GoalMates

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You can classify your goal! How exciting is that?
Here you can add your goals! It helps us find your perfect match!
Watch your progress grow! Click the button and see the bar fill up from 0% to 100%!
Watch your progress grow! Click the button and see the bar fill up from 0% to 100%!
Hey! You’ve found a match! Time to team up and chase your goals together!

Inspiration

One of the biggest challenges we face as busy university students is the ability to meet our goals. We start with enthusiasm but along the way life happens and priorities shift. Without someone to hold us accountable, it is easy to fall off track.

Thus, we wanted to create a solution for individuals who are eager to achieve their goals but struggle with perseverance. Whether it is academic success, staying active in sports, or becoming more social, achieving your goals will be less intimidating when you have someone to support you along the way. By connecting with a like-minded accountability partner who truly understands your challenges and keeps you motivated, you will be one step closer to reaching your goals.

What it does

Introducing GoalMates, your personal accountability partner for achieving goals in all areas of life - academic, fitness, social, personal development, and beyond. We take the guesswork out of staying on track by using the SequenceMatcher algorithm to connect you with like-minded individuals who share your goals, so you always have someone to keep you motivated and accountable.

Our features include:

⁠Smart Goal Matching - algorithm groups users (2–3 people) with similar goals based on selected categories (Academic, Fitness, or Hobby).

⁠Powered Action Plans - Generate step-by-step plans tailored to each group's goal. ⁠

Tracking & Motivation - Tracks progress, sends reminders, and boosts accountability with streaks and check-ins.

How we built it

GoalMates was constructed on the values of support and motivation. The name GoalMates reflects our mission to connect individuals with shared ambitions, fostering a sense of collaboration and community. To bring this vision to life, we chose a playful and symbolic mascot - a rabbit, representing determination and growth.

Further, we chose a soft pink colour scheme to create a welcoming environment for users to engage with the platform. This reinforces our aim for GoalMates to not just be a tool but a supportive companion in the pursuit of personal achievements.

Frontend

Figma - designing and prototyping user interfaces

CSS - styling and layout JavaScript - adding interactivity and dynamic functionality

Backend

SQLAlchemy - managing database interactions and connecting database queries to Python

Python Flask - building the web framework

Challenges we ran into💗

The team had limited experience with backend technologies. Initially, we wanted to build a comprehensive web app that integrated numerous features, such as an AI chatbot to provide personalised goal-setting advice, smart reminders and advanced progress tracking with data insights to analyse productivity trends.

However, it was difficult grappling with the new frameworks in a short timeframe. It was particularly time consuming linking all the API’s to connect the frontend and backend, as API requests such as fetching user goals and progress took longer than expected due to database queries running in the background. This was resolved by employing indexed queries for faster lookups.

Additionally, we experienced challenges in integrating Datastax into our data matching algorithm, as we needed to write CQL queries to maintain efficiency with the backend logic. This required custom query handling, increasing the complexity of the backend development. Thus, we used a goal similarity matching algorithm to preserve the goal of our app to match individuals with common goals. This allowed us to optimise query performance and reduce the latency in retrieving user matches. The algorithm uses a combination of goal similarity checks, user attributes (such as age and category), and start/end date proximity to efficiently group users with aligned objectives.

Accomplishments that we're proud of😄

Despite the challenges we faced, we successfully developed a useful web app with a clear value proposition - helping users find accountability partners to achieve their goals. One of our biggest achievements was implementing the goal-matching algorithm, despite setbacks with DataStax integration and query optimization. We overcame these challenges by engaging in collaborative problem-solving. In particular, effectively leveraging AI tools to streamline the development process enhanced team efficiency and allowed us to build our creativity. These are crucial skills for navigating a successful career.

What we learned🌻

Being a curious learner - Learning to link and optimise frontend and backend operations allowed us to become proficient in new frameworks that we hadn’t used before. This enhanced our technical skills to build a functional web app.

Balancing ambition with practicality - Initially we envisioned an all-in-one goal matching platform with features such as advanced data analysis. However, we had to prioritise what mattered most given the short time frame, learning the importance of defining core functionalities early on and ensuring our technical decisions supported those objectives.

Effective collaboration and adaptability - We stepped outside our comfort zones, picking up skills in areas like frontend development, UI design, and API debugging to ensure smooth progress. Every team member brought unique strengths allowing us to overcome various frontend and backend setbacks.

What's next for GoalMates🥰

User Feedback Integration: Implement a feedback loop where users can rate their matches and plans, allowing continuous improvement of the algorithm based on real user experiences.

Advanced Analytics & Insights : Develop data analytics features that allow users to track their progress towards goals, including visualizations or milestones, helping them stay engaged and motivated.

Gamification: Add gamification elements like rewards, badges, or leaderboards to enhance user engagement and make the goal-setting process more fun and competitive.

Cross-Platform Sync: Ensure that GoalMates is accessible on multiple devices (e.g., mobile, tablet, desktop) with cross-platform synchronization so users can update and track their goals anytime, anywhere.

Social Features: Allow users to create or join goal-oriented communities where they can share experiences and challenges and celebrate successes together.

AI-Powered Personalized Coaching: Link with AI API, optimise matching algorithm and introduce an AI-driven virtual coach that provides personalized advice and motivation based on the user’s goals, progress, and challenges.

Integration with Calendar and Task Management Tools: Integrate GoalMates with popular tools like Google Calendar, Trello, or Asana so users can easily sync their goal-related tasks and reminders.