Inspiration

As software engineers and tech specialist in the workplace, we know there are times when we feel unmotivated, unproductive and disconnected from our team (especially with remote workers). With that in mind, we wanted to create a product that is a user-first approach and have the employees mental health at the forefront of what we do. We focused on things that would make us feel good, and contribute to our health, and wellbeing at work. If we look after ourselves, avoid burn out and receive recognition along the way, then great work will follow.

What problem is it solving

There are countless productivity tools on the market that primarily focus on business needs of the employees. They push for targets, sales as the sole KPI metric of company. What they forget is that to achieve all of these targets you need a highly productive, and collaboration app, you may think of traditional tools such as task management, KPI tracking dashboards (fun?), but they prioritise the ‘what’ over the ‘who.’ This leads to employee burnout, high turnover rates, and a growing remote workforce feeling increasingly disconnected.

What is it

MotivateMe is a desktop application that encourages and celebrates employee wellbeing in the workplace. It fosters healthy habits through friendly team competition, motivating employees to take walks, recycle, carpool, and reduce screen time. This can lead to a happier, healthier workforce and potentially even a more productive one. MotivateMe is also customisable, allowing companies to tailor challenges to their specific goals

How We Built It

• Python: We utilised Python for both frontend and backend development. Its efficiency and rapid deployment capabilities were pivotal in meeting our project deadlines.
• Streamlit: We employed Streamlit, a Python library, to swiftly create MotiveMe as an interactive web application. Its straightforward approach allowed us to prioritise functionality over intricate coding.
• Hydralit: As a wrapping tool, Hydralit enabled us to integrate a navigation bar, providing us with a multi-page website. This streamlined navigation and enhanced user experience.
• CSS: We leveraged CSS to manage centring limitations and customise the user interface, ensuring a consistent design across various components and pages.
• GitHub: GitHub served as our version control system, facilitating collaborative project management and seamless integration of updates.

Challenges

• Streamlit: Setting up a navigation bar and centring elements presented initial challenges due to the library's evolving features and documentation.
• Hydralit: To address this, we implemented Hydralit, a Python wrapper built around Streamlit. Once mastered, it enabled us to integrate a navigation bar, significantly enhancing the user experience of MotivateMe. Communication: Coordination between the design and development teams occasionally overlapped, leading to delays in decision-making. Clear communication and regular updates helped mitigate these challenges over time.
• Time Restriction: Despite ambitious project goals, time constraints limited the scope of feature implementation. Prioritising essential functionalities ensured the timely delivery of a robust solution.

What we learned

1. Team Collaboration: We improved our communication skills, ensuring that ideas and feedback were clearly shared and understood among all team members. We learned to distribute tasks based on individual strengths and expertise, which streamlined our workflow and maximised productivity.
2. Prototyping with Streamlit and Hydralit: Streamlit and Hydralit allowed us to quickly create interactive prototypes, enabling us to iterate and test features efficiently.
3. Wireframing with Figma: Figma helped us maintain a consistent design language across the application, ensuring a cohesive look and feel. We utilised Figma’s collaborative features to work on the wireframes simultaneously, allowing real-time updates and design discussions.
4. Wellbeing Habits in the Workplace: We deepened our understanding of how promoting wellbeing habits can enhance teamwork, making it more delightful and productive. We also learned to design with the end-user in mind, focusing on features that encourage and celebrate positive habits in the workplace.
5. Project Management: We improved our ability to manage our time effectively, meeting deadlines and ensuring the project stayed on track. We developed problem-solving skills by addressing challenges that arose during the project, from design issues to technical glitches.

Benefits to businesses

1. It's an automated application that tracks employees commitment to their own welbeing and encourages continued efforts.
2. It builds trust between employees and the business showing they have a commitment to not only their progression in role, but also their well-being as individuals
3. The assement criteria for "UK 100 best company to work for award" includes innovation, giving back and discovering potential. These are all factor that can be imporved when using our app.
4. Companies considering working towards a Bcorp status would benefit from the user first approach that drives for social wellbeing. It can be overlooked that to achieve Bcorp status, you need to fit a environmental criteria as well as a social criertis in the workplace.
5. The app can ultimately lead to increased productivity, employee retention, profits.

Future feataures

• Automation integrations to include encrypted health data from Apple Watches to the leaderboard.
• Including personalisation feature that continuously learn algorithm based information through action and surveys understand each employees motivations