About the Project

What inspired us

ArcTrail started with a simple question:
What if community impact felt less like scrolling and more like hiking a trail together?

We noticed that a lot of Arc’teryx partners, grant recipients, and ambassadors are doing amazing work—but often in silos. We wanted to build a space where they could connect intentionally through shared needs and strengths, without the noise of traditional social media.
Something calm. Useful. Purpose-driven.

How we built it

ArcTrail is a multi-step experience that helps users share what they’re working on, what they’re great at, and where they could use a hand.

Frontend: We used React with Vite. Getting React to actually do what we wanted was one of the hardest parts. Our code made sense to us, but React often didn’t behave the way we expected. We spent a lot of time troubleshooting, rewriting components, and figuring out how state and props actually work in practice
Backend: We used Supabase for database and user auth. We successfully connected form inputs to Supabase and verified that the user data was being stored correctly
Functionality: All the key functions work—user sign-up, data input, and submission to the backend are functional. The issue is that the submitted data doesn’t yet display on the frontend the way we want. This is something we plan to improve in future versions
Design: None of us had used Figma before this project, so we learned as we went. It ended up being one of our favorite tools—not just for visuals, but for thinking through user experience and flow
Prototype: Despite the bumps, we got a working implementation. Users can sign up, submit their information, and their data gets stored in our database

We also created a custom visual identity inspired by the outdoors—simple, layered, and open.

What we learned

React doesn’t always do what you think it will, even if your code looks “right”
The learning curve for React is real, but once it clicks, it’s worth it
Supabase is a great backend tool once you understand how to connect everything
Figma helped us organize our ideas visually and map out real flows, not just screens
Copy and UX writing matter just as much as design and code

Challenges

Getting React components to work the way we imagined. State management and rendering behavior didn’t always line up with what we thought should happen
Making sure the backend worked—and it does—but the frontend isn’t yet showing the stored data correctly. This is a top goal for future updates
Building something meaningful without adding extra complexity
Learning multiple new tools—React, Vite, Supabase, and Figma—at the same time
Balancing roles, design decisions, and technical work as a small team

In the end, we’re proud of what we built. ArcTrail is more than an idea—it’s a working prototype. And the long learning curve taught us more than we expected, especially about how to turn a concept into something people can actually use.