Introduction: The inspiration behind HealthPulse

I started working on HealthPulse, a clever health reminder app intended to make health tracking intuitive, as part of my Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2025 proposal for CCExtractor Development. HealthPulse is designed for regular users, in contrast to standard fitness programs that might be overwhelming or only serve athletes. It uses gamification, clever reminders, and community involvement to encourage healthy behaviours in an entertaining and engaging manner.

This post describes my current development, emphasising the features I’ve added, the choices I made about the design, and the future roadmap. My objective is to develop an open-source application that encourages users to track their Health metrics in a fun and intuitive way.

Why I chose this Project

I picked this project because it focuses on making a user interface that is both visually appealing and intuitive, which is exactly what I’m passionate about when it comes to UI design.

By targeting the general everyday user rather than athletes or experts, HealthPulse distinguishes itself and makes it accessible and practical for regular consumers. I was motivated to contribute by this inclusivity as well as the difficulty of creating a user-friendly yet useful tool.

HealthPulse offers the ideal setting to demonstrate how design can increase engagement and enhance life, and I firmly believe that well-considered user interface design can turn health tracking from a boring task into a fun experience.

Why HealthPulse Matters

HealthPulse stands out by addressing common pain points in existing health apps:

Accessibility: Made for regular people, not athletes or professionals.
Engagement: Gamification turns boring chores into enjoyable adventures.
Open Source: To maintain transparency, the project is community-driven and completely free.

With the help of gamified incentives and clever reminders, HealthPulse hopes to transform health tracking from a routine into a fun experience.

Pre-Qualification Tasks

Within these pre-qualification activities, I strived to complete a set number of tasks that would showcase the my technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and design skills, while displaying my creativity at the same time.

1. Face Condition Detection Using Google ML Kit

I created a Flutter application capable of detecting face conditions in real-time and implemented Google ML Kit’s Face Detection and image processing capabilities. Detected expressions included tired, stressed, happy or sad. The algorithm was designed in such a way that the lighting was dynamically altered so that detection accuracy and speed parameters could be set.

2. ”Flip to Snooze” Feature for Ultimate Alarm Clock (UAC)

I also added a sizeable new feature to another CcExtractor project: UAC

Flip to Snooze allows the user to snooze the alarm by simply flipping the device. Motion sensors were set up. And the functionality was set to be completely configurable in the app, so users could enable the functionality in the app settings.

Moreover, I identified problems related to the production version of UAC that is available to download and catered to them by making mockups of the application for the Play Store to drive more installs and engagement to the application.

3. Developing HealthPulse

I envisioned and created the user interface for HealthPulse, prioritising a minimalistic yet captivating design. The focus is on simplicity and functionality, ensuring that it is user-friendly for the general public while also being visually attractive. Every component, from the onboarding screens to the metric tracking dashboards, was meticulously designed to improve usability and promote regular health monitoring.

Developing an MVP

I developed a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for HealthPulse, establishing the User Interface for its essential features:

Authentication Module: Offers options for email/password and social media logins.
Step Tracking: Interface for monitoring steps with visual progress indicators and historical data analysis.
Posture Monitoring: Interface and POC for tracking of posture
Hydration Tracking: Includes manual logging, weather-adjusted goals, and actionable widgets.
Leaderboard: Interface for showcasing global rankings based on experience points earned and streaks maintained.
The MVP also incorporates intelligent notifications customised to user behaviour and preferences.

These initiatives demonstrate my capability to design and implement innovative features while upholding high standards of usability and performance.

HealthPulse MVP Screenshots (Flutter Application)

Smart Notifications

A key component of HealthPulse is its intelligent notifications, which guarantee user engagement while allowing health tracking to be easily incorporated into regular activities.

As seen in the associated designs, these notifications are not only actionable but also aesthetically pleasing. When a user receives a hydration reminder, for instance, a comprehensive page displaying their progress toward their objective, weather-based modifications, and useful information such as updated hydration targets is displayed.

In a similar vein, warnings for posture correction point users to a specific screen that provides friendly insight into their needs and suggestions for improvement. Every message is made to offer context-aware insights, such as commemorating step milestones or assisting users during meditation sessions, turning innocuous prods into meaningful exchanges that promote consistency and habit building.

Smart Notification Implementation (Code)

Assistive Tools Developed: Enhancing Development Efficiency

I developed two tools to increase productivity and expedite development processes as part of my contributions to the HealthPulse project and CCExtractor Development. The Flutter Tape Slider Package is a flexible user interface element that mimics a tape slider and is intended for numerical selection. Because of its great degree of customisation, developers can easily include this package into their applications while preserving design coherence. The larger Flutter community can now access it as it is open-source and available on GitHub and Pub Dev.

The Tape Slider Package has gained over 100 downloads in merely 5 days of being published

I have created FLTY CLI, a command-line utility designed specifically for Flutter applications that create modular file structures. By ensuring consistency in code organisation, this tool facilitates scalable development and makes the process easier for contributors. By automating repetitive operations like folder creation and structure setup, FLTY CLI ensures adherence to best practices while cutting down on onboarding time for new developers. Both tools demonstrate my dedication to developing solutions that improve my own productivity while also providing the open-source community with reusable resources.

Example Use Case:

flty create dashboard

The above creates a dashboard module with a file structure uniform with the project and also generates boilerplate code with all the required constant imports common to the project.

Future Development

In the future, I want to add more complex gamification elements to HealthPulse, such as multi-day challenge campaigns that incentivise consistent healthy behaviour and tiered achievement badges.

A peer challenge system that allows users to ask friends to take part in personalised health competitions and accountability partnerships that increase motivation will broaden the social component.

In addition to the current physical health measures, a special wellness component with guided breathing games and meditation activities will be introduced to address stress management and mental wellbeing.

In terms of development, I’m dedicated to upholding a clear, modular code design, making sure that all documentation is thorough, and creating contributor guidelines to drive more and more contributions.

Conclusion

It has been a rewarding experience to merge my love of Flutter development with my dedication to enhancing user wellbeing in the creation of HealthPulse. I want to make an app that actually encourages community involvement and helps users develop healthy habits through well-considered design and functionality.

Building HealthPulse: A Gamified Smart Health Reminder App