NeuroDiverse

Inspiration:

Before NeuroDiverse, our team was inspired by the lack of ADHD-friendly productivity software, which prompted us to develop NeuroDiverse. According to a study published by NIH, college students who had ADHD were often found to have far lower GPAs. Upon further research, we found this issue was largely attributable to the inability of students with ADHD to focus and a lack of resources to address this issue. For this reason, we wanted to create a solution that enables students with this disability to adaptively manage their time with minimal effort, thereby increasing their engagement and productivity in their work through NeuroDiverse

What it does:

NeuroDiverse’s primary aim is to provide students with ADHD with a way to stay organized, focused, and motivated by making an engaging user interface that promotes productivity through task tracking and adaptive progress development. Through our product, we help create custom schedules for individuals depending on their subject of choice, along with setting dedicated time limits and providing additional tasks upon completion. Firstly, the website prompts the user to choose some custom settings geared towards their preferences. Next, the user is greeted by a focus page, coupled with choices to aid with tasks, reading, note-taking, and customizable settings. Each section has its own focus plan tailored towards the user’s needs. In the “My Tasks” section, the user can add tasks to their focus list, and then they can start a focus timer to work on their goals. Additionally, in the “Reading & Review” section, the user can input reading material, for which they are given analysis options to highlight information, add questions, summarize key terms, and generate a summary. Moreover, in the “Note-Taking” section, users can type in and create their own custom notes. They are given organization tools to focus, such as structured outlines, mind maps, generated flashcards, concise summaries, and a saved notes section. Finally, the user can select their preferences in the “Settings” tab to help them focus with the wide array of NeuroDiverse tools available.

How we built it:

We started by splitting up our team of 4 into two main focuses of 2 people. One group focused on the frontend, using GitHub and React to create a user interface. The other group of 2 people built the backend with FastAPI, where we integrated different time-related features to have adaptive tracking. We tied both these parts together to ensure that NeuroDiverse would be functional and accurate.

Challenges we ran into

While building NeuroDiverse, the primary issues we encountered arose in aesthetics. Specifically, we found it difficult to create button animations, as well as an animated and aesthetic background. Additionally, we also ran into trouble while attempting to add more gamification options. Directly, when we wanted to make streaks for focus cycles and give mini-achievements to the user. Our final primary issues arose while integrating a feature for different background colors, as we found it vital to incorporate user preferences in how the app looks.

Accomplishments that we're proud of:

The accomplishments we're proud of are designing a solution that integrates health impact with personal utility, ensuring that users are supported in their learning journey despite the disabilities they may have. Moreover, we are proud of creating a prototype that demonstrates core functionality addressing a real-life health issue that has potential for pragmatic applications across communities. As a team project, we are proud of the communication and problem-solving skills we developed in overcoming our aforementioned challenges. From a broader perspective, we are proud of building a strong foundation for a viable product that could scale into a broader platform for those in need.

What we learned

What this experience taught us is how to manage effective functionality, code efficiency, and product innovation under pressure constraints induced by time. Specifically, we deepened our understanding of how to use LLMs in real-life cases by connecting them to prompt users with related questions and quizzes in their desired area of study, while simultaneously ensuring the interface was still user-friendly to those who struggled with focusing resulting from a mental-health disorder. Addressing critical front-end issues, such as the color modes, we all collectively understood the importance of prioritizing a balance between usability, function, and aesthetics. Thus, through making a product technically strong and market-ready use-wise, we learned the value of synthesizing different aspects of technology to create optimal results while also ensuring to manage our priorities in terms of efficiency and necessary functionality.

What's next for NeuroDiverse

In the future and next ventures, we hope to incorporate a feature that allows us to use data in other fields to address other mental health problems simultaneously, in our program. This allows us to adapt to the many differences in disabilities that may be presented in society and provide viable solutions for most, if not all. Additionally, we will work to address this in the future and hope to have NeuroDiverse serve as an effective tool in the field of mental health problems that can be looked at as a method of alleviation.