taskleaf

Inspiration:

We were inspired by the stress of student life. From elementary school to graduate school, students balance homework, work, extracurriculars, and everyday responsibilities, and keeping track of everything can feel like another task on its own. Our mission is to make adding, editing, organizing, viewing, and completing tasks as easy as possible, so students can spend less time managing their lists and more time doing what matters. The name Taskleaf, its green colors, and its calming design reflect our goal of creating a welcoming space that makes busy days feel more manageable and encourages students to keep learning, studying, and growing.

What it does:

taskleaf helps students organize their responsibilities in one simple, calming space. Users can create and rename categories to fit their classes, activities, work, and everyday lives. The Home page offers quick task adding for when they are in a rush, while Your space lets them organize, edit, and mark tasks as complete. A weekly workload section uses shaded leaves to show how many unfinished tasks are due each day. In Ponds, students can join online study rooms where each person appears as a floating leaf, creating a sense of studying together. A simple chat lets members connect while gentle animations keep the space calm. The Extras tab includes study timers, countdowns, break reminders, session comparisons, and encouraging messages to help students stay motivated. Ask Leaf, our AI assistant, answers questions, offers study guidance, and helps manage tasks. Finally, About taskleaf explains our mission and thanks SBU Hacks and SBCS for bringing students together to build and create.

How we built it:

We built taskleaf using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with a Node.js server and PostgreSQL database to support accounts and save student data. We used Groq to power Ask Leaf’s study advice and task-management features, along with image and PDF tools to help turn assignments into editable tasks. Ponds uses regular updates between the website and server to keep room members and chat messages connected. We hosted the website on Render and used GitHub to manage changes and deploy updates. Throughout development, we focused on quick interactions, a calming design, and features that make busy student lives easier to manage.





Challenges we ran into:

One challenge was making taskleaf useful specifically for students rather than creating another general task organizer. We addressed this by adding study timers, progress tracking, and shared study rooms where students can feel motivated by others while focusing on their own work. Another challenge was making each page engaging without overwhelming users with too many features. We balanced useful tools with a simple layout, separate tabs, and gentle animations to keep the experience calm and focused on productivity.

Accomplismhments:

One accomplishment we’re proud of is creating Ponds, a calming and visually engaging space where students can connect and study alongside others while staying focused on their own work. We also added animations, including the train and shaded leaves in the weekly workload view, to make taskleaf feel more interactive and inviting. These details helped us bring together useful study tools and a consistent design without overwhelming users or distracting from productivity.

What we learned:

We learned how challenging it can be to build features that work well together while maintaining a consistent theme. With taskleaf, we had to balance relaxation and focus with enough interaction to keep the experience engaging. We also learned about website maintenance and how small design choices can improve usability. Clear labels, simple steps, and helpful explanations make it easier for users to understand what to do next and use the website with confidence.

Whats next for taskleaf:

Next, we want to expand taskleaf’s AI features to help students manage new assignments, adjust their plans, and receive more personalized suggestions for what to work on next. We also hope to reach more students and use their feedback to improve the platform. As technology and student needs change, our goal is to keep taskleaf useful and adaptable while preserving the simplicity and calming experience at its core.

Built With

• css
• html
• javascript