Notable

A social space where small daily reflections build meaningful connections.

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Inspiration

Our project was inspired by the idea of creating meaningful and low-pressure ways for people to socialize and stay connected. We are committed to building a platform for deep reflection and intentional interaction for friends in groups and netizens with similar interests.

What it does

Notable is a social website where users can join small groups and are regularly prompted to write short reflections about their day, habits, or feelings. Notable is a social networking site where users can join small groups. AI regularly provides interesting topics related to the group's interests each week, and users can respond and reflect on their thoughts and feelings.

  • Users can create or join groups based on shared interests or goals;
  • Each group has a recurring prompt that encourages reflection;
  • Members post written responses visible only to the group;
  • Other users can react to posts, creating lightweight but meaningful interaction

How we built it

We designed Notable as a two-page web application with a clear separation between frontend and backend responsibilities.

Backend:

  • Built using Flask
  • Data models for users, groups, and posts
  • SQLite database for persistence
  • Routes for authentication, group membership, and posting ### Frontend:
  • Built with a focus on clarity and writing-first design
  • Main page shows groups the user belongs to and suggested groups to join
  • Group page displays the current prompt, previous reflections, and a writing input
  • Significant time was spent debugging state updates and ensuring frontend actions correctly reflected backend changes ### AI Integration:
  • Integrated Gemini AI to generate reflection prompts
  • Prompts are designed to be open-ended, supportive, and easy to respond to
  • Required prompt tuning and iteration to balance creativity and relevance

Challenges we ran into

  • Deal with the technologies/skills we are not familiar with
  • Integrating Gemini AI in a way that felt helpful rather than intrusive
  • Synchronizing frontend state with backend data
  • Debugging UI issues caused by asynchronous updates and incomplete data

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Designing a clear and intuitive product concept within a short time frame
  • Maintaining a clean project structure despite parallel development
  • Creating a product that prioritizes mental space and reflection over engagement metrics

What we learned

Through this project, we learned:

  • How to structure a small but complete full-stack application
  • The importance of defining data models early
  • How backend design decisions affect frontend simplicity
  • How to collaborate effectively using Git in a fast-paced environment

What's next for Notable

If we continue developing Notable, we would like to:

  • Improve UI/UX with better writing-focused design
  • Add authentication and user profiles
  • Explore analytics that help users reflect on their own writing over time
  • Add dairy/song sharing functions, which users can deliver better about their thoughts
  • Allow customizable prompt schedules (daily, weekly, themed prompts)
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