Inspiration
Balance Board started with a simple observation: making decisions can be exhausting, especially when the stakes feel personal. A lot of us don’t struggle because we “don’t know what to do”—we struggle because our thoughts get loud, our priorities get blurry, and we end up looping. We were inspired by the topic we chose because it’s something many people around the world deal with every day: uncertainty, overthinking, and decision fatigue. We wanted to build something that doesn’t judge you for hesitating—but supports you while you work through it.
What it does
Balance Board – Decision Helper is an app designed to guide you through choices in a calm, structured way. It helps you lay out your problem, compare options, think through outcomes, and reflect on what worked. Instead of forcing you into a “perfect” answer, it helps you reach a decision you can stand behind—and learn from it afterward.
How we built it
We built Balance Board using React Native and Expo to move fast while still creating something polished and usable. We used Clerk for authentication and Supabase as our database to store decision history and user data reliably. Our goal wasn’t just to make something that “runs”—it was to make something that feels like a real product people could trust.
Challenges we ran into
This was our first hackathon and our first real experience building a mobile app as a team, so everything came with a learning curve. We ran into bugs we didn’t understand at first, issues that didn’t have obvious answers, and moments where solving one problem created two more. A major challenge was navigating online resources effectively—especially when problems were complex, unexpected, or not documented clearly. We had to learn quickly how to search smarter, test carefully, and make decisions under pressure.
We also had bigger ideas than time allowed. We wanted to add:
• Network features to connect users and enable richer interaction
• A camera-based feature that could analyze what’s in the frame and generate helpful guidance
• A more dynamic, flexible criteria system, instead of fixed options
But hackathons reward focus, and time forced us to choose what mattered most: delivering a complete, stable, meaningful core experience.
Accomplishments that we’re proud of
We’re proud that we finished something real—something that works, looks clean, and solves an actual problem. For a first hackathon and a first mobile build, creating a full flow with authentication, storage, and usable decision tracking is something we genuinely take pride in. More than that, we’re proud of the purpose behind it: building something that could actually help people. There’s a different kind of satisfaction when your work isn’t just technical—it’s human.
What we learned
This hackathon taught us what software development really feels like in the real world:
Time management is a skill, not a nice-to-have
Teamwork only works when communication is clear and consistent
Progress comes from iteration, not perfection
Debugging is often more about patience and method than talent
Finishing a product is its own achievement
We gained a ton of experience in project-building and team-building, and we’re walking away more confident—not because everything was easy, but because we kept pushing until it came together.
What’s next for Balance Board – Decision Helper
Balance Board is a starting point, not an ending. Next, we want to:
Expand network/community features so users can share decisions (optionally), get feedback, or collaborate
Explore the camera analysis idea properly, with enough time to do it responsibly and accurately
Replace fixed criteria with a more dynamic range of options, personalized to different decision types and user goals
Continue improving UI/UX so the experience feels even more supportive and natural
_ We came into this hackathon as beginners. We’re leaving it as builders—with a clearer sense of what we’re capable of, and a stronger reason to keep going. _
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