Overview
Sprout is a skill-sharing platform designed to help university students connect, learn, and grow together. While campuses are full of peers, many students struggle to form lasting friendships or lack confidence in their skills. Traditional learning platforms can feel intimidating, and many students undervalue their unique talents, from digital art and coding to tea ceremonies.
By fostering peer-to-peer learning, Sprout transforms the social experience in universities, helping students exchange knowledge while building genuine connections. The project was developed during Hackville 2025, where it won the Best Use of Google Cloud Award.
My contribution
Product design
Project Management
Speaker
The team
2 × Product designers
2 × engineers
Year
Jan 17th-19th 2025
Process
Understanding the Problem
📌 Isolation despite social environments – Research shows that friendship instability and weak social connections negatively impact academic performance and mental well-being.
📌 Lack of accessible, casual learning spaces – Students want to learn new skills, but many don't know where to start or feel overwhelmed by structured courses.
📌 Undervalued personal skills – Many students possess valuable talents but lack the confidence to share them.
Sprout was designed to address these challenges through collaborative, interactive learning.
Design & Development
We built Sprout with a modern and scalable tech stack:
🎨 UI/UX Design: Adobe Illustrator for the logo and Figma for the prototypes
🖥 Frontend: Next.js for a fast, responsive experience
💾 Backend & Database: Firebase for real-time updates and smooth data handling
Key features that drive engagement:
🌱 Skill Trees – Visual progress tracking that helps users see their growth.
💬 Direct Chat – Real-time messaging for mentorship and collaboration.
🤝 Collaborative Projects – Encouraging teamwork and applied learning.
🏆 Achievement System – Recognizing and rewarding both learners and teachers.
Challenges & Insights
Like any ambitious project, Sprout faced key challenges:
⚖ Aligning team vision – Deciding on core features required extensive discussions to balance technical feasibility with user needs.
🎨 Design Consistency – High-fidelity prototypes were challenging to produce within the tight 36-hour hackathon timeframe. Coordinating design standards across team members was crucial.
🚀 Technical Constraints – Some planned interactive features were too complex for a hackathon build. We had to simplify certain elements while preserving the core user experience.
Through this process, we learned that building a successful social-learning platform isn’t just about technology—it requires a deep understanding of human connection, community dynamics, and engagement psychology.
Outcome
Sprout was well-received as a refreshing approach to peer-to-peer learning, earning recognition at Hackville 2025:
🏆 Winner: the Best Use of Google Cloud - Google Developer Group
📈 10 out of 10 testers reported that they would use Sprout if launched on their campus.
🤝 Strong user engagement, with most participants favoring collaborative learning over traditional course-based learning.
💡 Over 15 mentors and judges at Hackville praised Sprout's concept and execution, offering valuable feedback and insights for future development.
While our MVP focused on core functionalities, future improvements could include enhanced gamification, AI-driven skill recommendations, and expanded community features. Sprout lays the foundation for a new way to learn and connect, making university life more engaging, collaborative, and rewarding.