries worldwide, a lot of people have been negatively affected by Covid-19 and also the lockdown strategy that has been widely implemented. This platform allows people that want to reach out to others, to actually do that and get a response. Whether it is helping with the weekly shop to ensure that people have the right food and are not going days and weeks with insufficient food or just a call to comfort and let them know that things will be alright, you can request it on the platform. The different requests and users will be visible and those who have signed up as "helpers" will be able to select them. They can then get in contact with the person who created the request and help them fulfil it. Something that humans do normally, out of the kindness of their hearts, is now given a formal platform. Making it easier to reach those in need, and also reach out for a helping hand.
How We built it
The platform is mainly React-based. React is a JavaScript framework used for web development and allows pages to be responsive. We can have a single page application with different sections, such as the helper's page, sign up and log in, and also the about section. The platform is hosted using Firebase, which was also quick and easy to get up and running. We can deploy our platform straight from the command line with Firebase's CLI which also allows for quick CI/CD.
Challenges we ran into
Initially, we created a wireframe which gave us a rough idea of how the platform would look. But transferring this to a working website took a lot more effort. As we also wanted the platform to be responsive and easy to use, we had to base all our design decisions around this. We decided to go for a simple colour scheme, that was not harsh on the eyes. As well as a mascot which would allow users to relate to our mission and platform a lot more. We then researched different web frameworks that would allow for quick and easy development and from there we started building the platform.
What's next for Helping Hand
The next stage for Helping Hand would be to connect it to a database service such as DataStrax Alpha. This will allow us to have a fully operational and authenticated user login/sign up process. From there, we can then start to test the web platform with different users and see how effective they find it. Since we already use Firebase to host and deploy the platform, this gives us the ability to also track and measure how users interact with the platform. Which we can use feedback for how to develop it.
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