Featured Project · Co-Team Lead
3 Years, 5 Versions, 1 Problem
Making renal nutrition easier to understand and manage.
Current Version 5 interface · cross-platform product
Why Kidney Buddy?
Kidney Buddy began with a problem I saw in my own family. My grandmother, who has chronic kidney disease, had to carefully monitor nutrients such as sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and protein, yet figuring out what she could eat each day was often confusing. I wanted to make that process simpler.
Over the next three years, Kidney Buddy evolved through five major versions.
Visual Evolution
Five major versions make the progression visible: three prototype iterations before the incubator, followed by two product releases built for real users.
Proof of concept → Feature expansion → Refined prototype → Android product → Cross-platform product · Published on Google Play and Apple App Store
What changed technically?
| Capability | Version 1 | Version 2 | Version 3 | Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product stage | Initial prototype | Feature-expanded prototype | Refined prototype | Market-ready Android release · Published on Google Play | Cross-platform product · Published on Google Play and Apple App Store |
| Primary storage | Local | Local | Local | Local | Local-first |
| Cloud sync | — | — | — | — | Selective / optional |
| Backup & restore | — | — | — | — | Supported |
| Subscriptions | — | — | — | — | Supported |
| AI usage limits | — | — | — | Free-user limits | Cloud-enforced quotas |
| Key expansion | Basic meal tracking | Meal planning · reports · clinic/lab search | Risk assessment · tips · personalized settings | Food/label scan · meal totals · serving-size adjustment | Local-first storage · optional backup/sync · subscriptions · iOS · sodium tracking |
| Nutrients tracked | Protein · Potassium | Protein · Potassium | Protein · Potassium · Phosphorus | Protein · Potassium · Phosphorus | Protein · Potassium · Phosphorus · Sodium |
| Development tools | MIT App Inventor | MIT App Inventor | MIT App Inventor | MIT App Inventor | TypeScript · AI-assisted development |
| Platform | Prototype | Prototype | Prototype | Android | Android + iOS |
Version labels show the development sequence; dates and values visible inside screenshots may reflect test or capture data.
Development Journey
Five versions, each built because the previous one revealed a new problem to solve.
Actual Version 1 screens from the original MIT App Inventor proof of concept.
Version 1
Initial Prototype · MIT App Inventor
We started with the smallest useful version of the idea: a local-only prototype that let users log meals and monitor protein and potassium. Version 1 was about proving the concept—not competing, scaling, or building production infrastructure.
Version 2 added meal planning, longer-term reporting, and clinic/lab search while remaining a local-data prototype.
Version 2
Feature-Expanded Prototype · MIT App Inventor
Version 2 broadened the original concept. We added meal planning, nutrition reports, and clinic/lab search while keeping the underlying data local to the device. This was the first version to receive external competition validation.
First external validation
Version 3 became the most complete pre-incubator prototype, with broader CKD support and a more polished interface.
Version 3
Refined Competition Prototype · MIT App Inventor
Version 3 added phosphorus tracking alongside protein and potassium and expanded the experience with risk assessment, educational tips, personalized settings, and more cohesive navigation. It was still local-data software, but it became the version that earned broader national and international recognition.
National & international recognition
Additional recognition: Conrad Challenge — 2025–26 Conrad Finalist & 2024–25 Conrad Innovator Award · Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge 2025 — U.S. 2nd Place · Paradigm Challenge 2025 — Finalist · Diamond Challenge 2025 — Advanced to Pitching Round · National STEM Festival 2024 — Finalist
Version 4 turned the strongest pre-incubator prototype into a marketable Android product while keeping data stored locally and expanding practical nutrition support through food scanning, meal summaries, and meal planning.
Version 4
Marketable Android Release · MIT App Inventor
After the incubator, Version 4 became Kidney Buddy’s first marketable Android release while still storing data locally on the device. It expanded the product experience with food and nutrition-facts scanning, per-meal and daily nutrient summaries, adjustable serving sizes, and usage limits for AI-powered features for free users.
Version 5
TypeScript · AI-Assisted Development · Android + iOS
As Kidney Buddy’s functionality and cross-platform goals expanded, our original development approach became increasingly limiting. Alan and I co-led the transition toward TypeScript and AI-assisted programming. Version 5 adopted a local-first architecture: high-frequency data is saved on the phone first for faster performance, offline usability, and reduced network traffic, while only necessary data is synchronized to Supabase for services such as authentication, subscription and AI-usage enforcement, and optional backup and restore. This version also added Android + iOS support and sodium tracking for the first time.
Clinical Perspective
“Kidney Buddy is a very useful app to help with our patients’ daily meals, help with their preparations and help with all their restrictions. I can definitely see a lot of benefit for our patients. So I would actually recommend this app to be used in our patients’ day to day life.”
Leadership
7 contributors · 3 years · 5 major versions
Over three years, seven students contributed to Kidney Buddy as the team evolved. Alan and I co-led the project, setting priorities, coordinating responsibilities, onboarding new contributors, and maintaining continuity through five major versions. As the project moved from prototype to product, we also had to decide when to redesign, when to add features, and when the original technical approach had reached its limits.
Alina’s role: co-team leadership · product direction · team coordination · UI/UX design · development · user/medical feedback · launch execution
Reflection
At first, building meant getting an idea to work. Then it meant making that idea better. Eventually, I learned that even a polished prototype is very different from a product real people can rely on.
Kidney Buddy taught me to keep building past the point where a competition ends. Each limitation—technical, practical, or organizational—became another question to solve rather than a reason to stop.