Inspiration
I noticed how many students struggle to find affordable resources, study help, or gear, while valuable items and knowledge sit unused all around us. I wanted to build something that replaces cash transactions with community goodwill, turning peer-to-peer help into an engaging, eco-friendly ecosystem.
What it does
Rooted is a money-free, AI-assisted local barter network where students can trade skills (like tutoring for language practice) or lend study resources. Every successful trade between users physically grows a shared digital community garden on the platform, rewarding collaboration and sustainability.
How I built it
I built Rooted as a lightweight, high-performance single-page web application using HTML5, modern CSS3 with a cozy watercolor aesthetic, and vanilla JavaScript for dynamic state management, live filtering, and interactive modal logic.
Challenges I ran into
Balancing the complexity of the AI matchmaker mock logic with a clean, responsive layout across mobile and desktop viewports was tricky. I had to refine the card-filtering system to ensure smooth, instant results without any UI lag.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I successfully created a fully functional, end-to-end interactive MVP with a unique gamified garden visual hook that makes community sharing feel rewarding and alive.
What I learned
I deepened my understanding of client-side state handling in vanilla JavaScript and learned how crucial thoughtful UI/UX design and color palettes are for making a web app feel genuinely cozy and welcoming.
What's next for Rooted
I plan to integrate real backend authentication, persistent cloud databases for live user listings, and a fully realized AI recommendation pipeline to scale up local peer matching.
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