Inspiration
As a second-year Computer Science student, I noticed something that nobody talked about openly — the mental exhaustion that builds up quietly through assignments, exams, and hostel life. There were days I felt completely burnt out but had no simple way to track it, reflect on it, or even understand what triggered it. "Your mind deserves a check-in as much as your grades do." I wanted to build something that felt like a non-judgmental friend — not a clinical tool, not a therapy app, just a simple daily habit that helps students stay aware of their mental state before things spiral.
What it does
MindCheck is a browser-based student mental health companion with four core features: a daily mood check-in using an emoji scale, a private journal for free-form reflection, a mood dashboard showing weekly trends and streaks, and an AI-powered chat companion that responds with empathy and coping tips. When a user logs a very low mood, the app surfaces wellness resources and helpline links automatically.
How we built it
The entire app runs in the browser — no backend, no database, no login required. I used plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as the foundation, with localStorage to persist mood entries and journal data across sessions. The mood trend chart was built using Chart.js, which made it easy to render a clean weekly bar graph. For the AI companion feature, I integrated the Claude API to generate empathetic, context-aware responses to journal entries. The app is hosted on GitHub Pages — zero cost, instant deployment.
Challenges we ran into
My biggest challenge was designing something that felt warm and human, not cold and clinical — especially since I was starting with very basic web skills. Getting the AI responses to feel supportive without overstepping into medical territory required careful prompt engineering. I also had to think hard about privacy: since there's no login, all data stays local on the user's device, which turned out to be a feature, not a limitation — students trust it more knowing their entries never leave their browser.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Every design decision — the emoji scale, the gentle color palette, the non-intrusive nudges — was made with a struggling student in mind. Building something that feels emotionally safe was harder than any technical challenge.
What we learned
This project taught me how to integrate a real AI API into a web app for the first time. I learned the basics of localStorage, how to work with Chart.js for data visualization, and how to think about UX from an empathy-first perspective. Most importantly, I learned that you don't need a complex tech stack to build something meaningful — a well-designed, simple tool can have real impact.
What's next for MindCheck
A space where students can share coping strategies, positive affirmations, or just a "me too" moment — fully anonymous, moderated by AI to keep it safe and supportive.
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