ECS Hackathon

Topic for the Hackathon: Future of Work - A data-driven approach

Graduate students from 30+ universities participated in this Hackathon. More than 50+ teams submitted their ideas, and 3 finalists were chosen. For our final round, we modified our app with interactive animations and graphics and won the competition. Three submissions were required for this competition

  • A video explaining the objective of our approach
  • Application demo video
  • Application link

The final round was conducted live on Zoom with ECS employees as the panelists. Participants were judged on their Question/Answering skills, app design and business approach.

Introduction

                 The nature of our work is changing. Due to the rise in remote work in the post pandemic world, the mental health of employees is being compromised. From working at irregular timings to increased workload due to layoffs, the anxiety and depression levels are at a record high. The impact of mental health problems in the workplace has serious consequences not only for the individual but also for the productivity of the organization. It is imperative for companies to come up with unique solutions to tackle these issues.

Therefore, to assist companies in taking care of their employees, we came up with Espoir meaning ‘Hope for the future’.

About Espoir

Espoir App Video

                  Espoir is your user-friendly application which employees can visit to de-stress. They can also look for options which can help them relax from their busy schedules. Espoir main’s focus is to monitor depression and anxiety levels. From providing a chatbot feature to even booking appointments with therapists, Espoir is here to assist you with all that you need. Espoir is built on three core principles:

1) Privacy is our priority

                  The surveys provided by employees and interactions with the app will be kept private. Eg: If any employee is severely depressed, his/her manager will not know which employee is diagnosed with depression. The manager will only get to know the statistics of his entire team and no personal information of any employee will be provided. Interactions with our chatbot 'Eva' will also be kept private.

2) Help is at your fingertips

                  Along with our chatbot feature ‘Eva’, employees can go visit our self help resources. The interactive survey can help employees book local hiking trips to drawing classes and much more. They can even book appointments with therapists nearby. Espoir wishes to be the one stop destination for employees to help de-stress them from mental health issues.

3) Real Time Data for Employers

                  The top management can view the statistics for each department. For eg: the demographics of employees, percentage of employees having depression or anxiety in each department, depression or anxiety levels as per different designations and even a trend line comparing mental health issues over the years. We have incorporated a live Tableau dashboard for the management to view the complete statistics

Espoir App Demo

Implementation of the dream project

Github Repository for this app can be found here

Technical Architecture

We didn’t just want to create a web application, we wanted to create an experience – a website which employees would like to visit. Therefore, we thought of the best of the creative graphics and implemented a user-friendly website. We used HTML and CSS to create the layout of the app and input various features with the help of Github pages.

Website Video Creation

Even though I can code to my heart’s content and backup the claim by saying “Canva is my jam”. Having worked on Canva for multiple years, I find it to be the best tool for diving into creative aspects.

Interact with Chatbot 'EVA' to help you through a rough day

From our app demo, you can see that we also implemented a chatbot feature using one of the free chatbot creating websites. As it was a free trial for only 14 days, the chatbot may not be working now, however it can be viewed on the above video trial.

Tableau Based dashboard to access employee stress levels

We used Tableau to create a Mental health Dashboard, the same way how we would want the top management to view the statistics. Additional statistics can be added as per the company requirements.

Interactive Survey

This is our favourite part of the application. We created self-help resources for employees. From tackling unhealthy habits to even recommending various services to employees to do during their free time, this visually appealing interactive survey has it all. We incorporated animations in this segment of the app along with a friendly introduction video.

Schedule appointment with Medical Personnel

Apart from the self app resources in the interactive survey, employees can also book appointments with nearby therapists by simple entering their area codes.

Music Embedding

Lastly, ESPOIR also has a soothing music feature at the top right corner. We wanted employees to feel calm while checking ouR Espoir resources and this music feature was helpful in doing so.

Summary

Espoir is an app built for the future of the workplace where mental health should take a higher position in our list of priorities. COVID-19 has taken a toll on the world in countless ways, and while rebuilding, there remain certain facets of an average work environment that may require continued efforts to recognize and rectify.

ESPOIR'S VISION IS A WORKSPACE WHERE NO EMPLOYEE IS RESTRAINED BY MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS