VanGO

Trade the "where do I park?" anxiety for the "who am I meeting?" excitement. VanGO pairs AI roadside support with a verified network of VanLifers who actually have your back. Share the stars.

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Inspiration

As a team of 4 people, we identified a gap in the market and we got really inspired to build an app for the van lifers that would help them connect with other travelers & share their stories and expertise with one another. We've seen a big uptake in people living in a van full-time or part-time and we believe that this community is growing and is currently under-served. We realized through our market research that a typical person needs to download around 4 apps in order to be fully equipped for such lifestyle. For the name, we got inspired by the starry nights the van lifers get to experience, hence VanGO (a hint towards the great artist Van Gogh, who really seemed to get the beauty of the night sky).

What it does

Our app is based on the principles of community, support & trust. 1. Community It's a place where people can:

  • find other travelers in their vicinity, & connect with them as friends or dates
  • host or join events for the van lifers
  • showcase their van building or repair expertise & potentially get hired for such jobs or help others in need
  • share their van life itineraries and stories with others

2. Support The support part is three-folded:

  • We have a forum where people can post their questions about their build or van life and get them answered.
  • We integrated an AI powered chatbot that can help people with vehicle repairs & get suggestions on where to go next, thus reducing their decision fatigue.
  • We integrated the maps with the points of interest for the van lifers, like camping sites, parking spaces, & various amenities so that they can plan their routes

3. Trust We believe that living in a van can bring with itself a lot of uncertainty. We therefore decided that if a person wants to use our app fully, they need to verify their identity with an ID card. The free access gets you a read-only forum section.

How we built it

1. Discovery stage First, we made sure to gather all the requirements from Quin's video. We did a market research to understand better people living in vans full or part-time and the challenges they're facing. We also made an analysis of the apps already available on the market and their drawbacks.

2. Define stage We then started to brainstorm on the direction of the app and came up with initial proposal. We then created a user flow diagram to help us navigate the app. On the basis of that, we came up with a functional requirements list. After further brainstorming, we updated the diagram and the requirements list. We also ran the requirements through the MOSCOW framework to help with prioritizing. This is also when we came up with the name for the platform.

3. Design stage We created a mood board for the project aiming to feel cheerful, modern and relaxed. We then created a logo for the VanGo app. We carefully chose the colors and fonts to support the design direction.

4. Development We chose Expo Go to develop a react-native front end for this mobile app, allowing for state-of-the-art cross-platform development with OTA updates and other features streamlining the development process. As for the backend, we chose Supabase which provides us with a lot of features, including edge functions and realtime databases, which are necessary for the social aspects of the app. This also gives us granular control over the AI module.

Another massive advantage is the ease of migrating away from Supabase to a self-contained Postgres solution in the event the app scales sufficiently, however this is outside the scope of the hackathon.

Our development environments range from Replit to VSC depending on the exact task being worked on, but always ensuring proper Version Control protocols.

5. Iteration We reflected on the first version and made adjustments based on the features we wanted to have and also on the design.

6. Testing Finally, our team has tested the app in order to make sure it runs smoothly & fulfills the objectives & the requirements set in the Define stage.

Challenges we ran into

We formed the team one week after the hackathon started so we had a lot less time on our hands to complete everything.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The "4-to-1" Consolidation: We successfully integrated the functionality of four separate apps (Maps, Social, Forums, and AI Support) into one cohesive, beautiful interface without it feeling cluttered.

Catching Up on Lost Time: Despite forming our team a week late, our "Define-First" strategy allowed us to skip the guesswork. We moved from mood boards to a functional MVP in record time.

The Starry Night Identity: We are incredibly proud of the brand. We didn’t just build a utility; we created an aesthetic experience that resonates with the romantic, adventurous spirit of van life.

Verification for Safety: In an era of "ghosting" and internet safety concerns, we are proud to have integrated a robust ID verification system that prioritizes the safety of our female and solo travelers specifically.

Product-Market Fit: We already have 5 people interested in testing & using this app

What we learned

Teamwork is essential to make this happen. We have 2 dev guys, 1 designer and 1 marketer to accomplish this project - we believe it's a good set of skills to pull this through. Well-defining the project earlier enabled us to progress quickly with the development part. Time is scarce so prioritizing what really matters (i.e. which features would address van lifers' pains and needs) is a must.

What's next for VanGO

We believe there is a huge potential to launch this app to the van lifers market as it's growing and it's currently under-served. Hopefully, we win the contest :)  If not though, our team is committed to this project and we will proceed with user testing, further polishing and marketing it to the van life community. As mentioned already, we have already 5 people interested in testing and using the app.

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