Plutus

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  This is a quick example of how the database will look.

Inspiration

One of our team members built a platform that provides free financial literacy (@mon.easy on Instagram) and realized that millions of people losing jobs means millions of financial plans that need to be updated or created. The problem is that platforms for developing a financial outlook are not readily available and if so they are either not effective or not open-source/free. We wanted to create an easy-to-use tool that can ease the anxiety people's wallets are feeling during this uncertain economic time.

What it does

After answering up to 18 questions, Plutus provides a recommendation with actionable steps on what you should do next/plan for. The advice is not only easy-to-follow and void of financial jargon but it's also catered to the user. The majority of the questions they answer will not be the same as another user... it's all dependent on your situation.

How I built it

We used Figma for all the front-end development but a combination of HTML, CSS, and Java for the back-end development (and google slides for our pitch-deck). In addition, we used Google Firebase for the first time.

Challenges I ran into

We ran into a couple of roadblocks while trying to work with firebase in the javascript language. This was our absolute first time touching javascript, therefore, it was tough understanding the syntax on such a short notice and implementing firebase alongside that.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We're pretty proud of the overall product as we believe this is something that could truly change many people's lives especially in times such as these. Proper money managing is crucial for everyone, thus, another aspect we were proud of is that we were able to include minimal financial jargon to ensure that users of any age will be able to use this app and gain critical insight into their finances. Lastly, we're all very proud of how we were able to work together as a team and explore new technologies to the best of our ability to create this project, skills such as these are invaluable and we were really happy that we were able to do it effectively even on such a time crunch.

What I learned

As mentioned above, all of our team members explored new technologies. One team member explored more of the backend, such as with Firebase and Google Cloud, while another team member learnt prototyping and effective UI design, while another one explored the world of APIs, their use and how to create one. Furthermore, we all dabbled into the world of data collection and how useful it is.

What's next for Plutus

We want to implement an API for Plutus because we feel it would significantly improve data collection and provide better recommendations/advice for our users. We also want to further develop the platform and adapt to it to be usable in a post-COVID 19 world so users can rely on it in any economic climate (ex: similar to a general Banking app). Finally, we want to create a fully functional mobile app which resembles our front-end creation from Figma.