Project Secure

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Figma
          ##About Our Project
          Based on the National Domestic Violence Hotline, “an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking” with more than “12 million women and men over the course of a single year.” In today's world, it has become common for many people to find themselves in dangerous situations and not receive the help that they desperately need. We were shocked by these statistics and decided to create a project that allowed individuals to discreetly seek assistance without escalating their circumstances. Currently there are similar apps that exist with the same purpose in mind. However, due to their popularity, an abuser can easily identify the app and hinder the victims ability to seek help. With this in mind, our app allows users to customize the app to whatever interface they want. This way, an abuser will not be able to identify the victims actions as there is no set interface. Our app is designed to make it seem as though the victim is innocently ordering food, when in fact it assesses a user’s current situation and connects them to help through a series of questions. In addition, it gives the user access to a panic button which will immediately record their current surroundings and notify the police of their situation. We were inspired by the prevalence of fear many people live with daily to come up with an innovative solution to elevate this fear.
           Throughout the development of our project, we learned valuable lessons about the design process and how to transform a simple user interface into a powerful resource that can communicate and support those in danger. This process challenged us to think critically from the user's perspective in order to craft an application that could maintain discretion while also immediately getting help. Before implementing our project, we spent a significant amount of time discussing the different functionalities the app would have, such as a panic button, a way for a user to record the situation they are in, and a way to customize the app to a user's personal preferences of food. Once we figured out the app's features, we transitioned to creating an UML diagram of the key classes and methods that were required to create a functional system. Once we had a solid design and understanding of what our project could do, we transitioned to transforming our design into a functioning prototype on Visual Studio Code. 
           Throughout the process of designing and implementing our system, we faced several challenges. The most significant challenge was framing our questions. We aimed to ask questions that were both subtle and clear in order to effectively assess the user’s current situation without compromising their safety. To meet these requirements, we spent a considerate amount of time brainstorming questions that could be asked. While our project has its ups and downs, we were inspired by the hope of empowering those who feel powerless in their current situations to receive the help that they need. We hope that our project is able to provide hope and support for those who need it most.