Matchgenics

Inspiration

Whenever someone is preparing to go out, they always stand in the mirror and ask themselves "Does this outfit work?". While the answer to this question changes from person to person, sometimes you flat out don't know. Do these shoes match with my shirt? Does the colour of my hat clash with my pants? What combination should I even wear? These are all questions that Matchgenics helps you answer by making you feel good by looking good.

What it does

Matchgenics allows you to plan an outfit even before you put any of the clothes on. We're not here to argue whether sandals and slides are appropriate attire for a formal event, but rather how you should mix and match colours in your outfit. We created a web-based application that allows a user to plan out the colours of the different components of their outfit. The user is presented with a blank canvas which allows them to cycle through 10 different colours for your shirt, pants and shoes. This way the user can see in advance if their clothes will create a good outfit or clash with each other. If the user is also completely at a loss for what to choose, they can entrust us with the option to randomly generate something that they can use.

How we built it

We constructed our web-based app through the python framework Django but also using CSS and HTML for the front end portion.

Challenges we ran into

For most of us on the team, this was our first true attempt with creating a web-based application. We had to get accustomed to using new frameworks, languages, and libraries really quickly. We were also short of one person we were expecting so we had to quickly adapt to fill in the gap.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

While not the most polished and flashy website, we as a group are proud of the simple fact that we shipped out the website in time. We overcame several of the aforementioned challenges to ship something that we feel is a good representation of our skills. For the product itself, we are especially proud of how the interface is intuitive and simple, not a hassle for the user to quickly decide what they want to wear.

What we learned

Starting with the most obvious, each member of the group learned new skills in the world of web development. Whether in learning to use Django from the bottom up or how to use CSS/HTML to create an usable front end, our group was left better off by trudging through this project. Apart from the hard skills, this experience helped us further develop our soft skills. Leadership, time management, project direction, collaboration, and compromise were all things we either had to rely upon or quickly develop if we had any hope to complete the project.

What's next for Matchgenics

The next step for Matchgenics is expanding the functionality of the website. Instead of just being able to select just shirts, pants, and shoes, the user could be able to customize items such as jackets, hats, scarves, and different layers of existing clothing items. Another point of improvement would be the visual fidelity of the site as to better represent the colour choices the user is making. Beyond this, we can see Matchgenics expanding to different platforms, primarily mobile as it would be the most convenient option for consumers.