Inspiration
We were inspired to build our project based on the problem we've seen already prevalent in our short experience in our respective fields of cybersecurity and software engineering: unqualified individuals achieving success through means outside of their merit. On its own, this was frustrating, but what made it intolerable was noticing that these allowances were only being made for select people, and almost exclusively left out gender-based and racial minorities. What was clear was that the deep roots of systemic favor towards white hetero-patriarchal standards were not only still alive, but heavily prevalent, and we wanted to make a tool to help speed up the process of leveling the playing field. We wanted to build a tool that could standardize skill demonstration, publicly display aptitude, and truly show merit on an equalized platform. We also wanted to account for the systemic disadvantages faced by disenfranchised communities, which inspired our second main feature of our application: the education.
What it does
Our system is a web application that hosts Skill performance tracking, as well as learning. Users will be able to take exams that will test their aptitude in a subject, as well as learn topics from beginner to master through a Skill Tree. A Skill Tree is a graphical representation of each major section of a topic that a user will learn or master, and consist of nodes that will all cumulatively be tested at the end of the tree with the final exam. Users will be able to display their achieved skills on their profile, as well as do individual learning to expand their skills. The website will offer pre-approved learning resources, such as Skill Share and Khan Academy, but also will have an option for users to submit free tools that they found helpful in their own educational journey.
How we built it
Due to our time constraints, we decided we could deliver the best prototype for our system using Proto.io. This was how we built our functional wireframes that can demonstrate the functionality we seek to actually implement.
Challenges we ran into
Given that our project is heavily design focused, we did run into conflicts regarding some major decisions, such as color palette, logo design, doable pages in the time frame, etc. We also ran into issues with our ability to work synchronously, given Proto.io only allows one editor at a time, and we needed to both be working in order to make the system functional in time for submission. We found a workaround and fell into a highly productive flow after overcoming that hurdle.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are extremely proud of our overall visual design and execution of our concept. We understood that we wanted to focus on truly designing a visually appealing and functional prototype, and we feel as though we accomplished both of those goals. Above that though, we are most proud of our concept. While it isn't an entirely new concept, the integration of user-participation in curating tools makes the possibility of this system becoming a reality seem much more realistic.
What we learned
We learned that expectations are important going into a project, but that they can also be changed. Like system requirements, expectations for a team help the group stay on track and ensure that everyone is doing what they should be. However, what we didn't account for was how different our skills would be, and how many different ways those skills could either help or harm the other's work. What we learned from that was that expectations can't always account for everything, and they need to be adjusted as you learn more about your team and your process.
What's next for Skill Tree
Given the chance, we would absolutely love to begin an actual, fully functional product. Given our love of our prototype, we have a strong motivation to continue further to see the project through to a truly functional and developed product. We used this hackathon to really set our sights and create a goal to meet, and now we want to go even further and fully realize it.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.