PURRFIT
Purrfit is a Discord bot catering to the health-conscious gaming community. It serves as a dynamic reminder system integrated seamlessly into the gaming experience. By employing customizable reminders, activity tracking, and motivational guidance, this bot empowers gamers to strike an optimal balance between their gaming engagements and physical well-being.
Background
Discord is a widely-used communication platform for gamers, providing free voice and text chat across desktop, mobile, and web. Users can create or join servers tailored to specific games or interests, facilitating real-time conversations and file sharing. A Discord bot is a software on the server that automates tasks and provides information. They can:
- Send messages, either on command or at set times
- Engage users with games like trivia
- Automate routine activities, from welcoming newcomers to event reminders
Problem Space
Problem Background
We're focusing on the gaming community, which includes both casual and hardcore gamers. There's growing concern over the physical health effects of long gaming sessions, especially with the rise in gaming's popularity and associated health issues. Our findings show:
- About 60% gamers play games daily or several times a week, with sessions lasting over 2 hours
- Players are 46% more concerned about their physical than mental health
- The main concerns include poor posture, visual and physical discomfort
- Major barriers include time constraints, low awareness, and lack of motivation
Given the significant number of gamers not monitoring their health and interest in relevant products, there's a clear need for solutions like Purrfit. This tool would integrate into the gaming experience, promoting healthy habits and raising awareness.
Product Statement
How might we motivate gamers to stay active while gaming, fostering a healthy gaming lifestyle?
Target Users
Our target audience is gamers using Discord to chat across platforms. Initially, our MVP is for users in servers with our bot integrated. As we grow, we plan to launch our own gaming server.
Solution Space
Proposed Solution
We're launching Purrfit, a Discord bot for health-conscious gamers. It blends reminders, activity tracking, and motivation to balance gaming and well-being seamlessly. Unlike competitors such as YUR Rank, we seamlessly track playtime, educate on gaming's physical health impacts, and guide players through diverse exercises.
Main Features (Minimum Viable Product)
- Goal Setting: Purrfit lets users set and personalize health goals, such as posture, hydration, or taking eye breaks.
- Customizable Frequency: Adjust the frequency of health reminders based on personal preferences.
- Activity Reminders: Via a Discord bot, Purrfit sends health tips, short exercise prompts, and benefits of staying active.
- Progress Tracking: Users can view their exercise data through visual graphs, track achievements, and earn badges based on their workout dedication.
- Online Platform: Beyond Discord, Purrfit offers a website with a dashboard for deeper engagement and bot interaction.
Stretch Goals (Next Phase)
- Reward System: Earn points by achieving goals and engaging with the bot. A gamified way to promote healthier habits.
- Customizable Dashboard: Display personal preferences and data with customizable widgets for an enhanced user experience.
- Private Server: Encourage community interaction and support through direct communication.
- AI-Communication: Personalized interactions through AI, including chatbots for queries and tips, and tailored game activity recommendations.
Purrfit provides a complete solution for a balanced gaming lifestyle, addressing the importance of physical health in the gaming community.
Product Design
Lo-fidelity
Hi-fidelity
Product Implementation
Hosted Platform
- Frontend: Vercel
- Backend: Render
- Bot: TBD
Tech Stack Used
- Database: MongoDB
- Backend: Express
- Frontend: React
- Bot: Discord.js
- Package Manager: Node.js
Current Design - Database
Technical Challenges
What was the hardest part of development?
- Frontend development faced a challenge when working with graphs, a new task for the team.
- The discovery of Chart.js, a user-friendly library, simplified graph creation, dispelling the misconception that it was difficult.
Does your app have any scaling issues?
- The app encounters scalability challenges due to its current hosting setup.
- Backend is hosted on Render, a free platform, while Discord operates in a Sandbox with limitations and unpredictability.
- Deploying on a more reliable platform like Google Cloud could become costly.
How can we address the scaling challenges?
- To overcome these scalability issues, our team is focusing on enhancing the app's value. We plan to introduce new and valuable features to both the bot and the website.
- Our goal is to entice users into subscribing to a premium service, which will help cover expenses and ensure the app runs smoothly.
What are some key takeaways?
- Working as a team has been a valuable learning experience for us.
- We've come to appreciate the importance of meetings in the development process.
- Collaborating with a diverse team, including a product manager, product designer, backend developer, frontend engineer, and mentor, has taught us how to efficiently and swiftly create a high-quality product.
Future Plans
Enhancing Performance: We're enhancing our app speed and ironing out issues for smoother use.
Rewards Ahead: Soon, earn cool rewards like game skins or vouchers just for using our app. Think of it as getting treats for healthy gaming!
Step Tracker: We're integrating a step tracker via the Google Fit API, so you can monitor your activity as you game.
Access Everywhere: View your progress from your computer or phone. We're turning our site into an app and securing a domain.
Premium Perks: Upgrade for a nominal fee to unlock exclusive features.
In essence, we're boosting our app’s speed, offering rewards, tracking your steps, ensuring easy access, and introducing premium perks. And there's more to come!
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Jiaqian Yu
- Led a cross-functional team to develop and launch a product from the ground up in just 7 weeks
- Mastered the art of prioritizing crucial features to craft a minimum viable product
- Adopted the Agile methodology to efficiently track the development progress
Designer Learnings:
Mitchell Law
- Gained insights into real-world design practices
- Learned strategies for designing on new and unfamiliar platforms
- Enhanced user experiences across two distinct platforms
- Collaborated closely with developers, effectively communicating design visions to influence product execution
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:
Himanshu Singla
- Became proficient in developing visual graphics with Chart.js
- Honed my skills in backend integration and implemented authentication mechanisms with Discord
- Learned the significance of collaboration in simplifying tasks and boosting effectiveness in project work
- Grasped the art of building top-notch projects by seamlessly merging concise code segments
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:
Shubham Aggarwal
&
- Delved into the workings of Discord Bots, understanding the intricacies of permissions and dependencies
- Mastered the synchronization between two applications, specifically the backend and the bot
- Adopted a feature-centric approach to development rather than viewing a project as a monolithic entity
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.