Ideaz

Introduction

MealMate is a hyper-local dining coordination platform designed to help university students sync their meal times with friends. By turning solo meals into social experiences, MealMate encourages community bonding, reduces loneliness, and makes campus dining more enjoyable.

Problem

Students have unpredictable class schedules and commitments, making it difficult to coordinate meals with friends. Messaging groups are noisy, last-minute plans often fall through, and many students end up eating alone or skipping meals entirely.

Solution

MealMate offers a one-tap solution for meal coordination. Students can broadcast when they’re heading to a dining hall, see a live feed of friends’ plans, and join them with a single click. The platform includes privacy options, push notifications, and a simple interface designed for fast adoption.

Benefits

• Encourages social interaction and community bonding
• Reduces loneliness and supports student mental well-being
• Improves meal planning and dining hall traffic management
• Saves time by eliminating back-and-forth coordination in chat groups

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

• Status toggle button: 'Heading to Dining Hall'
• Live feed showing who is eating where
• Quick 'Join' option to coordinate instantly
• Basic privacy settings and student email verification
• Push notifications for close friends

Future Features

• Dining hall menus displayed in-app
• Group meal scheduling and recurring meetups
• Mood tags like 'want to talk' or 'need quiet'
• Gamification with meal streaks, badges, and rewards
• White-labeled version for universities and dining services

What users can also do

•Rate today’s items (1–5 stars) at a specific dining hall and meal period (B/L/D).
•Add a 1-line review (optional) + tags like spicy, bland, fresh, undercooked, vegan.
•See friends’ ratings first, then campus-wide averages.
•Quick-react chips: 👍 Tasty • 👎 Skip • 🥗 Fresh • 🌶️ Spicy.
•Report issue (routes to dining services): undercooked, allergens, cleanliness.