LinkedEx

Inspiration

LinkedEx was inspired by how hard networking at hackathons can feel, especially for students and first-time builders. We wanted to make meeting people feel more fun, less awkward, and more game-like.

What it does

LinkedEx is a gamified networking app for hackers. It lets users:

• Discover other hackers through profile cards
• Explore hackathons and people on a map
• Track rank, XP, wins, and activity
• Interact through a lightweight inbox-style feed

How we built it

We built LinkedEx as a React + TypeScript web app with Vite.
The UI is component-driven, with reusable cards, nav, and page layouts.
We used animated interactions and a custom visual theme to make the experience feel playful and dynamic.

Challenges we ran into

• Keeping styling consistent across pages while iterating quickly
• Managing layered backgrounds and scroll behavior cleanly
• Balancing visual polish with usability and readability
• Making card/content components reusable without overcomplicating structure

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• A complete end-to-end concept with multiple polished views
• Strong visual identity and smooth UI interactions
• A map + card + profile system that feels cohesive
• Fast iteration and customization during development

What we learned

• Small UX details (spacing, contrast, scrolling, states) make a huge difference
• Consistent component patterns speed up development
• Visual experimentation is great, but structure and maintainability matter just as much
• Clear user feedback drives better product decisions quickly

What's next for LinkedEx

• Real authentication and persistent user profiles
• Live connections/chat and real-time event updates
• Better recommendation system for people/events
• Mobile-first improvements and performance optimization
• Deployment with analytics and user testing for product validation

Built With

• gemini
• react
• stitch
• typescript
• vite