Bigsnyc.org Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York city

The challenge

Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC (BBBSNYC) had a vision: to create a mobile app that would help their adult volunteers feel more connected with other mentors, with case managers, and with the inner city kids being mentored.

Although other local chapters of BBBS had created some apps, this was the first app for BBBSNYC, one that would change how their mentors were supported, to have a greater impact on their match relationship.

The mobile app (called “GoBIG”) had to be a useful tool that would serve a few purposes: (a) allow mentors an easier way to send updates to case managers; (b) remind mentors of their core objectives (called SMART Goals) in helping kids; (c) give mentors meaningful ideas for their monthly outings.

Development of the app also had to be contained within a fixed budget, within a fixed timeline. While the initial project scope was ambitious, the fixed budget and schedule meant only core features could be designed and developed to fit the client’s business needs. An admin site (using Python Django) was also needed to input content updates for the app.

There was also difficulty in connecting various APIs on the backend to serve the required information within the app, and one of the core app features was also difficult to build, as it also involved connecting several pieces in the backend to appear correctly on the frontend.