6 months ago
Problem Statements
Here are your problem statements for the Good Vibes Hackathon! Choose ONE problem statement that excites you and build a solution over the next 4 days. Remember, these are starting points; feel free to interpret them creatively and add your own spin!
🌍 Problem Statement 1: Community Connection Platform
The Challenge: Local communities struggle to connect neighbors and organize initiatives. Whether it's finding someone to carpool with, organizing a neighborhood cleanup, or sharing resources like tools and books, there's no easy way for people in the same area to collaborate.
Your Mission: Build a deployable community platform that helps neighbors connect, share resources, and organize events. The solution should make it easy for users to discover people and activities within a specific radius of their location.
Key Requirements:
- User profiles with location-based matching
- Resource sharing system (borrow/lend items)
- Event creation and RSVP functionality
- Simple, intuitive interface that works for all age groups
Success Criteria: Your solution should demonstrate how it reduces barriers to community engagement and makes neighborhoods more connected.
🎓 Problem Statement 2: AI-Powered Study Companion
The Challenge: Students often struggle with organizing their study materials, tracking their progress across multiple subjects, and getting personalized help when they're stuck. Traditional study apps either focus on note-taking OR quizzing OR scheduling, but rarely integrate everything with intelligent assistance.
Your Mission: Create an intelligent study companion that helps students manage their learning journey. The tool should use AI to provide personalized study recommendations, generate practice questions from notes, and adapt to each student's learning pace.
Key Requirements:
- Upload and organize study materials (notes, PDFs, etc.)
- AI-generated quizzes and flashcards from uploaded content
- Progress tracking across subjects
- Smart study schedule suggestions based on upcoming deadlines
- Explain concepts in simple terms when students ask questions
Success Criteria: Your solution should demonstrate how AI can make studying more efficient and personalized for different learning styles.
🏥 Problem Statement 3: Mental Wellness Check-In System
The Challenge: Many people struggle with their mental health but don't seek help until it's critical. There's a gap between occasional therapy sessions and daily well-being. People need a non-judgmental way to track their emotional patterns, receive early support signals, and access resources before small issues become big problems.
Your Mission: Design a daily mental wellness companion that helps users monitor their emotional well-being, identify patterns, and connect them with appropriate resources. The system should be compassionate, private, and encouraging.
Key Requirements:
- Simple daily check-in system (mood tracking, journaling prompts)
- Pattern detection (identify concerning trends over time)
- Personalized coping strategy suggestions
- Resource recommendations (articles, hotlines, professional help)
- Privacy-first design with optional sharing to trusted contacts
- Gentle reminders without being intrusive
Success Criteria: Your solution should feel supportive rather than clinical, and demonstrate how regular check-ins can lead to better mental health awareness.
🍽️ Problem Statement 4: Smart Food Waste Reducer
The Challenge: Households waste approximately 30-40% of their food supply, costing families money and harming the environment. People buy groceries, forget what they have, let items expire, and struggle to plan meals around ingredients they already own. Existing apps require too much manual input or don't provide actionable solutions.
Your Mission: Create an intelligent kitchen assistant that helps households minimize food waste through smart tracking, expiration alerts, and recipe suggestions. The system should make it effortless to know what you have and how to use it before it spoils.
Key Requirements:
- Easy inventory tracking (scan receipts, barcodes, or AI image recognition)
- Expiration date tracking with smart notifications
- Recipe suggestions based on ingredients you already have
- Shopping list generation that considers existing inventory
- Waste tracking analytics to show savings over time
Success Criteria: Your solution should demonstrate how technology can reduce food waste, save money, and promote sustainable consumption habits in everyday households.
🎨 Problem Statement 5: Make it your own!
The Challenge: You know your world better than anyone else. What problem do YOU see that needs solving? What tool would make YOUR life or your community's life better?
Your Mission: Identify a real problem you've personally experienced or witnessed, and build a creative solution using AI-powered tools. This is your chance to work on something you're genuinely passionate about.
Guidelines:
- The problem should be specific and clearly defined
- Your solution should be feasible to prototype in 4 days
- Demonstrate how AI/technology provides a unique advantage
- Show evidence of real need (user research, personal experience, data)
- Be prepared to explain why this problem matters to you
What to Include:
- Clear problem definition and target users
- How your solution works (features and functionality)
- Why AI/technology is essential to your solution
- Potential real-world impact
- Next steps if you had more time/resources
Success Criteria: Your solution should showcase genuine creativity, passion, and understanding of a real-world problem. Judges will evaluate both the innovation and your ability to articulate why it matters.
📋 Submission Requirements
Regardless of which problem you choose, your submission must include:
- Working Prototype: A functional demo (it doesn't need to be perfect!)
- Code Repository: Your source code (GitHub, Replit, or ZIP file)
- Project Documentation: Brief explanation of:
- Which problem you chose and why
- How your solution works
- Key features and technologies used
- Challenges you faced and how you overcame them
- Demo Video (Optional but highly recommended!): A 1-3 minute video showing your solution in action and explaining its key features
💡 Important Notes
- Choose ONE problem statement that resonates with you
- Creativity is encouraged! Interpret these challenges in your own way
- Focus on functionality over perfection - working prototypes are what matter
- Use any tools you want: Cursor, AI assistants, frameworks, libraries, etc.
- Have fun! This is about learning, building, and catching the vibe 🌟
The coding period runs from November 26-29, 2025.
Got questions? Reach out at info@goodvibeshackathon.com
Let's build something amazing! 🚀
- The Good Vibes Hackathon Team