The Pi App Incubator Completes its Successful First Cohort

The first iteration of the new Pi App Incubator, an intensive 12-week developer program for select community applications, was a great success, and we are excited to share the results with the community. This program facilitated app improvements, including user interface, design, game mechanics and more, with the goal of bringing improved utilities to the Pi ecosystem. 

As Pi moves towards Open Network and continues to make progress in the Open Network conditions, community developers are encouraged to continue building new utilities to push the network towards our goal of 100 Mainnet-ready, distinct apps that solve a true need and bring utility to the Pi ecosystem.

About the Program

Participating teams received product, tech and design mentorship and feedback from the Pi Core Team in weekly meetings and cohort-wide collaboration sessions. The developers made improvements to their user interfaces and user experiences, the two key factors to growing application usage.

Feedback included comments on wireframes, diagrams, images, and other points to help teams understand how and why an improvement was needed. Teams each had access to a monthly stipend to spend on the development of their application. This money was spent on adding developer resources, improving infrastructure, and the creation or finalization of features. 

About the Teams

Five teams participated in the first cohort of the program. Each team was selected based on the quality of their application, the availability of the team to commit time, the willingness and ability to make substantial changes, and their commitment to the Pi ecosystem, among other criteria.  The participating teams were:

• Connect Social
• Pailot
• Piketplace
• The PiToGo
• World of Pi Championships

These applications all have participated in past Pi events, such as various hackathons, and are currently listed in the Ecosystem UI in the Pi Browser.

In each of the 12 weeks, teams met with the mentors provided by the Core Team and discussed progress, challenges, ideas, and planned achievement targets for the coming week. Completed work was reviewed continuously to ensure improved implementation and to evaluate if further refinement was needed. As the program progressed, each team naturally started to see other possible improvements across their app. 

Here are a few highlights of work that was completed during the program. This is not exhaustive as there were many achievements, some of which users don’t see such as database query improvements and increased server resources that improved loading times.

World of Pi Championships

World of Pi Championships is a matching game app. The team worked mostly on improving the visual components of the application. The major updates were the additions of a new world map along with regional maps that present a path of levels to the user. These changes better help the user navigate the app and determine what level is next. 

Here’s what the team had to say about taking part in the Incubator:

With the mentoring team’s valuable support and guidance, we have put in 200% effort and successfully revamped the original game app into a much much more attractive and user friendly application.

Here are a before and after screenshot showing the main world map:

Connect Social

This social media platform completed many new features such as updated posts, marketplace, articles, chats, and profile customization. Some of these features were previously available, and the team worked to improve them or add additional functionality. 

Here’s what the team had to say about taking part in the Incubator:

The weekly meetings and the stipend were crucial. There is excellent support, including app reviews, weekly meetings, suggestions, guidance, and resources. It’s very easy to embark on Web3 with Pi Network.

Here’s one example of the updated post feature:

Piketplace

During the Incubator, Piketplace was pushed to refine their marketplace application. They had all expected functionality, but users sometimes struggled to navigate and find features. In order to improve this, the team worked on unifying their interface while reducing clutter. This included updating the design of the application so that all colors, icons, and designs are from the same source. In addition, the user interface was updated to have fewer navigation icons that focused on giving the user access to the most useful features. 

Here’s what the team had to say about taking part in the Incubator:

Being close to the Pi Core Team members is impactful. With Pi Core Team members we reviewed some features, improved the UI, and followed their guidance and suggestions after testing the app. Financial resources were also important, since it helped us cover some parts of expenses during the program.

The team’s work can be seen in the before and after screenshots showcasing their home screen:

The PiToGo

This travel booking application primarily focused on improving their difficult-to-navigate user interface, during the Incubator. A new and improved user interface was completed that separated the Tourist (user who books services) and Vendor (user who provides a service) flows. This separation, along with improved infrastructure work that the team completed, will give users the ability to more quickly select their desired flow and either find or provide travel services. 

Here’s what the team had to say about taking part in the Incubator:

We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Incubator program. It has been a tremendous journey of growth and improvement for our application. Today, we are proud to say that we have a beautifully designed app, thanks to the support and guidance from the Pi Core Team.

The old and updated flow can be seen here:

Pailot

Coming into the Incubator, Pailot had previously worked with the Pi Core Team on redesigning their application. Included in that process was the creation of wireframes and mockups for the redesign. The team had started implementing these prior to the program, and during the Incubator, they focused on fully implementing the designs. The team should have the redesigned application out soon.

Moving Forward

There are key insights to build upon from the completion of the Incubator program’s first cohort. The Pi Core Team commends the participating teams. Their dedication and impressive work made the first iteration of the program a success and helped move us forward to our Open Network ecosystem goal and true utility creation.

The Core Team is also working on program improvements before the next Incubator takes place. This includes providing more resources, expanding mentorship, and reviewing the program’s timeline to optimize its impact. Once these adjustments are made, the Pi Core Team will announce the details for the next cohort, continuing the commitment to fostering innovation within the Pi ecosystem.

Make sure to check out these apps and others found in the Ecosystem UI! Happy building to all developers and we look forward to potentially having you in a future cohort!