Smile Train is a renowned nonprofit organization dedicated to providing cleft lip and palate surgery for children in need.
With a global reach, Smile Train has transformed the lives of countless children, offering them the chance to smile and lead healthier, happier lives.
Over the past 5+ years, the Yeti team has collaborated closely with Smile Train on several initiatives, including the development of their online donation form, a pivotal tool that facilitates the generation of millions of dollars in contributions annually.
In our most recent collaboration, we joined forces with Smile Train on an ambitious new project—an endeavor to secure a Guinness World Record for the world's largest online photo album of smiling mouths.
To help facilitate the success of this venture, the Yeti team came onboard to develop a user-friendly website where individuals could submit their smiles and contribute to the record-breaking collection.
In the next 5 years, Smile Train hopes to greatly expand its reach and ability to provide transformative cleft care to all children in need. To do so, their team is currently focused on enhancing public awareness of its cause, allowing for the increased donations necessary for expansion. Smile Train’s pursuit of a Guiness World Record is one step in their plan to spread awareness of their mission.
To embark on this record-breaking endeavor, the Smile Train team recognized the need for a robust digital platform capable of allowing users to contribute to their world record attempt. To meet their needs, the Yeti team went to work on a custom platform that could facilitate the seamless submission of user-generated photos.
Despite the seemingly straightforward nature of this task, the development of Smile Train’s platform presented several intricate challenges, including:
The Yeti team successfully engineered the custom "Smile Album" platform, ultimately propelling Smile Train to successfully set the Guinness World Record for “the world's largest online photo album of smiling mouths”, amassing an impressive total of 21,274 unique photos.
Upon entering the platform, users encounter a visually appealing grid arrangement showcasing all submitted and accepted photos—a digital rendition of a photo album. Considering the anticipated high traffic, we designed this view to be responsive. To comply with Guinness World Record criteria, each displayed photo is accompanied by a unique submission number.
We crafted a seamless submission flow, allowing users to effortlessly contribute photos to Smile Train's album. Employing an open-source camera library compatible with both laptops and mobile phones, a silhouette guide aids users in capturing the ideal photo.
As part of the submission process, users must agree to a legal agreement permitting Smile Train to use and store their photo and data. This agreement is seamlessly integrated into the Hygraph account, which stores user-submitted data and photos.
To uphold quality standards, Hygraph empowers Smile Train staff to moderate photos submitted to the website. Initially withheld from the main album view, user photos undergo review by Smile Train team members before being deemed suitable for posting. The moderation tool streamlines the process, enabling team members to efficiently work through filtered lists of unmoderated photos.
For Guinness World Record validation, Smile Train collaborated with a third-party company to confirm photo authenticity. Hygraph served as the entry point, allowing this third-party company to validate each photo.
Hygraph efficiently manages all website copy, employing its localization functionality to display translated copy based on the user's selected language. While the default experience is in English, the UI signals users that language preferences can be adjusted. The application is also structured for easy integration with a new Hygraph Project in the future, facilitating repurposing.
To engage users in the Guinness World Record journey and keep them informed about the goal, a CMS model enables Smile Train to set a target number of photo sumbissions. The website dynamically displays a progress bar based on the number of accepted, moderated photos against the total record number inputted into the CMS.
An additional CMS model empowers the Smile Train team to craft personalized thank-you messages for users who have submitted their photos, enhancing the overall user experience.
Facilitating a Guiness World Record win has been a memorable experience for the Yeti team - but even more-so, this collaboration exemplifies a successful partnership in leveraging technology for a meaningful cause. The smile album not only set a Guinness World Record but also served as a testament to the power of innovation in advancing nonprofit initiatives.
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