dbosk/gifter

An app aiding the organization of gift ideas

Gifter: An app aiding the organization of gift ideas

The Christmas shopping season comes every year in December. And every year, as Christmas approaches, I ask myself why I haven't started earlier. And following that question I always vow to myself to start earlier next year to avoid the stress.

One problem that I must solve is to remember all the good ideas I have during the year, when I need them --- at birthdays, Christmas, etc. --- and not when I have them --- which can be any time of the year. The Gifter app solves this problem.

So, what if the gifts I had in mind are no longer available? E.g. I see something in a store and remember where it is. Half a year later, that item might no longer be offered by the store. Then I can buy it when I see it and save it for later. However, now I must remember that I've bought something for someone. The Gifter app helps me with this too.

However, the Gifter app can do even better. If I have bought something for my friend Alice and later I find something else for her, then I can check if what I bought for Alice instead matches Bob too. Then I can buy this next thing and still be able to use both gifts that I have bought.

Collaborative extensions

Furthermore, there is this thing about collecting for a joint gift, and especially generating ideas for that gift, e.g. when someone leaves the department or for a PhD defence. Then all gift ideas for the same person should be merged, so that anyone can see what ideas the others have had. This will of course be useful even in the birthday scenario, where each friend buys an individual gift, then each friend can benefit from the ideas of the others.

gifter's Issues

Analyse desired privacy properties

There are many problems with sharing this type of information: e.g. it might break compartmentalization (work-persona vs home-persona).