MapMates

Inspiration

Planning group trips with 9–10 people was chaotic. We constantly juggled between Google Docs, Google Maps, XiaoHongShu, and endless group chats. Booking mistakes happened. Miscommunications were frequent. We realized we weren’t alone — 76% of travelers globally want simpler planning tools. That inspired us to build a solution that simplifies and centralizes group travel planning, so future groups can focus more on the adventure and less on logistics.

What it does

MapMates is an all-in-one travel planning app that:

• Centralizes trip information like bookings, notes, and schedules.
  
• Enables real-time collaboration, letting group members co-create and edit itineraries.
  
• Supports group decisions, with voting on destinations and activities.
  
• Recommends personalized experiences using an AI-driven recommendation engine.
  
• Visualizes routes through integrated Google Maps.
  
• Fosters community-driven discovery, allowing users to browse, vote on, and reuse shared itineraries.

How we built it

• Ideation & Research: Conducted surveys and interviews with frequent travelers.
  
• Wireframing & Prototyping: Built low-fidelity designs using Figma.
  

Tech Stack:

• Coded with Python and Java
  
• Frontend: React Native for mobile responsiveness
  
• Backend: Node.js with Firebase for real-time sync
  
• APIs: Google Maps API for route optimization
  
• AI Layer: Python scripts for recommendation algorithms using collaborative filtering
  

Collaboration Tools:

• GitHub for version control
  
• Trello for project management

Challenges we ran into

• Scoping the MVP: With so many features in mind, narrowing down our MVP was tough.
  
• Design complexity: Merging travel planning and social interaction into one UI while maintaining usability required multiple iterations.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Defined a clear go-to-market and revenue model.

What we learned

• Market validation is essential: Early feedback helped us pivot features that users didn’t need and double down on the ones they did.

What’s next

• Partnerships: Collaborating with travel influencers and platforms like Klook to expand reach.
  
• Monetization: Rolling out our freemium and B2B advertising models, including sponsored itineraries and AI-boosted locations.

Built With

• firebase
• github
• javascript
• node.js
• python
• react-native