Inspiration
We were inspired by how easily important information gets lost in the constant flow of emails. Between assignment deadlines, bills, appointments, and subscription renewals, people are expected to manually keep track of dozens of small but important responsibilities. We wanted to build something that reduces this mental load and helps people stay on top of their commitments without requiring them to constantly organize their inbox.
What it does
Nudge transforms your inbox into an actionable daily plan. Using AI, it identifies important information in emails, extracts tasks and deadlines, detects recurring subscription payments, and organizes everything into one centralized dashboard. Users can view upcoming responsibilities, prioritize tasks, break larger assignments into manageable steps, and receive timely reminders before deadlines and renewals.
How we built it
We built Nudge using a full-stack architecture. The mobile application uses React Native, Expo, and TypeScript, while the backend is built with Java 21 and Spring Boot. PostgreSQL provides persistent data storage, and REST APIs connect the mobile application to the backend. We designed an AI-powered extraction service to interpret email content and convert unstructured information into structured tasks and subscription records. We also designed a notification system using Expo Push Notifications to deliver timely reminders.
Challenges we ran into
One of our biggest challenges was designing a reliable way to transform unstructured email content into actionable information. Emails vary significantly in format, wording, and context, making it difficult to consistently identify deadlines, priorities, and recurring payments. We also had to coordinate development across two separate platforms, ensuring that our backend APIs and mobile application followed the same data contract. Working within a limited hackathon timeframe required us to prioritize core functionality while keeping the architecture extensible.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of designing Nudge as more than another traditional task-management application. Instead of requiring users to manually enter every responsibility, Nudge aims to proactively identify commitments from information they already receive. We also established a modular full-stack architecture that separates the backend and mobile development, allowing us to develop and integrate features independently.
What we learned
Through building Nudge, we gained experience with full-stack application development, API design, database architecture, and integrating AI into practical workflows. We also learned the importance of defining shared data contracts early when collaborating across different technologies. Most importantly, we learned that building a useful AI-powered product requires more than extracting information: it requires turning that information into something reliable, understandable, and actionable.
What's next for Nudge
We envision Nudge becoming a personal productivity assistant that goes beyond email. Future improvements could include integrations with calendars and additional communication platforms, more sophisticated task prioritization, personalized reminder schedules, and smarter AI-generated task breakdowns. Our ultimate goal is to help people spend less time managing their responsibilities and more time actually completing them.
Built With
- python
- springboot
