BydGo!
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Client
Hackaton
Industry
City Tech
Type of project
Mobile App
Year
2025
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BydGo! is a mobile application prototype created during the HackNation 2025 hackathon, designed and developed in just 20 hours. The project explores a new way of discovering urban heritage by transforming traditional sightseeing into an interactive, location-based experience. The goal was to make the history of Bydgoszcz more engaging for tourists, residents, and younger audiences by combining geolocation, augmented reality, and lightweight gamification into a single, intuitive mobile product.
Rather than acting as a passive guide, BydGo! encourages users to actively explore the city. Landmarks are discovered through proximity, visual cues, and interaction, turning a simple walk into a narrative-driven journey through space, history, and context.
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The prototype was built end-to-end during the hackathon using React Native and Expo, with a strong focus on speed, reliability, and realistic implementation under extreme time constraints. Despite the limited timeframe, the app delivers a fully functional flow: an interactive map with categorized landmarks, GPS-based discovery, route creation, background location awareness, and a custom AR experience that activates only when the user is physically near a historical object.
A key technical challenge was implementing location-based AR without image recognition, relying instead on GPS distance, device orientation, and compass data. This approach allowed the team to create an immersive experience that works consistently across devices and environments, while remaining lightweight and scalable. All user data, routes, and visit history are stored locally, making the prototype fast, responsive, and usable even with limited connectivity.
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The visual direction of BydGo! was intentionally minimal, warm, and modern, designed to feel friendly rather than touristic. Soft gradients, rounded UI elements, and a restrained color palette create a calm interface that doesn’t compete with the real-world environment. The design prioritizes clarity and hierarchy — maps, actions, and content are always one tap away.
Motion and micro-interactions play an important role in the experience. Subtle animations guide attention, reinforce discovery moments, and add a sense of reward when landmarks are found. The mockups reflect a product mindset: every screen was designed to be immediately understandable, even for first-time users, which was critical given the hackathon context and limited onboarding time.