SoConnect

Inspiration

With the ongoing pandemic, students are left to adapt to online learning and hybrid approaches to education, making connections and relationships harder to build. As a result, many students fail to remain positive and motivated to perform well in school. Thus, the urgency to overcome such a lack of connection is reinforced.

What it does

SoConnect is a social networking website that allows post-secondary students to connect with each other through networking with like-minded students, enriching their own lives through fun events and building experiences with newly-found friends. It includes features of a match-making interface that allows students to connect with others from their school, their country, and around the world, as well as features of forum groups that allow students to join with like-minded students and engage in their interests.

How we built it

SoConnect’s user interface was designed using Figma and coded using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. After conducting preliminary research and user research, we moved on to creating a user flow diagram and wireframes for the website. These wireframes were then used as a guide to help code the final product.

Design: Figma (Flow Diagram and Wireframes)

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge we ran into was making the user interface aligned with the concept of the website for SoConnect to be distinctive and different from existing ones. Like many social networking platforms, SoConnect is a platform to connect and chat with various students. Thus, it led us to compare and find the unique features that make SoConnect different from other platforms. Hence, as a result, we thought outside of the box and were experimental in our designs. Another challenge faced was the organisation of the pages and the features. With many ideas and features to include, the organisation of the pages along with the features was uncertain. However, after having a discussion, we were able to finalize the features and the pages included in the final website and hence focus on making the features and pages unique for the users.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Designing a clean and organized user interface and learning more about how to use Figma

What we learned

Throughout the course of the hackathon, we learned the importance of user interface and wireframes in the course of building a website. Furthermore, we were able to develop and hone our skills in using Figma, which allowed us to embrace shortcuts and perform tasks in an efficient and productive manner.

What's next for SoConnect

SoConnect can expand to include more features to ensure such agendas like safety and engagement are reached. In terms of safety, features could be added such as having selected moderators from different schools to monitor the forum chat and ensure that the discussion and communication done is appropriate. In addition to that, moderators can conduct live hosting events along with speakers to further create a space for students to talk and participate in. Furthermore, with SoConnect’s international audience, universities and schools can open chapters, which would allow them to create a profile for their school chapter on the website and allow themselves to promote their social events on the platform as well as create forum-groups specifically related to their school. As a long-term impact, this feature would allow students to have a smooth transition from online learning to hybrid learning as it gives students the opportunity to widen their network, interact with students, and create long-lasting experiences with them.

Built With

• figma