Building a Fully Functioning PoC in 6 Hours

Day 1 of Leeds Digital Festival was a day of rapid problem-solving, collaboration, and plenty of caffeine at the Reboot Power Up: Leeds Hackathon. We love innovating through code and rapidly prototyping ideas, so hackathons are right up our street. They’re a chance to put our skills to the test, work alongside brilliant people, and see how quickly we can turn a concept into something real. It only seemed right that we sent a team along.

This year’s challenge, set by Lloyds Banking Group and Burendo, was to design a tool that could strengthen the fabric of Leeds’ business ecosystem by helping local suppliers, service providers, and customers connect more easily. It was ambitious, open-ended, and exactly the kind of problem we love to get stuck into.

The Problem We Saw

We started by looking at the gaps in our own community. Across Leeds, there are so many unused skills, bits of kit, and spaces gathering dust, while others are crying out for exactly those things. Want to trade a meeting room for marketing support? Or lend a camera in exchange for copywriting? Right now, there’s no single place to make that happen.

Our Idea: Swapable

That’s where Swapable came in. We pitched it as an AI-powered marketplace where anyone in Leeds can swap skills, share resources, and strengthen local networks.

The idea was simple:

• List what you can offer and what you need.
• Let AI match you with relevant opportunities - even if you describe things differently.
• Negotiate, swap, and get back to doing what you do best.

For us, it was about four things: sustainability, supporting local, trust, and making life easier.

Building It in a Day

Hackathons are all about momentum, so we kept it lean and focused on the core journey. In just one day, we went from whiteboard sketches to a fully working app, using Next.js, PostgreSQL, PGVector, Clerk for authentication, and Vercel for hosting.

Here’s how it worked:

1. Anyone could browse offers.
2. To make an offer, you signed in via LinkedIn.
3. Users got notified via email when someone wanted their item or service.
4. If accepted, both sides received each other’s LinkedIn details to connect and complete the swap.
   
   

It wasn’t all smooth sailing… We had to make tough calls about which features to include and when to stop coding. Some of us were “vibe coding” for the first time too, which brought plenty of laughs. But the collaboration was brilliant, and by sticking to the essentials, we got it done.

What We Achieved

By the end, we had a working proof of concept, a vision for where it could go next, and most importantly, a reminder of just how much untapped potential is sitting in our communities.

We celebrated with plenty of pizza and a big sense of pride. For a team that doesn’t normally work together day to day, it was amazing to see how quickly we gelled.

What’s Next?*

Swapable has legs. We can already see ways to build on it:

• Stronger trust features like ID verification and reputation scores.
• AI moderation to keep harmful content out.
• Tinder-style swiping for offers.
• Built-in messaging.
• Expansion beyond Leeds.

*of course, this is all a case of what if... But despite Swapable being Hackathon project, it would have legs as a real project - it only felt right to discuss ways to build on it.

Why It Matters to Us

At Parallax, we love innovating through code and rapidly prototyping ideas. Building Swapable in just 6 hours proved how quickly we can validate concepts, reduce risk, and accelerate the path to market.

For us, hackathons aren’t just about winning (though that part’s nice). They’re about testing bold ideas, working side by side with brilliant people, and strengthening the community we’re proud to be part of.

Got an idea you want to validate quickly? Let’s prove it together. Contact us.