SocietySafe

Inspiration

Many people, no matter their age or background, have felt unsafe at a point in their lives within their community. It can often be hard to reach out, so we created this app to acknowledge the situations where people feel vulnerable in the community and help spread awareness so others can prevent similar situations from happening to them.

What it does

This app includes a report feature, where users have the choice to anonymously report suspicious or dangerous activity at a location, which automatically pins the event on the map. Then, other users will be able to view other people's reports around their area and be conscious about where they choose to go. Our app also comes with a chat feature, where users can interact with others on the app and find a safe place where their voice will be heard.

How we built it

We used Glide, a "no-code" platform, and then customized our app to make sure it had all the features we wanted. This process included making sure the formatting was right, creating data tables to hold user information that would be stored within our app, etc. We chose this platform because most of the people on our team had never coded before, and we wanted to prioritize our time to make sure our app could achieve what we wanted it to, without getting too confused in the coding process.

Challenges we ran into

Initially, we had trouble finding a suitable platform that was both beginner-friendly, free to use, and had the map feature (a crucial part of our app design). Glide checked all these boxes, but as we started trying to add more details to the app, we had problems with the customizability of Glide. We were able to overcome these challenges by reaching out to our intern and learning more about how Glide works, which helped us complete our app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were really proud of being able to finalize and make our project a reality. Afterwards, we were also able to get some short interviews on other people's thoughts on the overall idea of our app, and whether or not they would use it. Their responses were overall very positive, which makes us excited about what our app will do in the future!

What we learned

Throughout our brainstorming, app creation, and video editing process, we all learned more about what it takes to start a project and complete it in a timely manner. We also improved our communication skills, whether that be by providing input during our group meetings, or by promoting our app during the video stage of this competition.

What's next for SocietySafe

We would like to improve our app by adding more features such as being able to give users push notifications based on hazards other people reported within their general proximity and connecting with local mental health organizations, as well as police and fire departments in case of serious safety concerns. Afterwards, we're interested in promoting our app in North Carolina through the people around us and using social media to broaden the reach and impact of our app.

Built With

• glide