Nibbl

Nibbl login page.

Inspiration

We were inspired by the growing issue of food waste and food insecurity in our communities. Every day, perfectly edible food is thrown out by restaurants, cafés, and individuals, while at the same time, many people go hungry. We wanted to create a platform that makes it easy, intuitive, and even fun to redirect surplus food to those who need it most. That’s how Nibbl was born, a click-to-match platform that connects food donors and recipients, inspired by the familiar UX of dating apps.

What it does

Nibbl connects food donors (i.e. farmers, restaurants, or grocery stores) with local recipients (shelters, students, or anyone in need) through a simple, interactive interface. Donors post available food with descriptions and pickup details, and recipients can browse listings and click "Munch!" to express interest. Once there’s a match, they can coordinate pickup directly through the website. The platform encourages quick decision-making, reduces food waste, and builds community connections, while maintaining a fun atmosphere!

How we built it

Nibbl was built with Flask (Python) backend and frontend using HTML and CSS. The UI was initially designed in Figma, allowing us to prototype and iterate quickly on layout and flow before starting our coding. We focused on simplicity and accessibility to make sure both donors and recipients could easily navigate the platform on separate portals. The matching interface is click-based, ensuring fast connections and capturing the fun/familiar vibe of dating apps, but with a meaningful twist.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was balancing the UX design for both donors and recipients. We wanted donors and recipients to interact with the site through separate portals based off their account preferences. This maintains some user privacy and allows recipients to click through the donor posts without interacting with them directly. We struggled to maintain uniformity across both portals since we wanted them to be distinct yet have the same design as the overall site.

Additionally, we struggled with our database. Since we're all relatively inexperienced, specifically with Flask, it was difficult to connect the donor forms to data base entries, then draw those variables into the posts page for recipients. Through many rounds of trial and error we were able to successfully input the info from the donor form page to the recipients page!

Lastly, this was our first time using all the tools in our tech stack (Flask for the backend, HTML/CSS for the frontend, and Figma for UI design) so there was a steep learning curve as we figured out how to make everything work together smoothly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Overall, we are VERY proud of our final product. To build this from the ground up was a truly amazing learning experience, and we're all truly grateful to have been able to participate in this hackathon. Building a system that addresses both food waste and food insecurity was incredibly rewarding, as it allowed us to create a practical solution with a meaningful social impact. By connecting donors and recipients, we were able to contribute to reducing waste while helping those in need. We left the event more knowledgeable about a side of tech we had never explored before. Given the limited timeframe, we’re incredibly proud to have built a functional site from scratch!!!

What we learned

We learned how to work well as a team under tight deadlines, making sure everyone contributed to the project. We learned the entirety of frontend (HTML/CSS), backend (Flask - python), and UI design (Figma)! We also learned how to scope a project to make sure it’s achievable and impactful within a short timeframe.

What's next for Nibbl

We want to implement a rating and review system to help build trust among donors/recipients and encourage more participation. Additionally, we want to add filtering options for dietary needs, expiry times, and pickup radius to make the platform even more user-friendly. We aim to develop a mobile app to make the platform more accessible, with notifications for real-time updates, and a connection to your mobile devices calendar.

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to anyone who helped us out along the way. Nibbl was truly a group effort and it really took a village! To anyone who contributed, we could not have done it without you and we're so grateful <3 We would also like to thank YouTube and ChatGPT for extensive debugging and guidance!