Tumble2Twinkle

Landing page wireframe
Contact seller wireframe
Swap wireframe
Buy wireframe
Product page wireframe
Sell wireframe
Appery app
Appery db

Inspiration

We had several streams of inspiration for this project.

As we all work for Lloyds Banking Group, we were inspired by our company's pledge to accelerate working with customers, government, and the market to help reduce the carbon emissions we finance by more than 50% by 2030;
We wanted to enable individuals to extract value out of unwanted items;
Due to the lockdown, people have spent more time at home than ever. From our own experience, that meant having a lot of time for home clear-outs - but what to do with your unwanted items?
A lot of people panic bought or hoarded food and household items, which they now realized they don't really need (we're guilty as charged for that too);
We felt frustrated at the lack of a solution in the market that allows a variety of options to maximise the potential use of items they own;
Car boot sales - we have missed those in lockdown!

What it does

Our app is a one-stop-shop to buy, lend, swap, and recycle all your items! It's convenient and easy to use and you no longer have the hassle of juggling multiple apps for multiple purposes (i.e. have one app to buy, another one to swap, etc.)

How we built it

We built it on Appery.io (link), a no/low code platform, where we created our Front end, Backend, and Database solutions all in one place.

Challenges we ran into

There were some challenges along the way, namely:

5 team members eventually ended up being 3 members, causing a bit of a resource pressure for us;
It took us a while to find a development platform. We firstly tried Webflow and AppyPie, but later discovered they don't have a backend/database feature, so we have to shit our efforts to find an alternative tool;
Although the platform fit the requirements, the real implementation exposed *lots of bugs and blockers * during the development process;
A steep learning curve in exploring and using Appery.io, which none of the team members have used before;
We didn't have enough time to establish uniqueness for the proposed solution, the elements that would have made the most difference.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're extremely proud of a lot of things! Such as:

Team members complemented each other;
We very quickly took ownership, established synergies among the team members, organised our time from the very start, and a plan of attack for deliverables;
Very proud of all team members having very quickly picked up technical skills which they were not familiar with previously;
Also time commitment on a weekend - working late nights and early mornings!

What we learned

Our learning never stopped this week and weekend! Amongst others, here are some key learnings:

Discovered and learned to use Appery.io (we may or may not continue developing apps on here in our spare time);
We all assumed multiple roles, from ideation to delivery. Full Software Development Lifecycle!
Startup environment - Very fast-paced. Working under pressure. Each individual doing multiple tasks;
Passionate about idea, as a driving force;
Very first Hackathon for most of the team.

What's next for Tumble2Twinkle

The future has a couple of things in store for us:

Recycle - Carbon dating lab, partnering with companies (e.g. H&M) to help recycle with the manufacturer.
Charity section in our app. Donate directly to charities. No collection bin, collections. Collection bags and collection days.
Introduce gamification to keep app users invested in the app
Gaming levels reflecting points that can be converted to cash - you can go from a Tumblerer to a Twinklerer!
The 'greener' the item of the transaction, the higher the assigned points. By greener we mean, the product is biodegradable, not made of virgin plastic, has low production cost, produced using non-fossil fuels and green energy.