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Inspiration

As first-year undergraduate students, we're all adjusting to university life. Between credit hours, breaks between classes, extracurricular activities, and semester-long group projects, managing our time has become a new challenge.

With so many responsibilities, it's easy to lose track of deadlines, forget assignments, or become confused about who's responsible for what in a group project. We realized that many students face the same struggles, so we wanted to create a platform that makes collaboration and project management easier.

That's how TeamStride was born! Our goal was to bring tasks, deadlines, and team communication together in one place, helping students stay organized and feel less overwhelmed. By turning our own experiences into a solution, we hope TeamStride can make even the busiest school days more manageable.

What it does

TeamStride is a collaborative project management platform designed to help students organize group projects, distribute responsibilities, and track progress.

Users can create projects with a clear description, add team members, set deadlines, and organize tasks into four phases: Discover, Create, Refine, and Deliver. Tasks can be assigned to individual members or shared across the team, making it easier to manage responsibilities and monitor progress.

The platform also includes personal and team workspaces, task discussions, and progress tracking to keep everyone connected.

We integrated Anthropic's generative AI API to power an interactive chatbot that answers project-related questions and provides guidance. The AI can also generate downloadable project reports, making it easier for teams to review their progress and understand what still needs to be completed.

Users can even explore a sample project before signing in to get a better understanding of how TeamStride works.

How we built it

We developed TeamStride using VS Code, ChatGPT, and our team's creativity and problem-solving skills.

We started by brainstorming ideas and identifying common challenges we faced as university students. Once we agreed on our concept, we began developing the website, using ChatGPT to assist with generating and refining code.

After building the initial version, we tested the platform together, identified missing features, and made improvements to the design and functionality. We also integrated Anthropic's API to introduce AI-powered features, including project assistance and downloadable reports.

Throughout development, we continuously tested, debugged, and refined the platform to create a functional and user-friendly experience.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was debugging and maintaining the website as we introduced new features.

During testing, we frequently encountered unexpected errors. Sometimes, fixing one issue would create another, requiring us to repeatedly review, troubleshoot, and test our code.

Another challenge was ensuring that our AI features worked properly alongside the rest of the platform. Integrating the API required additional testing and adjustments to make sure users could interact with the chatbot and generate reports successfully.

Despite these obstacles, we worked together to identify problems, experiment with solutions, and steadily improve TeamStride.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of our proudest accomplishments was turning a simple idea into a functional website during HackPSU.

Our team consisted of five students from different majors, each bringing unique perspectives and ideas. By combining our creativity and technical skills, we developed a platform that is both visually appealing and practical.

We're particularly proud of successfully integrating Anthropic's API to power our AI chatbot and project report generation features. Seeing these features function within our website was one of the most rewarding moments of the hackathon.

We're also proud of how effectively we collaborated to overcome technical challenges. Through continuous testing and teamwork, we identified bugs, implemented improvements, and developed a product that reflects our shared effort.

What we learned

One of the biggest lessons we learned was the importance of continuous testing. Throughout development, we discovered that even small changes could introduce unexpected issues. Testing helped us catch these problems early and identify opportunities to improve the user experience, including adding features such as the ability to leave a team.

We also learned how important effective prompt engineering can be when using AI-assisted development tools. While ChatGPT helped us generate and modify code, we discovered that broad or unclear prompts could sometimes lead to unintended changes. By becoming more specific with our instructions, we were able to troubleshoot more efficiently and make better improvements.

Most importantly, we learned the value of communication, adaptability, and teamwork. Working together under the time constraints of a hackathon taught us how to divide responsibilities, solve problems, and bring our ideas to life.

What's next for TeamStride

Our vision for TeamStride extends beyond HackPSU. While our initial goal was to help university students manage group projects, we believe the platform has the potential to support many different types of teams.

One of our next priorities is improving security and implementing a more robust user authentication system to protect user information and project data.

We also hope to integrate TeamStride with platforms such as Outlook and Canvas. Outlook integration could deliver project updates and deadline reminders directly to users' inboxes, while Canvas integration could allow students to import assignments automatically instead of manually entering information or uploading documents.

In the future, we envision expanding TeamStride beyond universities and into professional environments, where managers and employees could use it to coordinate tasks, monitor progress, and improve collaboration.

Ultimately, our goal is to continue developing TeamStride into a platform that makes teamwork simpler, more organized, and more productive for everyone.