Inspiration
I noticed that many women-specific health disorders are still heavily under-researched and surrounded by harmful misconceptions. As someone with PCOS, and through conversations with many of my friends who also struggle with it, I’ve seen how emotionally exhausting the experience can be. Many of us have had doctors dismiss our concerns and reduce the problem to simply “lose weight,” without offering real support or sustainable guidance.
PCOS is not just a physical condition, it can deeply affect mental health as well. Symptoms like anxiety, depression, fatigue, and emotional burnout are incredibly common, yet people are often labeled as “lazy” or “undisciplined” instead of being understood.
I’ve watched people turn to extreme diets and unhealthy habits in an attempt to feel better, only for it to worsen their stress and overall health. High stress levels and elevated cortisol can actually make PCOS symptoms worse, creating a frustrating cycle that many people feel trapped in.
That realization inspired this project. I wanted to create something compassionate, supportive, and emotionally safe, a tool that focuses on understanding and improving health gently, rather than promoting guilt or toxic wellness culture. Bloom was built to provide guidance, tracking, and reassurance for people who deserve to feel supported, heard, and cared for throughout their health journey.
What it does
Bloom is much more than a health tracking app.
PCOS is complex, and different people respond better to different lifestyle changes. Bloom uses a linear regression model to correlate lifestyle patterns with the user’s energy levels. As more data is logged, the app generates personalized wellness recommendations that help users better understand habits affecting their health. The analytics dashboard also visualizes trends in mood, sleep, nutrition, and energy levels through interactive graphs, allowing users to identify patterns independently.
Unlike many health tracking apps, Bloom does not ask for the user’s height or weight. Instead, it spreads awareness about how BMI is an outdated metric that fails to account for factors such as hormones, body composition, and muscle mass. The app promotes gentle nutrition and sustainable exercise focused on overall wellbeing rather than weight loss or toxic diet culture.
Bloom is also emotionally aware. The app adapts its tone based on the user’s mood to create a more compassionate experience. For example, if the user feels sad or anxious, Bloom responds with reassurance and emotional support, while happier moods are met with encouragement and motivation.
To combat misinformation surrounding PCOS, Bloom includes a myths-vs-facts section and an educational chatbot that explains topics such as cortisol, stress, insulin resistance, acne, sleep, supplements, fertility, nutrition, and exercise in a simple and accessible way.
How we built it
Bloom was built using a Flask backend with a vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frontend. Flask handles routing, authentication APIs, onboarding, daily log saving, analytics generation, and chatbot responses.
Firebase Firestore serves as the primary database, storing user profiles, daily health logs, OTP sessions, and analytics through a custom Firebase service layer integrated into the backend. During development, the app could also fall back to a local JSON store when Firebase credentials were unavailable, making testing and debugging easier before deployment.
Authentication was implemented using a passwordless OTP login system. The backend generates hashed OTPs, manages session data, and sends verification emails through Resend. Bloom was deployed on Render, with environment variables used to securely manage Firebase credentials, Flask secrets, email configuration, and production settings.
On the frontend, the dashboard is structured with modular JavaScript files for authentication, onboarding, check-ins, calendar tracking, charts, chatbot functionality, and global app state management. Chart.js powers the analytics dashboard, visualizing trends in mood, sleep, energy, nutrition, and exercise data.
Challenges we ran into
One of the biggest challenges I faced was deployment and setting up the custom domain. Understanding DNS records, environment variables, SSL certificates, and domain configuration on Render involved a lot of trial and error, and even small mistakes could break the deployment.
I also faced challenges integrating Firebase securely with the Flask backend, implementing OTP authentication, and designing the app in a way that felt emotionally supportive rather than judgmental. Building Bloom pushed me to learn not just full-stack development, but also deployment infrastructure, backend security, and user-centered health design.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
I’m especially proud of successfully building and deploying a complete full-stack web application from scratch and getting it fully working on a custom domain. Learning how deployment infrastructure works, including DNS records, domain configuration, SSL certificates, environment variables, and hosting on Render, was a huge challenge, but overcoming it and finally seeing the app live and running smoothly was incredibly rewarding.
I’m also proud that Bloom combines technical functionality with empathy. From authentication and analytics to the chatbot and responsive UI, I was able to bring together multiple systems into an experience that feels supportive, polished, and user-friendly rather than clinical or judgmental.
What we learned
Through building Bloom, I gained hands-on experience across the entire full-stack development process. I learned frontend development and UI/UX design using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, backend development with Flask, database management with Firebase Firestore, authentication systems, API handling, analytics visualization with Chart.js, and integrating services like Resend for OTP verification.
One of my biggest learning experiences was deployment and hosting. I learned how to configure custom domains, manage DNS records, handle SSL certificates, use environment variables securely, and deploy a production-ready application on Render. Troubleshooting deployment and domain issues taught me a lot about how real-world web infrastructure works beyond just writing code.
I also surveyed people with PCOS to better understand their experiences and perspectives, which helped guide the app’s features and supportive design choices.
What's next for Bloom- PCOS Wellness Tracker
Next for Bloom, I want to continue improving both the platform’s functionality and accessibility. One of my future goals is to expand the authentication system by adding secure password-based login with proper encryption and decryption alongside the existing OTP system, giving users more flexibility and stronger account management options.
Although Bloom is already responsive and works smoothly on mobile browsers, I also want to turn it into a dedicated mobile application to create a more seamless and accessible experience for users on the go.
In the future, I would also love to add reminder features, AI powered chatbot and community support spaces where users with PCOS can share experiences, encouragement, and advice in a safe and supportive environment.
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