Unplug.

Inspiration

Our project, Unplug, was born out of observing a universal modern dilemma: Doom Scrolling. We realized that the simple 5-minute break quickly metastasizes into hours of unproductive screen time, escalating stress and preventing people from focusing on tasks like coursework. The root problem is a lack of accountability paired with zero friction to engage in distracting habits.

We aimed to solve this by fundamentally shifting the incentive structure. Instead of simply blocking sites, we proposed an "Accountability Web App " where wasted scrolling time generates a positive financial outcome (money invested). This leverages behavioural economics to turn a bad habit into a rewarding compulsion to save, creating a powerful, long-term motivator.

What it does

Core Logic: The Charging Engine: The heart of the application is a module that, upon detecting specific non-productive activity, calculates a monetary "charge." This charge is immediately channeled toward the user's chosen investment portfolio.

How we built it

Our group use AI to build the Ui and web.app

Challenges we ran into

UX for Accountability: We needed to balance the punitive aspect of the "charge" with the positive reward of the investment gain. We solved this by prioritising the display of the Investment Value and the Leaderboard Rank over the punitive fee, ensuring the app feels motivational rather than restrictive.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The Necessity of Social Proof: The leaderboard feature highlighted the powerful role of social accountability. The act of seeing one's rank in relation to peers provides a strong, immediate incentive to reduce scrolling time that abstract goals often lack.

What we learned

Simplifying Complex Systems: We learned the importance of simplifying complex financial concepts, such as risk allocation, into clear, intuitive choices (Low, Medium, High) for the end-user.## What's next for Unplug. Simultaneously, we plan to introduce Advanced Investment Portfolios, giving users more granular control over sector-specific or ethical investment choices. Finally, we will roll out a Group Challenge Mode, where weekly or monthly top-ranked users (those with the lowest scroll time) earn an investment bonus, further capitalizing on social accountability to solidify long-term productive habits.