cafe chat

cafe chat focuses on giving you a platform to speak your interests!
more features of cafe chat: livestreaming!
use tags and personalize your profile to find new connections
low/mid/high fidelity screen compilatio

Inspiration

cafe chat was created based on our personal experiences of interacting in communities. We had challenges such as wanting to interact with others but not knowing who had similar interests, not enough events were hosted, and even being intimidated to join communities due to the feeling of not fitting in. Another prominent need that we agreed on was the ability to join and leave whenever we wanted. The audience we wanted to reach was towards young adults and individuals who needed encouragement or practice to speak their ideas. What better way to build bridges than with common interests? Then came our solution, cafe chat.

What it does

Our platform is a community hub of interactive discussions called “cafe chats” where users are able to converse about their interests. The mobile app directs users to register an account or login. They are then greeted by Mocha, our teddy bear mascot, where he creates casual conversation with the user with the intent to ease those with social anxiety or needing encouragement to speak with others. One of the main features is how users are also able to create or join various “cafe chats” based on their topic of interest. The home screen also includes a shortcut to the cafe chats they are most active in, so that multiple chat interactions are possible. Within the community chatrooms, users are able to livestream or create their own events to promote even more interactions. In order to make cafe chat more customizable, users are able to include a bio, show active communities, tag interests, and share social media.

How we built it

To start brainstorming, we used Figjam in order to figure out our problems and solutions. This process allowed us to create the base of our platform. In order to build cafe chat, we used Figma by creating screens to design and narrow down ideas while working through low, mid, and high fidelity variations.

Challenges we ran into

The challenges we experienced were narrowing down the best way to create social interactions while having the ability to join/leave easily. Another obstacle was deciding which features to include along with the placement of object interactions on our platform.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

With the theme of a cafe for our platform, it brings neutrals and warm tones that provide the user with a comfortable atmosphere to socialize and feel welcome. We are also proud of our lovable mascot, Mocha, where he is always taking time to relax with a cup of coffee. Finally, we feel accomplished with our mobile app that displays a friendly and inviting theme to users who might not be ready to talk to anyone, but it encourages them to try.

What we learned

“I learned to consider the mindset of a different variety of users instead of what the common group would feel. Another aspect would be utilizing more of the color white along with accepting that having a lot of space can be refreshing for the eyes rather than empty.” – Jenny Tran

“I learned the importance in working as a team and being open to everyone’s opinions. Due to working under a quick time limit, I saw what we were able to achieve as a team through communication. Also, I was able to learn more of the design side in making a platform. As a computer science major, I focus more on the code aspects rather than the overall design, so it was really fascinating how much work it took from building a page to simply choosing a font.” – Elyssa Tapawan

“It was my first time participating in a hackathon and working on a project under a very short time frame with a team. I learned how to work together with my team and go through the entire design process from brainstorming ideas to creating a high fidelity prototype. I am also relatively new to using Figma, and I was able to get more experience with the app and learn how to create interactive flows between screens for the user.”
– Hannah Hum