Qvid

Qvid is an integrated virtual queueing system that assists business operations and customers to adapt to the new normal. Book your visit. Break the circuit.

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Inspiration

In these uncertain times, business operations often have COVID-19 countermeasures in-place. However, it is difficult for them to keep track of whether or not said measures are effective (if it is even applied in the first place). Case in point, we’ve experienced going to a place and being asked to wait outside since the recommended social distancing capacity is already full. It's infuriating for both sides— that's why we created Qvid.

What it does

Qvid allows users to book a slot (queue) for a place at their desired time. This way, users will know in advance regarding the status of a store (maximum capacity and available slots) and the store can apply their COVID-19 countermeasures more effectively. Business operations will run smoother, and customers will be at less risk of getting exposed to the Coronavirus.

How we built it

We began by designing the prototypes in Figma. Then, the developers decided to use React Native and Google Firebase for developing the mobile application. We decided to use Firebase because it enables us to have a streamlined development, especially for authentication and data management. Firebase authentication allows us to do CRUD operations and validations for users. We use Expo CLI to ease the testing of the app in both iOS and Android environments.

Challenges we ran into

  1. Collaborating with others online in different timezones
  2. The very short timeframe
  3. Unstable internet

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Being able to turn prospective ideas into a working prototype in just a short time period
  2. Being able to brainstorm ideas as a team and making it happen
  3. Being able to coordinate relatively well even if we're living in different timezones
  4. Finishing our MVP despite many hurdles and the very limited timeframe

What we learned

We learned that we should plan our ideas ahead, and aim for a small MVP first, instead of going over our heads and not finishing the project. We almost didn't finish our project since our MVP was unideal at first.

What's next for Qvid

Next, if this receives good feedback from the judges, we will continue to develop it, having some ideas in our minds for future improvements. First and foremost, we would implement a COVID-19 tracker feature, allowing users to report to the app if they have tested positive. Then, based on the 2 weeks location history of that user, other users that have visited the same place as the infected user will be notified that they have (potentially) been exposed to an infected person. Also, we plan to integrate Google Maps API so that users can immediately get directions to a place and search for places nearby.

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