Ice-breaker
A platform to help you to interact with others and be yourself in a fun and social environment. We aim to be all that social media has promised to give you but never managed to achieve.
Problem Statement
How can we help the younger generations in having more social interactions?
Problem Background
Today, social media has become ingrained in people’s lives. Young people spend hours of their daily routines on social media platforms, browsing others' profiles and watching short videos or more generally engaging with their own feed, in theory being more “connected” with their peers. However, in practice, this is not the case. According to recent studies, none of the time we spend on social media equates to making our lives more social, and in fact can often lead to isolation and feelings of loneliness. Social interactions, on the other hand, require face-to-face conversations and force us to actively engage in real-time conversation with other people - just like what would happen in a ‘town square’ environment.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
Using an online survey we interviewed around 44 GenZers and Millenials to try to find if loneliness in younger generations was as prevalent as the studies seemed to indicate
Feedback
Our preliminary user surveys seem to validate this problem and our 4 user interviews further confirmed it.
Landing on the Solution
Based on our target users’ pain points, we knew we wanted to work on a website where users can create or join groups to chat to other individuals in a fun and engaging community.
When creating a new group, a user may set the group to go live at a certain date or time in the future. The creator may then send invites to join our website and their future event to people outside.
Equally, people may create games (with an inbuilt editor) and then share these games inside of groups - these games may be things such as “2 truths and a lie”, “charades”, “taboo” etc.. All games will require active participation and social interaction between all users.
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Giovanni Roberto Franzan
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
&
As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
&
As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
&
Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
&
- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
&
All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
&
I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.