Inspiration
We all love to eat, and shared meals are one of our favorite ways to catch up and enjoy time together. Shared meals are also a great way to get to know new friends and form new connections. Recently, one of our team members started developing a friendship with a mutual friend, but soon found out that they had very different opinions when it came to food. Our foodie teammate found it hard to plan hangouts with this friend, as they had so little in common. So, PlateMates was born.
What it does
On PlateMates, users first create a profile with a few of their food preferences. Using this data, PlateMates suggests nearby restaurants to the user, who can then mark whether they are or are not interested in the restaurants. When three or more users mark that they are interested in a specific restaurant within a 24-hour timespan, they are all notified and are then able to join a chat together to plan a meetup at this restaurant. In the chat, users can create polls and calendar events. Additionally, community events involving food are featured on PlateMates.
How we built it
PlateMates was built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We deployed our app using Firebase. Additionally, a fully-working prototype was built in Figma, and the logo was designed in Adobe Illustrator.
Challenges we ran into
We had some trouble using Firebase and setting up our custom domain. None of us had extensive experience deploying websites or web apps to custom domains, and we hit a few bumps during this process. However, with good Googling skills, we were able to resolve all of these and deploy PlateMates in the end.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The PlateMates Figma model is the first fully mocked-up and prototyped app any of us have ever created. We are very proud of both the aesthetics and robustness of this design and how it brings our idea to life.
What we learned
All of us had the chance to explore new technologies that we had no prior experience with. From Figma to Firebase, each of us focused on new aspects of hacking.
What's next for PlateMates
The key features of PlateMates, like the restaurant selection, community events, and chat, are already mocked up and prototyped on Figma. Next, we would like to fully implement these features in the web app, and also build the mobile app of PlateMates.
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