Playground

Inspiration

As certified pet owners, we understand that our pets are part of our family. Our companions deserve the best care and attention available. We envisioned the goal of simplifying and modernizing pet care, all in one convenient and elegant app. Our idea began with our longing for our pets. Being international students ourselves, we constantly miss our pets and wish to see them. We figured that a pet livestream would allow us to check in on our pals, and from then on pet boarding, and our many other services arose.

What it does

Playground offers readily available and affordable pet care. Our services include:

Pet Grooming: Flexible grooming services with pet-friendly products. Pet Walking: Real-time tracking of your pet as it is being walked by our friendly staff. Pet Boarding: In-home and out-of-home live-streamed pet-sitting services. Pet Pals™: Adoption services, meet-and-greet areas, and pet-friendly events. PetU™: Top-tier training with positive reinforcement for all pets Pet Protect™: Life insurance and lost pet recovery Pet Supplies: Premium quality, chew-resistant, toys and training aids.

How we built it

First, we carefully created our logo using Adobe Illustrator. After scratching several designs, we settled on a final product. Then, we designed the interface using Figma. We took our time to ensure an appealing design. We programmed the front end with Flutter in Visual Studio Code. Finally, we used the OpenAI API GPT3.5 to implement a personalized chat system to suggest potential services and products to our users.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into several bugs when making the app, and used our debugging skills from previous CS work and eventually solved them. One of the bugs involved an image overflow when coding the front end. Our icons were too large for the containers we used, but with adjustments to the dimensions of the containers and some cropping, we managed to solve this issue.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of our resilience when encountering bugs on Flutter. Despite not being as experienced with this language as we are with others, we were able to identify and solve the problems we faced. Furthermore, we’re proud of our effort to make our logo because we are not the best artists, but our time spent on the design paid off. We feel that our logo reflects the quality and niche of our app.

What we learned

We learned that programming the front end is as important if not more important than the back end of an app. Without a user-friendly interface, no app could function seeing as customer retention would be minimal. Our approachable interface allows users of all levels of digital literacy to get the best care for their beloved pets.

What's next for Playground

After polishing the app, we plan on launching it in Peru and gathering as much feedback as we can. Then we plan on working on implementing our users’ suggestions and fixing any issues that arise. After finishing the new and improved version of Playground, we plan on launching internationally and bringing the best care for all our pets. More importantly, 10% of our earnings will go to animal rescue organizations!