roastfluencer

Inspiration

I have been looking to build a sustainability driven fashion app to transition fast fashion from volume-driven to value-driven sales. The first step to this is consumer mind-shift and changing our shopping habits.

Whilst having a North star vision is great, I was trying to find the first step that is actionable. That can be used to get me insights into people's acceptance or tolerance about things they consider important - like their fashion. And then, a light bulb moment as I was watching an episode of BTS members roast each other. Comedy! People love comedy. People go to standup comedy festivals and the front row seats arr the ones that fill up first. We watch Jimmy Carr, Trevor Noah, Zarna Garg, Sindhu Vee and so many others, and we watch them because we feel good. It's funny, light humour.

So, 'roasting for a cause' was born. Instead of going the usual route of unmoderated surveys and interviews, I built Roastfluencer.com.

What it does

Roastfluencer.com is a comic-book style, one of it's kind website that roasts people's fashion attire. The AI (The Conscious Critique) has guardrails set so as not to insult different religions, cultures etc.

If you like the roasts, Roastfluencer.com enables social share, leaving me a review and a tips jar where people can contribute some money to go towards adding more credits to continue to use AI model.

How I built it

I am a product designer by profession and its been quiet a challenge working with code. I didn't realise how much I realised on my Tech teams to bring alive all the projects.

This project was built 100% on Bolt
High-level journeys on Figma
ChatGPT for brainstorming
Claude to help guide, clarify & check code for errors

Challenges I ran into

Even with auto-layout, Bolt prefers to stack every section vertically, which did not work for my original designs, and so I had to improvise and pivot
I am not a coder and the code section really freaked me out in the beginning, so getting used to that and understanding hoe code is written, what it means, with that was a step in the right direction
I did not know how to use supabase. Never used it before and now I know how
Finally created a github account. Feel like I am in the engineering pool now, and it feels pretty awesome
Learnt how to use OpenRouter and secure API link in Supabase
Even after a user journey is mapped out, Bolt 'thinks' and changes things that don't need to fixed and then I have to waste more tokens fixing those. It was quiet an exhausting experience

Accomplishments that we're proud of

All of the challenges mentioned above are also my accomplishments, including rise in self-confidence! I am so proud of the website I built. Yes, it is not as my original vision, but it's pretty darn close.

I have not felt this alive and challenged after a long time, and I appreciate the massive learning curve this month!

What we learned

I can be independent! I do not have to rely on devs to bring my ideas alive. Now I have so many more!
There is 'discussion' mode on Bolt!!
Think, analyse, plan before you take action.
Prompts are natural language but finding the middle ground between natural and tech language so it makes sense to Bolt, and therefore delivers the right output

What's next for roastfluencer

Native app and outfit challenges: Allow users to challenge each other (friends, family etc) to post outfits based on themes and roast each other. Like halloween or Christmas. This could add a viral, social element.
Incorporate sponsored content: Brands could sponsor specific roast categories. Example, a luxury fashion brand could sponsor a 'high-end roast section, and we can customise the roasts by building their very own Conscious Critique.
Start brand wars: List McDonalds and KFC, brands could roast each other. This will possibly need to be moderated in the beginning but will make for viral content
Fashion trend reports: With user data, we csn generate fashion (roast) trend reports and share these insights with brands or the community, thereby positioning roastfluencer.com as not just a fun platform but a valuable resource for fashion brands looking for consumer insights.
Sustainability metrics: A key part of roastfluencer.com is sharing sustainability insights within every roast. Like inception. Going forward, roastfleuncer.com can provide sustainability scores for each outfit that's roasted, educating users about the environmental impact from their fashion choices and possibly offering suggestions for more eco-friendly alternatives (potential for brand affiliate)

Most importantly: The launch of Snatched! (long-term vision) Roastfluencer.com is the first step towards the larger vision of Snatched!, an AI powered personal shopping assistant that helps maximize using garments already in wardrobes whilst promoting mindful shopping. By collecting data from user's fashion choices and feedback, roastfluencer.com acts as the training ground for Snatched!

With Snatched!, we transition from purely roast generation to offering personalised outfit recommendations and styling tips through AI. Snatched! goes beyond humour. We use not just to bring emotion to the fore, but provide real, actionable, mindful suggestions, there by brining back the reuse culture more globally.

The website is working completely, in full.