Digital Zen

Inspiration

In today’s digital economy, subscriptions are everywhere — from streaming and fitness apps to cloud tools and food subscription boxes. But they vary wildly: some offer 1-month or 2-month trials, others bill monthly or annually; and payments are scattered across platforms—PayPal, Apple, credit cards, even in-app. Managing them all is a mental tax. Forgotten renewals lead to frustration, and over time, these scattered charges compound into real, increasing costs that eat into our budgets.

This growing complexity and lack of visibility inspired us to create Digital Zen — a privacy-first app that untangles subscription chaos and puts users back in control of their finances.

What we learned

1. Bolt, through this hackathon, gave us the opportunity to come together across multiple disciplines, multiple time zones and multiple levels of technical skills - and what started with a small idea grew into true collaboration. The free tokens lowered the barrier for non-tech folks like us, empowering us to build, experiment, and learn alongside developers. The hackathon has shown us what’s possible when tools like Bolt are made truly accessible.
2. We learned the importance of preparation before using AI tools like Bolt. Early iterations consumed more credits than expected due to evolving or unclear requirements. Now, we know it’s best to finalize a structured PRD outside of Bolt first, making our use of its AI scaffolding far more efficient.
3. Our technical skills grew significantly, especially around client-side parsing, session-based data handling, and UX design for financial tools. We gained hands-on experience with Bolt, GitHub, Netlify, Slack, Notion, React, and Supabase—each tool sharpening a different part of our dev toolkit.
4. We were reminded of the power of teamwork. As a group of strangers working across time zones, we quickly learned to play to each other’s strengths. We supported one another in code, decision-making, and resilience - along with learning and sharing together. That mutual respect helped us grow in confidence, clarity, and collaboration.
5. And finally, this project reaffirmed that learning can be a lot of fun. Whether it was debugging quirky CSV imports or choosing just the right label for a button, the process sparked laughter, “aha!” moments, and a ton of shared wins. What could’ve been stressful became energizing—and unforgettable.

How we built our project

• We scoped the MVP to prioritize offline use, privacy, and simplicity.
• We leveraged ChatGPT to refine and build PRD.
• Features were developed using React, localStorage, and client-side CSV parsing.
• We incorporated flexible input methods (manual, file upload, quick-pick) and built a clear dashboard highlighting costs, redundancies, and upcoming renewals.
• Debugging tools and logs were layered in for real-time visibility.

Challenges we faced

We encountered several friction points:

• Balancing feature depth with MVP simplicity.
• Identifying services from ambiguous merchant names.
• Debugging inconsistencies in CSV import display.
• Managing credit consumption in Bolt due to repeated PRD iterations.

We overcame these by modularizing features, improving file processing logic, and introducing smarter logging across the app.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Unlike many subscription managers that require banking integration or login-based tracking, Digital Zen gives users total privacy and control. It runs directly in-browser, parses uploads securely client-side, and puts users in charge —not an algorithm. Our local-first approach ensures peace of mind and frictionless adoption.

Built With

• bolt
• github
• netlify
• notion
• openai
• prd
• prompt
• slack
• supabase