EY x BrainStation Hackathon 

EY and BrainStation provided us a design challenge where we had to come up with a digital solution that will empower small-medium businesses (SMBs) to succeed in the post-COVID19 era.

I worked with a large team of other BrainStation students in UX Design, Data Science, Web Development and two EY Consultant interns.

I collaborated with the other UX designers, Ben and Alysha to create the wireframes and Hi-fis for the iOS prototype, desktop website on Figma and stitched the prototype together in inVision. 

Project
Design challenge by EY and BrainStation in 7 hours

My Role
UX Designer

Team
Data Scientists: Andy Nguyen, Ray
UX Designers: Ben Habib, Alysha
Web Developers: Ericka, Tarek
EY Consultant Interns: Manal Meer, Shivoahn Ma

Tools
Pen & Paper, Figma, InVision, Zoom

Platform
iOS, desktop

Getting Started

We started early in the morning at 6am PST and had 7 hours to complete the project. We had to finish and hand in deliverables by 2pm and present afterwards. With limited time, we gathered on Slack and Zoom to brainstorm and ideate on a proposed final solution.

How might we empower small business owners (SMBs) in Ontario to succeed post-Covid19?

Proposed Solution: Use Storeys to connect with local businesses and provide an integrated platform form SMBs to connect with customers. This will help encourage customers to support their local businesses through an incentivized rewards-based membership.

The Design

With two other UX designers on the team, we worked together to create the wireframes, hi-fis of the app and website on Figma. We created the wireframes based on our persona, Susie and her goals and frustrations. We discussed the colour scheme, branding, and collected icons to use. We created the lo-fi wireframes first to give ample time for the web developers in our team to start coding and make a workable website. I stitched together the finished prototype afterwards on inVision. 

Persona

Hi-Fi iOS and Desktop Wireframes

We wanted to showcase the iOS app with Susie already having downloaded and using the app to showcase its features as a member. Storeys shows different retailers in the local area with different categories with rewards for members. Rewards such as % off a store is given as members get to the next tier by visiting and purchasing from the store. In this case, Susie can get 15% off her purchases for being a Tier 2 member (as seen in her profile as well). You can also see how it would like for Susie if she uses the desktop version instead.

Reflections

This was truly a whirlwind of an experience as everything went by so fast with just 7 hours. One of the things that was emphasized during the hackathon was, "Remember that done is better than perfect." We all kept reiterating this with each other and it definitely helped us focus on the vital parts and make swift decisions.

It was also very interesting to work with other students in the different programs (Data and Web Dev) and the EY interns, collaborating and communicating our ideas. Working in a hackathon remotely was also a new experience too compared to hosting in real life, but this also proves that it can be done and future hackathons can be hosted online.

Lastly, I want to thank my teammates again,  everyone came together in unison and did their parts amazingly which helped make the hackathon experience enjoyable.