Inspiration
We were originally inspired by the app TooGoodToGo that connected restaurants that had leftover food with those who needed affordable food. While thinking about a Downtown Track project to support public good and how that might be connected with technology, we realized that we could prevent a lot of e-waste and empower those without access to technology by taking technology that one organization no longer needs and donating it to another organization that has that need.
What it does
Our web app provides an interface for recipients to make requests for certain technologies and donors to make new donations. We then utilize our matching algorithm in the backend to fulfill requests with donations based on the type of the device and the time that the request/donation was made.
How we built it
We used Figma as our ideation platform and designed each portal/page that a user might go through while using our web app. We used React.js to create a dynamic frontend interface that matched our designs in Figma. We used a Google Cloud SQL database to store our data and Node.js to create an API that pulled from and updated the database.
Challenges we ran into
One challenge we ran into was integrating our backend Cloud database with our frontend interface. The Google Cloud documentation was confusing to read and we couldn't find explanations to the errors we were getting. We overcame this challenge by looking up an online tutorial to set up Google Cloud with React which successfully resolved all of our issues.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are all very proud of the backend database integration since it was a big issue that we overcame. This integration is what allows our data to persist through a user's sessions so that their existing and newly added requests/donations will still be stored if the page is closed or refreshed.
What we learned
Most of us were not well versed in React or implementing the backend so this project was a good chance for us to step outside of our comfort zone and utilize our combined knowledge to create rewired. We managed to create our backend database, something we struggled with throughout our project, learned how to pass information back and forth with the database, and format our site so the backend and frontend interactions are intuitive. We are proud to have supported each others' growth and create an impactful product in the process.
What's next for Rewired
The immediate next steps for Rewired would be continuing to improve and expand the user interface. In the long term, we would begin doing outreach to potential donor and recipient organizations to build our initial userbase and continue building and scaling our product around that userbase.
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