During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students wish to start their own businesses, projects, and other initiatives but lack the community and resources to do so.
How would we create an online community that offers support, connection, and resources for students who wish to carry out their projects and expand on their skills?
The 'kinect' app is an app made for students to collaborate and begin projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. We implemented a 'matching' system with tags that would enable students to find like-minded individuals with the skills needed for their projects.
Our brainstorming process began with outlining the needs for the project, as well as any possible methods by which we could achieve them. Given that this project was to be completed within a day, the team considered the most simple ways to satisfy the requirements, and then combined solutions in the wireframes.
In our preliminary research for the app, we looked at websites like LinkedIn, Dribbble, and Behance: we knew that this collaboration platform would need proof of work in order to mitigate any possible scams. To add a second level of security, we closed the app to users that had a .edu email address.
We also considered the organization of the app: a roadblock that we ran into was whether a side-menu or a navigation bar would allow for the most streamlined experience. After drawing up wireframes for both, we decided with the number of client requirements, a navigation bar would be the most accessible for the user to switch between the sections of the app. We defined five main sections of the app: an explore page to look at others’ in-progress projects, a profile with a personal portfolio, a search function that filters for skills, a messaging system, and a ‘matching’ system for project leaders and collaborators.
For the branding, we brainstormed a few names, as well as what they signified and we’re associated with. After discussing a few options, we ultimately decided that ‘kinect’ reflected the innovative energy that the client requested. On those same lines, we wanted the color scheme to match the energy of the target market (college students) as well as the brand, so we decided between a ‘dark mode’ which proved to be popular amongst the target market, or a brighter color scheme.
