Zot n Sip

Login page
Home page
Rate cafes
Search (cafes)
Cafe list
Search (friends)
Profile page

Inspiration

As students, we wanted something that allowed us to easily find cafes for study spots, hangouts, etc. However, finding those hidden gems—the ones with the perfect vibe, reliable Wi-Fi, or the best latte in town—wasn’t as easy as it should be.

That’s where our inspiration came in. We were heavily influenced by the app Belli, which simplifies the search for local spots with a community-driven approach. But we wanted to focus specifically on cafes, creating a platform that caters to the unique needs of students like us. Zot n Sip was born from this idea: a cafe search, rating, and social app designed with college life in mind.

What it does

Zot n Sip allows users to rate cafes, view details like tags and location, create profiles, and set up accounts to save favorite spots. It’s a simple, student-friendly way to discover and share cafe experiences.

How we built it

We built Zot n Sip using Expo Go for the frontend and Firebase for the backend. The app is developed with TypeScript, React, and React Native.

Challenges we ran into

For most of us, this was our first hackathon, which made the process both exciting and daunting. We struggled to work on a coding project as a team and manage our work through GitHub, especially when it came to handling merge conflicts. Figuring out the scope of what we could realistically achieve in just 36 hours was another challenge. We're very thankful for everyone's help along the way!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Learning Expo from scratch and actually making something functional out of it was a huge accomplishment for us. We’re especially proud of the app’s layout, which looks sleek and professional, and the cool graphics we managed to create. Integrating Google APIs was another highlight, as it allowed us to load data from the internet and incorporate a built-in map feature. Seeing all these pieces come together into a working app was incredibly rewarding.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned the importance of effective communication and teamwork when building something under time constraints. We gained hands-on experience with Expo, Firebase, and React Native, which were all new to us. Additionally, we learned how to troubleshoot merge conflicts on GitHub and gained a better understanding of how to manage a project’s scope within a limited timeframe.

What's next for Zot n Sip

Our current app is a proof of concept with plenty of room for future development. We plan to add more features like personalized cafe recommendations, enhanced social interactions, and improved filtering options. Expanding the app’s coverage beyond Irvine is also on our radar, as we aim to make Zot n Sip a useful tool for students in other college towns. Additionally, we want to refine the user interface and continue integrating more APIs to enhance the app’s functionality and user experience. The journey doesn’t stop here—we’re excited to keep building and improving!