Colleb

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Problem Statement

How might I help college students to easily find their like-minded collaborators beyond their social circle?

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Solution

Check students' portfolio like dating apps

Instead of showing profile pictures like in dating apps, users can see student work and connect with those whose skills and personalities match. Ongoing projects require matching students; otherwise, users can save a student's profile for future collaborations.

Easily find a student with keywords

Users can search for their collaborators by typing major, personality, and skills. They can put as many personalities and skills as possible for better matching.

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Problem

Are flyers effective enough to find various collaborators for projects?

Whenever I walk around The New School, I see many flyers to find potential collaborators for student projects. However, it only helps students find other students within their community.

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Research Findings

Finding new connections beyond one's current network is not easy.

Most students rely on their friends and connections to find collaborators while checking other students' qualifications before they start collaborating.

Q. What was the method you used to find another student?

Q. Do you start a project immediately, regardless of students' qualifications?

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Pain Points

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User Needs

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Opportunity

New marketplace

I researched platforms where people usually go to find connections. Based on the analysis, I aligned them with the criteria below. Here are the definition of each criteria:

x-axis
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'Similar Interest'
Platforms cover one topic
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'Diverse Interest'
Platforms cover various topic

y-axis
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'Exclusive'
People need invitation to join
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'Inclusive'
Anyone can join anytime

As a result of the analysis, I realized that none of the platforms are in exclusive AND diverse sections. Therefore, I decided to position my app there.

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The meaning of the app name

Colleb is a combination of the words
'Collaboration' and 'College'

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Final Product

Only put a school e-mail address

Our app only requires a school e-mail address to verify the student status and to reduce the signing-up/in process. Students can sign up/in with only a verification code.

Easy sign-up process

Colleb simplifies the sign-up process, only asking users to provide essential information for matchmaking, eliminating unnecessary complexity.

Swipe to match students promptly,
or like them to connect later

Users can tap left or right to see a student's portfolio, and by swiping, users can decide whether they want to match with the student. They can also tap left or right to see a student's portfolio, and by swiping, users can decide whether they want to match with the student.

Explain your project,
and wait for the response

When users want to connect with a student, they should send a message with the details of their project. The message is directly sent to a student's invitation inbox. When the student accepts the request, they can start connecting and chatting.

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Takeaway

A problem still exists in our daily lives

There have been so many services/products released with new solutions to make up for people's problems. Therefore, it was easy for me to deceive myself as if none of the services and products needs to be improved or developed anymore.

However, a problem is always around us. Every time I go to school, I always see many flyers on the walls, which I ignored before and which was the starting point of this project. Paying attention to my daily life is the beginning of finding a problem.