From Wishes to Actions: Designing An Empathy & Growth Companion
From Wishes to Actions: Designing An Empathy & Growth Companion
Challenge Overview
Presented by Heart Bloom AI
This challenge invites participants to design and prototype an AI-powered companion that provides empathetic support, fosters self-awareness, and helps users transform their personal goals into small, achievable steps.
The companion should offer a safe, uplifting, and engaging experience, enabling users to express emotions, receive constructive guidance, and see their progress represented in a meaningful and motivating way. Rather than prescribing a fixed setting or character, you are free to create your own narrative world, visual identity, and character design.
Your design could take the form of a friendly guide, a fictional mentor, a whimsical creature, or any other personality that resonates with your chosen target audience.
The aim is to explore how emotional connection and actionable growth can be combined into a compelling user journey that inspires long-term engagement.
We encourage participants from all backgrounds to combine creativity and technical insight, proposing distinctive interaction models, narrative elements, and feature concepts.
Challenge Overview
Presented by Heart Bloom AI
This challenge invites participants to design and prototype an AI-powered companion that provides empathetic support, fosters self-awareness, and helps users transform their personal goals into small, achievable steps.
The companion should offer a safe, uplifting, and engaging experience, enabling users to express emotions, receive constructive guidance, and see their progress represented in a meaningful and motivating way. Rather than prescribing a fixed setting or character, you are free to create your own narrative world, visual identity, and character design.
Your design could take the form of a friendly guide, a fictional mentor, a whimsical creature, or any other personality that resonates with your chosen target audience.
The aim is to explore how emotional connection and actionable growth can be combined into a compelling user journey that inspires long-term engagement.
We encourage participants from all backgrounds to combine creativity and technical insight, proposing distinctive interaction models, narrative elements, and feature concepts.
Challenge Scope
Target Users:
• Gen Z and young professionals (aged 13–40) seeking motivation, emotional support, and personal growth
• Users who enjoy gamified and immersive experiences
Problem Type:
• Emotional companionship and self-awareness
• Converting aspirations into actionable steps
• Sustaining motivation and daily engagement
Possible Areas for Exploration (non-exhaustive):
• Emotional Input & Empathetic Response: Multi-modal input (text, voice, expressions) with rapid, emotionally attuned feedback
• Goal Breakdown & Action Guidance: Turning user goals into achievable, incremental steps
• Visual & World-Building Elements: Using animation, illustration, or scene changes to reflect the user’s emotional state and progress
• Creative Interactions: Ritual-based activities (e.g., wish-lighting, virtual celebrations), social events, or challenge-based engagements
Elements intentionally left open for creative interpretation:
• You are encouraged to define your own story world, character(s), and visual style
• Growth and feedback mechanisms can be implemented in any format – from task lists to interactive maps, from narrative chapters to evolving objects
• Presentation style may be 2D, 3D, illustrated, static, or animated, depending on your chosen approach
Constraints:
• Must demonstrate a closed loop from emotional input → empathetic response → actionable suggestion
• Prototype should be designed for portable devices such as mobile or tablet
• Must be deliverable within a one-week hackathon timeframe (low- or high-fidelity accepted)
Target Users:
• Gen Z and young professionals (aged 13–40) seeking motivation, emotional support, and personal growth
• Users who enjoy gamified and immersive experiences
Problem Type:
• Emotional companionship and self-awareness
• Converting aspirations into actionable steps
• Sustaining motivation and daily engagement
Possible Areas for Exploration (non-exhaustive):
• Emotional Input & Empathetic Response: Multi-modal input (text, voice, expressions) with rapid, emotionally attuned feedback
• Goal Breakdown & Action Guidance: Turning user goals into achievable, incremental steps
• Visual & World-Building Elements: Using animation, illustration, or scene changes to reflect the user’s emotional state and progress
• Creative Interactions: Ritual-based activities (e.g., wish-lighting, virtual celebrations), social events, or challenge-based engagements
Elements intentionally left open for creative interpretation:
• You are encouraged to define your own story world, character(s), and visual style
• Growth and feedback mechanisms can be implemented in any format – from task lists to interactive maps, from narrative chapters to evolving objects
• Presentation style may be 2D, 3D, illustrated, static, or animated, depending on your chosen approach
Constraints:
• Must demonstrate a closed loop from emotional input → empathetic response → actionable suggestion
• Prototype should be designed for portable devices such as mobile or tablet
• Must be deliverable within a one-week hackathon timeframe (low- or high-fidelity accepted)
Solution Requirements
Note: This is a builderʼs challenge. We are evaluating working systems — not slide decks.
1. Working Prototype / Demo
A functional system accessible on a phone that allows the user to upload their resume and communicate with an AI chatbot through text, voice or video. From the user provided information tailored resumes for one or multiple applicable roles should be generated. The information could then be used to display matching job opportunities or automatically apply for them.
2. Live Demo or Demo Video
Prepare a short, clear walkthrough (10-20 minutes) of your system to showcase during the Hackathon Demo Day. This should explain what it does and how it works.
3. Technical Brief (maximum 5 pages)
Should include:
A. Technical Details:
• Chatbot architecture
• AI model integration
• Matching algorithm between job seeker information and job offerings
• Technical stack overview
B. Problem Fit and Value:
• How the solution addresses StarPlan AI’s challenge
• Strengths of your approach to simplify resume creation
C. Limitations and Future Work:
• Known assumptions, limitations and ongoing cost
• Ideas for scaling and matching improvements
Note: This is a builderʼs challenge. We are evaluating working systems — not slide decks.
1. Working Prototype / Demo
A functional system accessible on a phone that allows the user to upload their resume and communicate with an AI chatbot through text, voice or video. From the user provided information tailored resumes for one or multiple applicable roles should be generated. The information could then be used to display matching job opportunities or automatically apply for them.
2. Live Demo or Demo Video
Prepare a short, clear walkthrough (10-20 minutes) of your system to showcase during the Hackathon Demo Day. This should explain what it does and how it works.
3. Technical Brief (maximum 5 pages)
Should include:
A. Technical Details:
• Chatbot architecture
• AI model integration
• Matching algorithm between job seeker information and job offerings
• Technical stack overview
B. Problem Fit and Value:
• How the solution addresses StarPlan AI’s challenge
• Strengths of your approach to simplify resume creation
C. Limitations and Future Work:
• Known assumptions, limitations and ongoing cost
• Ideas for scaling and matching improvements
Inspiration and Starting Points
Reference Inspirations (suggestive, not restrictive):
• The warm visual style and immersive world-building of Sky: Children of the Light
• Ritual-based features such as wish-lighting, seasonal events, or weather systems tied to user mood
• Personalised conversational agents such as Replika
• Low-code / no-code tools: Glide, Bubble, Thunkable, Figma + ProtoPie
• Narrative introduction styles such as those seen in The Boss Baby opening sequence
Prompts for Exploration
• How can your companion establish trust and connection in the very first interaction?
• What mechanisms will sustain motivation over time?
• How can visual and narrative elements reflect the user’s emotional journey?
Prize
• A$400 cash