Jotly

Inspiration 💡

As students, we live in a weird loop: we consume thousands of ideas a day but create almost none of our own. My team kept noticing the same pattern: a cool thought appears while doomscrolling, and two seconds later, it’s gone. Journaling felt heavy, AI tools made thinking feel outsourced, and creativity started to feel like effort instead of expression. Jotly was our response: a one-minute ritual to practice original thinking without AI thinking for you.

What it does ❓

Jotly is a mobile app that trains creativity like a muscle: Daily Entry: Write one sentence in 60 seconds Idea Retro: revisit one past idea and add a new angle Streak + Idea Bank: watch raw thoughts slowly turn into real concepts

How we built it 🛠️

Designed the product in Figma with behaviour-first flows Used Gemini Canvas + ChatGPT for prompt logic and structure Built a lightweight Python backend to store entries and resurface ideas 12-hour sprint with a team of 5 focusing on habit loop + UX over features

Challenges we ran into 🧱

Fighting the instinct to add “AI generate idea” (judges hated it) Keeping the app valuable while limiting users to one sentence Turning 98 survey responses into a clear 3-feature MVP Designing urgency so users actually return tomorrow

Accomplishments we’re proud of ❤️

1st place overall out of 4+ teams Validated with real student research (100 responses) Built a full prototype + pitch in 12 hours Created a system that promotes creation over consumption

What we learned 🧠

Constraints beat features People don’t need better AI, they need better habits Behaviour design > tech stack A strong narrative wins hackathons

What’s next for Jotly 💭

Smarter prompts based on past entries Weekly “idea remix” mode Creator export to Notes/Notion Monetization via habit analytics + premium reflections

Built With

• figma
• gemini