NusantaraConnect

Prototype Documentation

Inspiration

So my latest product is NusantaraConnect (I’m still using the same name as before, but I’ve changed the business model).

Problem: Let’s take Balinese culture as an example specifically Balinese dancers. The interest in becoming a Balinese dancer has decreased, because in today’s economy, it's only appreciated in Bali, and even there, it's becoming rare. So only people in Bali really understand how to perform Balinese dance, because even migrants who live in Bali aren’t helping preserve it.

Another example I’m of Medanese descent from my father’s side, but my dad never taught me Hokkien, even though it’s a language deeply rooted in Medan’s culture. So I, as a Medanese kid, can’t speak Hokkien. Instead, I was taught Mandarin by my dad and speak it daily. As a result, only the locals in Medan still speak Hokkien, while young people living outside the region don’t help preserve the language anymore.

Why is this happening? Because other languages are considered more "useful" and "applicable" in industries like English and Mandarin.

This also applies to traditional arts like Balinese dancing it's hard to make money from it.

What it does

I want to create a job-searching app like Indeed or JobStreet but focused entirely on cultural performance jobs. For example, say there's an event called Nusakara a showcase featuring cultural performances from across the Indonesian archipelago. Nusakara needs cultural performers. Since cultural preservation is declining outside the original regions, Nusakara can rely on NusantaraConnect as the bridge between performers and vendors (like Nusakara).

For instance, Nusakara opens recruitment for Plate Dance (Tari Piring) performers. All they need to do is post a job listing on NusantaraConnect. Once it's posted, all users whether individual performers, clubs, or university activities unit (clubs) who are registered as Plate Dance performers will get a job notification. They can choose to accept it or ignore it, allowing someone else to take the job.

It’s basically like Gojek or Grab but specifically for cultural performers.

Benefits for Performers: Performers now have a proper opportunity to earn money through cultural performance. They don’t need to manually look for gigs everything can be handled via this online platform.

Bonus: The NusantaraConnect app will also include educational content about Indonesian culture to raise awareness among users.

How we built it

For the ideation and this project dashboard, we use notion to store them. After we store the idea, we create the pitching deck ppt using canva, draw.io for the flow chart. We create github repo our Developers can collaborate. For the wireframe and prototype, we use figma, a very reliable app. Then we code in Visual Studio Code. As for the development, we use Laravel framework, HTML, CSS, Javascript for the coding language. For the database, we use MySQL. And lastly for the video editor for our demo, we use Capcut

We divided the tasks completely differently but worked simultaneously someone was creating the pitch deck, someone else was designing the prototype, another was gathering data, and someone immediately jumped into coding.

Challenges we ran into

Firstly this was our very first hackathon, so obviously we didn’t have any prior experience. But what really slowed down our progress was the fact that we completely changed our idea just a few minutes before the hackathon started. We had to rethink everything from scratch the problem, the stakeholders, the UI/UX literally everything. It was mentally exhausting. Not only inexperience in hackathon matter, but also our own personal coding skill and lack of knowledge about AI Implementation in project.

Oh, and my original role was Data Scientist. But since the new idea came from me, I ended up switching roles with my teammate who was originally the Product Manager. So now I’m the Product Manager and honestly, it was a bit of a shock for me.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Because the idea we ended up using for this project was actually a last-minute pivot. We had been working on another concept for a few days, but honestly, it was a bit absurd and didn’t really solve a real problem. Even when we asked our lecturer about it one day before the hackathon D-Day, he was a bit doubtful too.

Eventually, he gave us some insights based on his own hackathon experiences. Then, literally just a few minutes before the hackathon started, I suddenly recalled one specific insight he gave that Betawi culture is fading, and how ondel-ondel is now often misused as a tool for begging.

That triggered a personal memory too: my dad, who’s from Medan, refused to teach me Hokkien, even though it’s a key part of Medanese culture. As a result, only the locals back in Medan still speak it young people who move away have stopped preserving it.

Right then and there, I shared the idea with my team and without a second thought, they were all on board. As the project manager, that moment made me really proud and confident in our team’s direction and chemistry.

Although we didn’t finish 100% in terms of design, we successfully created a pitch deck, a Figma prototype, and even pushed working source code to GitHub.

The core features are functional. As for the final results I’ve left them to God. We’ve already poured everything we had, and gave it our absolute best.

And the most important, NEW EXPERIENCES AND NEW KNOWLEDGES!

What we learned

Strategically plan long way before Hackathon D Day
So we have much question we can consult to the mentor because we are as much as too focused on the project
The experience of Hackathon is surreal, GarudaHacks 6.0 is definitely an experience we couldn't forget
Improve our own role's skill so we could done the project earlier

What's next for NusantaraConnect

More educational post because our educational post is limited
Adding system based payment, because as for now, the fee payment is done manually transfer to the customer's bank account after both party met onsite.
We also like to add Review feature to give review to previous job performance by the performers.
Mobile port of NusantaraConnect
Improve Chatbot AI
Right now the app, we use Indonesian language for its main language because the main target of the app is young performers especially someone from villages who is abroad, doubt they understand english. But our goal is to add more languages such as English and Indonesia's regional language such as Sundanese, Javenese, etc