Inspiration There is a big problem with the way we find friends. Before the age of the internet, location was a big constraint for meeting new friends, but now we are more globally connected than ever, yet our friends still seem to be local. By do we depend on this serendipitous approach? Just think about it, imagine all the people out there that could be your "optimal" friend, your best friend. And in the rare occasion that you think you have found "the one", think about the chances, slim to none. A prime example is my hackathon partner. I am from the UK, he is from South Africa. We are great friends now, but what were our chances of meeting before? Very low. Social media plays a good role in keeping up to date with current friends, but how do you make new ones?
What it does Diversify solves this problem by connecting you with new people that share similar interests but have extremely different stories. Simply sign up for an account, complete a rigorous yet simple form by answering questions about your interests etc, similar to Myers-Briggs tests. Our matching algorithm then matches you up with the most compatible users. You can then see all your common interests, and introduce yourself to them, starting a conversation that could possibly change your life.
But that is not all, not only do we strive for diversity, but also inclusivity. Diversify offers custom text to speech for visually impaired users, where they can simply double click on text elements to hear the audible format.
How we built it The app was built with Flask, MongoDB and html/css.
Challenges we ran into The main challenge we ran into was the team. As we were a team of 2, we had to balance more to cover a larger amount of work. We successfully managed this though, and finished the app.
Accomplishments that we're proud of Accomplishments that I'm proud of As a team, we knew coordination would be a challenge as we are an international team from 2 different continents and hence, 2 different time zones. We stepped up to the challenge and made it work, by delegating each person with tasks of equal work, we managed to lower the workload all while keeping good communication.
What we learned What I learned This was also our first time as a team using Figma, and we quickly adapted to it and learned in a short time period. We also improved our understanding of Docker. Only one person in the team had any experience with using Docker and AWS, but we all made it a priority to learn.
What's next for Diversify We look to add more accessibility features and expand the user base so more people can find their optimal friends!