My Sky
Discover
Wavelength
Posts
Chats

Inspiration

You can have a phone full of contacts and still not know who to talk to after a rough day. We created StarCon to make reaching out easier. Inspired by Crafting Constellations, we imagined people as stars and friendships as the connections that turn individual points into something meaningful.

What it does

StarCon visualizes friendships as interactive constellations and helps users discover people through mutual friends or usernames. Users check in by placing a point on a mood graph showing pleasantness and energy, allowing them to express more than a simple “good” or “bad.” They can then choose to find people having similar days, with online users prioritized, and start a conversation.

How we built it

We developed StarCon in VS Code using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with SVG graphics for the constellation and an interactive mood graph. We organized the main features into separate screens with bottom navigation and added glowing visuals and optional sounds. We also worked on a Python Flask backend for accounts, friendships, check-ins, matching, and messaging.

Challenges we ran into

Keeping constellation lines aligned with their stars across different screen sizes was a challenge. We also redesigned our original single-page layout to make navigation clearer. Connecting the frontend and backend required debugging asynchronous functions and making sure both sides handled data consistently.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of turning the hackathon theme into an experience people can interact with. The constellation gives friendships a visual form, while the mood graph lets users express feelings beyond preset categories. We brought these ideas together into a prototype with a consistent identity and a clear purpose.

What we learned

We learned that small design decisions can make a big difference in how approachable an app feels. Building StarCon also strengthened our skills in responsive design, interactive graphics, backend integration, and teamwork. Most importantly, we learned to keep asking how each feature helps someone take the first step toward connection.

What's next for StarCon

We want to test StarCon with users, improve its matching system, and strengthen privacy controls. We also plan to add blocking and reporting tools and make messaging more reliable. Our goal is to help people go from “I’m having a hard day” to “I have someone to talk to.”