sflazarus / farmersmarket Goto Github PK

Technology has given us the ability to streamline many different common tasks. For example, applications like Craigslist takes the pain out of shopping for second-hand items. We decided to apply similar logic to Farmer's Markets. By cutting out the travel, time, and advertising cost of farming, we reduce the cost to consumers and increase the profit for farmers. Additionally, the "produce on demand" model reduces wastage of goods and increases the quality and freshness of the products for consumers

The app connects two groups of people - farmers and consumers. Farmers may make entries, which become available for consumers to purchase. From there, the consumers place an order for a certain quantity of produce. The farmer and consumer, then, initiate contact and arrange for payment and pickup, thereby avoiding wasted time and money.

We used Android Studio.

Many of the people on our team had never used Android Studio before. The software can be quite confusing. This posed two problems - the time overhead of learning the structure of android applications, and the learning curve of actually implementing code in this new system. At one point, we were stuck on a particularly daunting problem which caused development to grind to a standstill. Moreover, one team member, our most skilled, could not join us after the first few hours due to a prior commitment, and one team member was the youngest at the event, but still we were all on board, thanks to his extra efforts.

Although we were not familiar with mobile application development, we took this up as a challenge, and reached the desired end result in time for judging.

Firstly, we will need to conduct market surveys to see if there is a general demand for this product. Secondly, we should figure out a way to add transactions to the app, so that payment is not peer-to-peer. Thirdly, we could arrange for a system of transportation involving convenient, short-term contracts, in a model we call "microtransportation". Finally, we should make the app profitable, either by adding advertisements, or taking a small cut of all transactions.