LetterBox

Inspiration

The feeling of loneliness and feeling lost isn't connected with race, color, gender, ethnic background, etc. A feeling that has been experienced by many people but even more so in the LGBTQ community. I was inspired by a close friend's personal experience. My friend identifies themselves as a member of the LGBTQ community and once they had to move hundreds of miles away from home to start college, it was difficult to identify a safe space to speak freely when they were unsure of others' opinions and values, especially coming from a religious familial background that openly expressed dissent towards the LGBTQ community. For the first half of their college experience, they tried their best to conform to common societal stereotypes by maintaining a low-profile. They did not feel like there was an opportunity to express themselves and didn't know where to seek help or guidance.

What it does

LetterBox aims to provide letters drawn from personal experiences to help uplift those experiencing a rough time. And by reading messages posted by others who went through similar instances, it lets them know that they're not alone. The user has the option to either read a letter or write a letter. If the user decides to read a message, they get to choose a category based on what they are currently feeling (ie. lonely, sad, depressed, grateful, inspired, hopeful). The platform generates a random message for the user to read. And if the user decides to write a message, they are able to choose one of the categories above and write a letter to address that topic. Then, the written letters are stored on a database for distribution.

How I built it

My contribution to the project involved developing an intuitive user experience while keeping the primary target audience in mind. I created content maps, flow charts, and wireframes prior to developing the user interface layout for the web application.

Challenges I ran into

I was previously working with a partner who was working on developing the web application with React.js. However, she had gotten sick during the hackathon and had to leave. It was difficult for me to attempt to implement the interface into a functioning web application because I have had no previous experience with web development.