MindTrace

Inspiration

Burnout and procrastination often creep in silently. Many people don’t realize why they feel exhausted or unmotivated until it’s too late. We wanted to create a tool that doesn’t just measure productivity, but actually reveals why stress and procrastination happen. By looking at subtle signals in how we type, move our mouse, switch apps, or go idle, we can make the invisible visible—and give people a chance to act before burnout hits.

What it does

MindTrace continuously monitors micro-behaviors like typing cadence, mouse dynamics, and app-switching patterns. It then calculates real-time stress and procrastination scores, visualizes trends in a clean dashboard, and sends friendly nudges to help people reset, focus, or take a break. Instead of waiting for self-reported surveys or wearables, MindTrace works silently in the background, giving instant awareness and long-term insights.

How we built it

Designed the full UI/UX in Figma, focusing on simplicity, accessibility, and aesthetics. Developed a FastAPI + SQLite backend with JWT authentication to ingest, store, and score user events. Created a scoring model using features like inter-key intervals, backspace rates, idle time, and mouse jerkiness. Built a data simulator to demonstrate calm vs. stressed usage and showcase real-time dashboard updates. Integrated frontend components with the API contract, ensuring smooth flow from raw events → insights → nudges.

Challenges we ran into

Defining measurable signals of stress and procrastination without overcomplicating the model. Handling real-time event ingestion and scoring efficiently. Designing a UI that communicates something as complex as “mental state” in a simple, non-overwhelming way. Balancing privacy with functionality—ensuring users know their keystrokes are never logged, only patterns.

Accomplishments we’re proud of

Delivering a working prototype that tracks stress/procrastination with no wearables required. Designing an intuitive dashboard that makes invisible patterns obvious. Creating a system that is scalable for future integrations (Slack, IDEs, Notion). Pitching a tool that could actually help students, professionals, and companies prevent burnout.

What we learned

The subtle signals in digital behavior can reveal a lot about well-being. Simplicity wins—judges and users respond better to clear visuals and actionable nudges. Hackathon speed requires tradeoffs, but good architecture early makes expansion possible.

What’s next

Expanding data sources: browser activity, calendar context, and task-specific patterns. Personalizing nudges with lightweight ML models. Offering integrations with workplace tools like Teams, Slack, and Notion. Turning MindTrace into a real productivity + well-being companion.