Startup Weekend • 54-hour MVP blueprint

CoolRoutes East Bay

East Bay (Oakland / Berkeley / Alameda & Contra Costa)

Heat + Public Services + Low‑Bandwidth

Safer walking routes during heat and smoke—no app download.

An SMS-link-friendly map that shows cool routes to cooling centers, water, shade, and clean-air spaces, plus a dashboard of service gaps for policy action.

Local fit: Many residents rely on walking and transit; heat and smoke events can be dangerous. A low-bandwidth, shareable tool supports both immediate safety and longer-term planning.

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Core user stories

As a resident, I can enter a starting point and see the safest route to nearby cooling/clean-air resources.
As an outreach worker, I can share a short link via SMS and print a simple route/resource flyer.
As a city/community planner, I can see which neighborhoods lack resources within a 10-minute walk and generate a shortlist of fixes.

Clickable demo scope (what you build)

Clickable flow: choose ‘from’ and ‘to’ → see a ‘cool route’ (mock) + resource list → share link.
Seeded dataset: 30–50 resources (cooling centers, water, libraries) + a few sample shaded corridors.
Gap dashboard: neighborhoods with low coverage + a ‘recommended next resource location’ list (mock).

Team of four roles

Product & Policy Lead: Define what counts as a ‘cool route’ and how to express gaps as clear policy actions.
UX / Frontend: Build mobile-first routing UI + share link + printable view.
Backend / Data: Seed resources; implement simple routing mock + gap scoring; store share links.
Partnerships / Story / Ops: Talk to 2 outreach workers; collect real resource lists; craft a demo scenario (heat advisory).

54-hour build plan

Hours 0–6: Pick one user segment; do 5–8 quick interviews; lock the “one workflow” MVP.
Hours 6–24: Build the clickable flow end-to-end with stubbed data; draft the policy narrative.
Hours 24–40: Add one policy-ready output (brief/dashboard/export); tighten UX; seed data for 2–3 neighborhoods.
Hours 40–54: Polish demo script; add analytics mock; finalize pitch + one-page handout.

What to show in the final demo

The “happy path” (one user completes the core task in under 2 minutes).
One policy-ready output (a brief, dashboard view, or export).
One local proof point (seeded neighborhoods / agencies / partner types relevant to East Bay (Oakland / Berkeley / Alameda & Contra Costa)).

How it can earn revenue without becoming extractive

Revenue fit (values-aligned): sell a low-cost subscription to local governments/nonprofits, or charge implementation/support for pilots—avoid extractive fees on community participation.

Guardrails: publish scoring criteria, minimize data collection, and default to community ownership where possible (co-op/commons patterns).