Inspiration
Our team and I wanted to create a product that would address an area of social good and education. Specifically, with the 2020 presidential election coming up, we were inspired to create a solution to today's problematic political climate. It is no secret that young voters do not take advantage of their voting rights (especially in critical elections), and we wanted to devise a solution to the recurring dilemma of low voter engagement. And what better way to appeal to the youth than to make an interactive app?
What it does
In terms of the UI/UX, our team was inspired by...Tinder. We wanted to emulate the quality user engagement with the app in our own project to appeal to a younger demographic. In our web app, users can swipe right or left on the agenda of political candidates which they agree or disagree with. In the end, users are "matched" with the candidate that best aligns with their beliefs. However, we ensured that users are not exposed to bias when swiping by eliminating the candidates' names and pictures. This specific feature allows users to make informed decisions rather than vote along party lines.
How we built it
We built this web app using HTML, CSS elements for the front-end development. Additionally, we used JavaScript components for the back-end. However, the main part of this project was implementing the LeapMotion, a hand sensor that actually allows users to swipe among the candidates.
Challenges we faced
We faced several challenges throughout the process of creating our project. First, not everyone on our team was familiar with JavaScript and Python, so it was difficult to implement the Leap Motion API. Despite reaching out to multiple mentors, we found that the sensor we had chosen for this task was very finicky and not as accurate as we had hoped. Most of our time was spend implementing this piece of technology, especially because it was our first time using hardware. Lastly, we had trouble with some of the more tedious styling components of our web app. However, despite being pushed out of our comfort zones, we were able to create a viable prototype.
What we learned and future goals
We learned how to collaborate as a team and understand that failure is just another vital part of this process. However, our failures have shown us what we like and dislike about our project so we can build upon it for the future. We intend on making Know Your Vote a mobile app in the future for both iOS and Android devices.
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