Inspiration
Hi! 👋 We are Hannah (she/her) - UX Designer, Jacob (they/them) - Software Developer, and V (they/them) - Project Manager. Our team consists of queer and BIPOC members residing in the metropolitan area of Philadelphia, PA, USA. As members of these marginalized populations, we have been in cities, businesses, and events where we have felt uncomfortable because the atmosphere was not welcoming to our respective identities.
What it does
The app we’ve built, Q, is a platform for folks to create and review events/businesses based on queer comfortability (great food/coffee is a bonus)! ;-) We seek to mitigate social anxiety and promote more inclusivity this pride month and beyond! <3
How we built it
The frontend code for Q was developed in Xcode using SwiftUI. Brainstorming and low-fidelity wireframing took place on InVision and the high-fidelity prototype was created in Figma. The backend development was done with MongoDB using Realm. Project management was done with Miro and Google Suite.
Challenges we ran into
The biggest challenge for front-end development was that this was our first time ever using Xcode or Swift. In fact, it was our first time doing anything related to mobile application development. We used knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to quickly get the reins on Swift and did our best to learn on the go. Tutorials online were vital to learning new things and getting guidance to troubleshoot issues with the code. A challenge we faced with the design was animating micro-interactions in Figma We also lacked any experience with back-end development but were excited to get our feet wet in MongoDB. We were not able to have anything functional but were able to create a database and link it to the repository.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The biggest accomplishment is about the same as the biggest challenge, creating something in a whole new language! Alongside our limited time and ambitious goals, we were proud to create Q in its current state.
What we learned
Besides learning Swift, I also learned a good bit about MongoDB and using databases for an iOS app. Prototyping and new Figma features.
What's next for Q
For UX research and design, we need to do user testing, usability and design. We also need to make the back end functional. We aim to have search queries with filters, users to manage and sync data and well as encrypt and secure user data.
Credits to Icons 8 by Ouch https://icons8.com/illustrations for the animated GIF illustrations in the prototype.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.