Castaway

During the intensive 24-hour HackMIT hackathon, I served as a full-stack engineer on a four-person team building Castaway, an anonymous messaging platform designed to make personal growth less isolating. The project was born from recognizing two trends: the growing online movement of taking small daily steps for self-improvement when larger changes feel overwhelming, and the human need for authentic, anonymous connection exemplified by projects like the Unsent Project.

Database Architecture & Backend Development: I created the entire Supabase PostgreSQL database architecture, carefully designing schemas to handle the complex relationships between bottles, oceans, tags, and users. One of the first challenges was modeling these relationships correctly - bottles can have only one tag but exist in multiple oceans, while oceans can have multiple tags. Additionally, I needed to track seen bottles per user to prevent duplicates. Through careful discussion and implementation examples, I designed a schema that preserved all meaningful relationships while maintaining query efficiency.

On the backend, I implemented comprehensive authentication using Supabase Auth that supports both anonymous browsing and registered user features. I developed all ocean-related endpoints including ocean creation, retrieval, and navigation between themed oceans. A critical safety feature I built was the content checking system that validates all user-entered messages before they enter any ocean, ensuring the platform remains a positive space for personal growth. The backend was built using Go with Fiber for request handling and PGX driver for database connections, leveraging Go's channels and context for clean endpoint implementation.

Frontend User Experience & Navigation: My frontend contributions focused on creating intuitive, delightful user experiences. I developed the complete authentication flow, including sign-in, registration, and the ability to create personal oceans. The navigation system I built ensures correct routing based on login status - different functionality becomes available for logged-in users while maintaining a seamless experience for anonymous visitors. This required multiple iterations of routing prototypes to achieve intuitive user flows.

The Explore page was one of my most challenging and rewarding contributions. I designed and implemented an organic map-like interface by splitting the screen into naturally-shaped polygons with smoothed edges, creating distinct sections for each themed ocean. This required complex geometric calculations and CSS styling to achieve the organic look that fit our pixelated aesthetic. I also implemented the waypoint navigation system that guides users between different oceans, making exploration feel like a journey across an actual map.

Special Features & Technical Innovations: I created the "whirlpool" feature - a unique navigation element that randomly transports users to other personal oceans, maintaining the serendipitous nature of discovery while preserving privacy (users cannot search for specific personal oceans). I also added the animated duck companion that enhances the whimsical ocean atmosphere, bringing life to the interface. The personal ocean feature I developed allows users to maintain their own space for daily goals, affirmations, and reminders, with these oceans being publicly visible but only writable by the owner - reinforcing the message that many others are also working on growth and no one is alone in their journey.

Technical Challenges Overcome: Creating the organic sectioning on the Explore page required innovative approaches to polygon generation and edge smoothing to achieve a natural, map-like appearance within our pixel-art theme. Implementing proper bottle movement that looked organic rather than mechanical involved numerous iterations to find the right combination of drift speed and bobbing motion. The dual-mode system supporting both anonymous and authenticated users required careful state management and middleware implementation to ensure smooth transitions and appropriate feature access. Content moderation posed unique challenges in balancing user safety with the anonymous nature of the platform, which I solved through backend validation checks that filter inappropriate content before database insertion.

Impact & Design Philosophy: Castaway embodies the principle that small actions can create significant change. By removing barriers to entry (no login required) and fostering anonymous yet meaningful connections, we created a platform where users feel safe to share their struggles and victories. The combination of themed public oceans and personal growth spaces bridges individual improvement with collective support. In just 24 hours, we built not just a technical solution but a digital space that addresses the very real human need for connection during personal growth journeys.