SafeSpace

SafeSpace provides a buddy system that women can use for walking when they feel unsafe

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Inspiration

We were tasked with building something that helps make a positive change in the community for underrepresented people.

What it does

Our app allows users to pair with a walking buddy to get safely from point A to point B. For example, imagine you are a woman at a bar, alone, late at night. You would likely feel unsafe walking back home, or to the bus stop yourself. This is where SafeSpace comes in. SafeSpace allows you to find walking buddies in your area to get to point A to B. All walking buddies have an extensive background check, and a star rating system to ensure trustworthiness and the safety of the users.

How we built it

For our stack we used HTML, CSS, Node.js, Javascript, and for our database we used Supabase. A test deployment was made using Render.com

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge with this project is figuring out how to add the user to buddy pairing functionality. The goal is to have the user click a button "Find buddy", and then have all buddies in the user's area be notified. The buddies can then accept or decline a request. This is very similar to how Uber works, but the marketing and goal is vastly different.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to implement this and develop a working prototype in such a short period of time (18 hours minus workshops and meal time).

What we learned

A lot of team collaboration skills, especially using technologies like Github, Git, and VS Code Liveshare. Having a good workflow for a small team is extremely important. Creating a todo list, group chat, and a brief flow chart online helped the group reach a quick and overarching consensus on tasks to be done.

What's next for SafeSpace

SafeSpace is the beginning of a startup company. We have the potential to keep working on features and ship it out as a fully fledged product. There would be a mobile app for the App Store and Google Play Store, as well as the website, that are always available. Some more branding and logo design would be implemented as well. The sky is the limit with SafeSpace, as it can revolutionize the way that women travel alone, especially at night. As for a business model, it can be similar to Uber, where walks are paid. Unfortunately, you cannot charge a lot of money for a simple walk, so it must be calculated by distance. 5km walk would be $10-15 in today's economy for example, with the walker being paid $10, and the company being paid $5. It is important that there is enough incentive for the walker/buddy to be freelance employed on our platform. As we wrap up this hackathon period, discussion on pursuing this project is being made.

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