StellarNotes
The Project
StellarNotes is an AI-powered journaling app designed to support the mental health of immigrant and first-generation individuals by providing culturally sensitive, science-backed 5-step action plans based on users’ personal entries to help them improve their lives. I was inspired to build StellarNotes after seeing close friends avoid getting help because they feared the shame that might follow. In many immigrant communities asking for help is seen as a weakness. I didn’t want my friends, or anyone like them, to keep living in that quiet cycle of suffering. I wanted to create something that could meet them where they are. With gentleness, privacy, and cultural understanding. That inspiration is what created StellarNotes. The biggest challenge was teaching the AI to recognize the cultural and emotional weight behind words. Language varies widely across cultures, and building journaling prompts that could reflect different values while adapting to different generations’ tone took many iterations. I also had to restructure the advice format to boost retention and ensure privacy using encrypted, HIPAA-aligned design.
