Team A!ERT

Stay A!ERT On The Go.

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Inspiration

Climate change and recent rising crime rates have become a growing issue, which warrant greater preparedness unique to specific regions. However, a scattering of websites offer varying critical information, which is confusing and inefficient for users. A!ert was created because our research showed how convoluted and outdated most websites are in terms of getting correct information and on time. Most people don't use emergency based websites except in dire circumstances, that is why something like A!ert is so important. This app can detect the danger around the user before it is too late.

What it does

A!ert is a global app that compiles local emergency resources in a one-stop cohesive, intuitive format to enable better individual disaster planning. We hope to take the burden of scouring the web for quality information + updates off of community members.

How we built it

After doing the initial research and brainstorming following our problem statement, we used Figma to brainstorm a User Flow diagram that solves the lack of usability issue present with current natural disaster/danger detection websites. We then continued to develop a visual language in Figma, coming up with a color palette, component library and web page designs.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into some challenges related to being beginners, as this is the first hackathon for 3/4 members. We initially had trouble balancing our hopeful desires for what we would like to make together that tackles a very real problem, versus being realistic about what can be done in 36 hours, especially with the majority of us being first-time hackers. There were of course coding challenges as well!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Eventually we were able to create on an excellent project. Our challenges became less noticeable overtime, because we have an amazing, responsible and incredibly communicative team. In the end, we were able to create a working prototype!

What we learned

We learned how to prioritize our time. It is very easy to fall into the trap of wanting to "solve everything we care about" pertaining a global issue, but one product, let alone one product built as much as 4 people can in 36 hours, will not achieve everything we may initially want it to, especially the first prototype. We learned to focus on what the key issue is and how we can go about one possible solution to help mitigate it.

What's next for Team A!ERT

We would love to design and develop a mobile app version of the website and continue developing the actual website, potentially placing it on a server! One that can send notifications directly to your phone, especially if there happens to be a potential source of danger near you. Maybe the next version can include health dangers, such as an outbreak of smallpox near the user! It would be awesome to be able to partner with local officials and organizations to get our information coming from sources as accurate as possible. We would also love to get some user testing done with users outside of our team! Are the icon designs clear enough? Does everything present itself clearly to the user? What about the UX can be improved? These are all things we would love to work on.

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