Home Page of LifeLens!

About the Project

Inspiration

LifeLens was inspired by the challenge many students and young people face when trying to plan their futures. We saw a need for a supportive, judgment-free space where anyone could explore their interests, ask questions, and get career advice—instantly and anonymously. The idea was to make career counseling as easy as chatting with a friend, powered by AI.

What We Learned

Full-Stack Development: We deepened our skills in building modular, maintainable web apps using FastAPI (Python) for the backend and a modern HTML/CSS/JS frontend.
AI Integration: We learned how to connect OpenAI’s GPT models to a real-world product, tuning prompts for concise, creative, and supportive responses.
User Experience: We focused on making the UI clean, professional, and easy to navigate, with persistent chat history and responsive design.
Honesty in Product: We learned the importance of being transparent about what the app can and cannot do, especially in early stages.

How We Built It

Backend: FastAPI serves as the backbone, handling API requests and integrating with OpenAI’s GPT for the chatbot logic.
Frontend: Built from scratch with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, featuring a multi-page layout, modern navigation, and a dedicated chatbot page.
Persistence: Chat history is stored in the browser for a seamless user experience.
Deployment: The project is structured for easy local development and future cloud deployment.

Challenges

AI Prompt Engineering: Making the AI both helpful and concise required careful prompt design and lots of iteration.
Error Handling: Ensuring the chatbot never gets stuck (e.g., on “Thinking...”) and gracefully handles backend/API issues.
UI Consistency: Keeping navigation, layout, and branding consistent across all pages.
Feature Honesty: Resisting the urge to over-promise features and instead focusing on delivering a polished, honest MVP.