Community Support Platform Development
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
1. Purpose
The purpose of this platform is to provide ad-hoc help within the network of a community, focusing on areas like health, mentorship, and profession-specific assistance. The platform enables quick, local, and personalized support to prevent delays that might arise from formal channels. It also allows experts to control the volume of requests they handle while giving users the flexibility to choose general advice or reach out to specific individuals.
2. Goals & Objectives
Primary Goal: Facilitate ad-hoc, real-time help for health issues, mentorship, and professional advice.
Objectives:
Allow users to seek immediate support or specific help from experts based on location, profession, or expertise.
Enable experts to define how many requests they are open to per day, with optional phone number sharing for direct communication.
Track and display the amount of help provided by each expert.
Include a review system to assess the quality of support provided.
3. Key Features
3.1 User Registration and Profile Management
User Roles:
User: Can ask for help (advice or support).
Expert: Can provide help.
Profile Information: Users must provide:
Name
Batch/Year of graduation
Profession/Field of expertise
Location (City/State/Country)
Contact details (with an option to make phone numbers publicly visible, irreversible for the previous cases once chosen)
[p1] I could ask to receive updates on my phone for any new requests related to my topics.
Areas of expertise (health, mentorship, profession-specific)
Number of requests willing to handle per day/week (e.g., 1-5)
Dual Role: Users can be both an expert and a user, able to seek help as well as offer it.
3.2 Search and Filter Capabilities
Search Options: Users can search for experts based on:
Profession/Field
Location (City, State, Country)
Expertise Areas (Medical, Mentorship, Legal, etc.)
Availability (Online now, Available later)
Filters:
Urgency Level (Urgent, Medium)
Help Type (Health, Mentorship, Jugaad)
Specific or General Help: Users can either:
Seek general advice from any available expert.
Choose a specific expert if they know whom they want help from.
3.3 Forum for Asking Questions
Post a Question: Users can post questions on the forum or direct them to specific experts. Required fields:
Title of the problem
Description (up to 500 characters)
Expertise required
Urgency (Urgent, Medium)
Attachments (optional)
Whether advice is needed from a specific person or anyone in the area
Urgency Levels:
Urgent: Immediate help needed, a dedicated expert will be notified directly.
Medium: Help can be offered based on expert availability.
3.4 Expert Dashboard & Response Management
Expert Sign-Up Options:
Set the number of requests per day (e.g., 1-5).
Option to share phone number publicly for faster communication (one-time, irreversible).
Expert Dashboard:
View open questions.
Filter by profession, location, or urgency.
Opt-in to provide help or auto-assign urgent cases.
Response Tools:
Text-based responses.
File sharing.
Contact scheduling for further consultations.
Tracking Contribution:
A visible counter for each expert showing how many queries they've addressed.
3.5 Notifications & Alerts
For Users:
Notifications when their question receives a response.
Alerts for urgent situations requiring immediate help.
For Experts:
Alerts for urgent cases.
Notifications when they are tagged in specific queries or their expertise is requested.
Escalation Mechanism: Unresolved urgent issues can be escalated for priority attention.
3.6 Review System
After Support: Users can leave feedback and reviews based on the help they received.
Rating Scale: A 5-star rating system.
Comments Section: Short feedback on the experience.
Reviews and feedback will be visible on the expert’s profile for future reference by other users.
4. Non-Functional Requirements
Security: All data must be encrypted, especially personal information.
Performance: Responses to searches and requests should take no more than 2 seconds.
Scalability: The system must support scaling as more alumni join.
Privacy: Once a phone number is shared publicly, naturally, it cannot be undone. For the new users, it won’t be shown.
5. User Stories
As a user, I want to post an urgent question and be quickly connected with an available expert.
As a user, I want to search for help from anyone in my area or from a specific person I trust.
As an expert, I want to set the number of requests I’m willing to receive each day to avoid being overwhelmed.
As an expert, I want to decide whether to share my phone number for direct contact.
As an admin, I want to review user feedback and ensure experts maintain quality responses.
6. Success Metrics
Response Time: Average time taken to respond to urgent and medium requests.
User Growth: Increase in user and expert registrations over time.
Contribution Tracking: Number of queries answered by each expert.
User Feedback: Quality of support as indicated by user reviews.
The purpose of this platform is to provide ad-hoc help within the network of a community, focusing on areas like health, mentorship, and profession-specific assistance. The platform enables quick, local, and personalized support to prevent delays that might arise from formal channels. It also allows experts to control the volume of requests they handle while giving users the flexibility to choose general advice or reach out to specific individuals.
2. Goals & Objectives
Primary Goal: Facilitate ad-hoc, real-time help for health issues, mentorship, and professional advice.
Objectives:
Allow users to seek immediate support or specific help from experts based on location, profession, or expertise.
Enable experts to define how many requests they are open to per day, with optional phone number sharing for direct communication.
Track and display the amount of help provided by each expert.
Include a review system to assess the quality of support provided.
3. Key Features
3.1 User Registration and Profile Management
User Roles:
User: Can ask for help (advice or support).
Expert: Can provide help.
Profile Information: Users must provide:
Name
Batch/Year of graduation
Profession/Field of expertise
Location (City/State/Country)
Contact details (with an option to make phone numbers publicly visible, irreversible for the previous cases once chosen)
[p1] I could ask to receive updates on my phone for any new requests related to my topics.
Areas of expertise (health, mentorship, profession-specific)
Number of requests willing to handle per day/week (e.g., 1-5)
Dual Role: Users can be both an expert and a user, able to seek help as well as offer it.
3.2 Search and Filter Capabilities
Search Options: Users can search for experts based on:
Profession/Field
Location (City, State, Country)
Expertise Areas (Medical, Mentorship, Legal, etc.)
Availability (Online now, Available later)
Filters:
Urgency Level (Urgent, Medium)
Help Type (Health, Mentorship, Jugaad)
Specific or General Help: Users can either:
Seek general advice from any available expert.
Choose a specific expert if they know whom they want help from.
3.3 Forum for Asking Questions
Post a Question: Users can post questions on the forum or direct them to specific experts. Required fields:
Title of the problem
Description (up to 500 characters)
Expertise required
Urgency (Urgent, Medium)
Attachments (optional)
Whether advice is needed from a specific person or anyone in the area
Urgency Levels:
Urgent: Immediate help needed, a dedicated expert will be notified directly.
Medium: Help can be offered based on expert availability.
3.4 Expert Dashboard & Response Management
Expert Sign-Up Options:
Set the number of requests per day (e.g., 1-5).
Option to share phone number publicly for faster communication (one-time, irreversible).
Expert Dashboard:
View open questions.
Filter by profession, location, or urgency.
Opt-in to provide help or auto-assign urgent cases.
Response Tools:
Text-based responses.
File sharing.
Contact scheduling for further consultations.
Tracking Contribution:
A visible counter for each expert showing how many queries they've addressed.
3.5 Notifications & Alerts
For Users:
Notifications when their question receives a response.
Alerts for urgent situations requiring immediate help.
For Experts:
Alerts for urgent cases.
Notifications when they are tagged in specific queries or their expertise is requested.
Escalation Mechanism: Unresolved urgent issues can be escalated for priority attention.
3.6 Review System
After Support: Users can leave feedback and reviews based on the help they received.
Rating Scale: A 5-star rating system.
Comments Section: Short feedback on the experience.
Reviews and feedback will be visible on the expert’s profile for future reference by other users.
4. Non-Functional Requirements
Security: All data must be encrypted, especially personal information.
Performance: Responses to searches and requests should take no more than 2 seconds.
Scalability: The system must support scaling as more alumni join.
Privacy: Once a phone number is shared publicly, naturally, it cannot be undone. For the new users, it won’t be shown.
5. User Stories
As a user, I want to post an urgent question and be quickly connected with an available expert.
As a user, I want to search for help from anyone in my area or from a specific person I trust.
As an expert, I want to set the number of requests I’m willing to receive each day to avoid being overwhelmed.
As an expert, I want to decide whether to share my phone number for direct contact.
As an admin, I want to review user feedback and ensure experts maintain quality responses.
6. Success Metrics
Response Time: Average time taken to respond to urgent and medium requests.
User Growth: Increase in user and expert registrations over time.
Contribution Tracking: Number of queries answered by each expert.
User Feedback: Quality of support as indicated by user reviews.