AMEA
Team 28 documented the development processes and planning stages required to bring AMEA from an idea to reality. AMEA is a data-driven application targeting the expanding community of thrift store enthusiasts and the expanding second-hand shopping sector. Motivated by the alarming statistic that only 20 percent of textiles in the United States are annually collected for reuse1, our team embarked on a mission to combat this issue head-on. Extensive research revealed that thrift stores, particularly appealing to the younger demographic, play a significant role in addressing textile waste, with a notable 2021 report indicating that 42% of millennials and Gen Z respondents were inclined to shop secondhand2. Despite the growing popularity of thrift shopping, over 54 percent of Americans still discard their used clothing, contributing to the mounting landfill problem3. AMEA’s main motive is to tackle this challenge by integrating thrifting with gamified rewards, aiming to incentivize users and alleviate the inconvenience associated with traditional thrifting methods while creating a vibrant, supportive, and positive online shopping experience. With the vision to promote sustainable shopping practices in mind, AMEA will serve as a sure way to provide a captivating digital platform that makes thrifting accessible, enjoyable, and appealing to all demographics. This will in turn boost secondhand clothing reuse, which will directly tackle the issue of textile waste. AMEA has successfully integrated eight Epics, including Buy, Sell, Trade, Rewards, Fashion Show, Help Request, Donation Center Locator, and User Authentication/Profile page, to bring forth an application that assists in second-hand clothing engagement. After constant iterations, all Epics have reached their final version (V2). In order for an Epic to reach V2 Team 28 must have agreed it met all the criteria from being professional, having a user-friendly UX design, and having full functionality. Most Epics hit ⅔ of the criteria in our last full iteration V1. The main criterion that was lacking throughout our Epics was UX design. We directly focused on this step in the last phase of the course by utilizing live demos and user feedback via Google Forms. These two research methods made Team 28 able to refine the UX design and implement necessary changes, bringing AMEA to 99% completion. While it has progressed through the planning, analysis, design, and implementation stages of the software development life cycle, ongoing maintenance and iteration ensure its continued relevance and effectiveness, which is why we truly believe that AMEA will never be 100% complete.