NextStep

Final logo.
Our hero section image.
Iterations of our primary logo.

About the project — NextStep

Inspiration

Job prep feels chaotic and lonely. We wanted a playful, low-pressure routine that actually builds skills every day—and shows progress you can measure.

What it does

AI Resume Polish: instant, role-aware suggestions with examples and quantifiable edits.

Interview Drills: STAR-guided prompts + targeted feedback and a 1–5 score to track growth.

Daily Coding: one-click NeetCode problem, streak tracker, and a friendly frog mascot to gamify habit-building.

Dashboard: clean progress view (streaks, recent drills, tips of the day).

How we built it

Frontend: Next.js + React, Tailwind for fast UI, simple motion for micro-animations (frog hop!).

Auth & Data: Firebase Auth + Firestore for users, streaks, and practice logs.

AI: Google Gemini for resume analysis and interview feedback (prompt-chained with context from user inputs).

UX: mobile-first components, accessible forms, and keyboard-friendly flows.

Challenges

Firebase rules: avoiding “Missing or insufficient permissions” while keeping dev velocity; we wrote least-privilege reads/writes for user-scoped docs.

Prompt engineering: balancing concise prompts with rich, job-specific context.

State & resets: keeping text areas, loaders, and scores in sync across routes.

Deploy hiccups: 404s from wrong root directory and environment var setup on Vercel.

Accomplishments we’re proud of

A working loop that turns prep into a daily habit—resume → drill → streak—end to end.

Clear, friendly UX that students actually enjoy using.

Measurable progress: scores over time, streak length, and completed drills.

What we learned

Writing secure Firebase rules early saves time later.

Good prompts = better AI; structured outputs (JSON) made UI updates trivial.

Tiny delights (mascot, animations) meaningfully boost engagement.

What’s next

Role templates for SWE, data, product, and non-CS majors.

Friend leaderboards and reminders.

Rich interview modes (audio, timing, filler-word counts).

A small study to quantify impact: ↑ streak adherence, ↑ interview scores, ↑ offer rates.

How it improves quality of life

NextStep reduces decision fatigue and anxiety by automating “what to do today,” provides instant, actionable feedback, and converts prep into a manageable 10–15-minute habit—so students consistently build skills and confidence.