When computer science and business student Diana Koralski was looking for her next project, she went to the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to discover what ideas were in the works.
The center is a hub where people can turn their ideas into businesses and products by cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset.
That is where Koralski first met business student Austin Hatfield. She was drawn to Hatfield’s idea and the backstory attached to it.
A close friend of Hatfield’s struggled with problem gambling, and he wanted to find a way to help. Koralski got involved and developed the app, MindSprout, a habit-tracking tool to help curb problem gambling.
Now, one year after graduating, Koralski continues to work on ways to get MindSprout in the hands of those who need it.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, problem gambling is “gambling behavior that is damaging to a person or their family, often disrupting their daily life and career.”
“Our mission is to target the younger demographic that’s most affected by online gambling and sports betting rather than the typical slot machines and physical casinos,” she said. “The internet and phones have made gambling so easily accessible that some people are gambling in the shower, at work or, frankly, in any place with connection. MindSprout’s goal is to make the resources to overcome that gambling addiction just as accessible, if not more.”
The MindSprout team developed the app to simulate a video game so that users would be motivated to keep up with their habit tracking. One of the methods the MindSprout app uses is “urge surfing,” a way of controlling unwanted behavior through mentally “riding the wave” instead of giving in to the urge. This is a way to provide immediate, short-term relief from gambling urges, which works in sync with the habit tracking aspect of the app that promotes long-term lifestyle changes.
“We incorporated an ‘Urge Arena’ as the core gameplay,” Koralski said. “That way, getting short-term relief from your urges and playing a game still directly correlates to making progress in your recovery journey, while the long-term habits take hold. It empowers people to feel progress immediately and keep going until they eventually reach those long-term changes in habits.”
To develop the app, Koralski is working with a team of psychology experts and software development interns. The psychologists provide feedback on the most successful methodologies for addressing gambling addiction, while the interns gather feedback from MindSprout users to make the app more effective.
“We ran our first beta test back in October 2024,” she said. “We found a lot of willing participants from the problem gambling subreddit — a specific thread on the Reddit social media platform where people can discuss problem gambling.”
The group’s official description states it is “a resource for individuals who have struggled — or know somebody who has struggled — with a gambling problem.”
“They have a really close-knit community of people who use the platform to share their stories, help others or reach out for help. We went there first and did a bit of customer research, read people’s stories and took note of what has helped them with problem gambling in the past,” she said.
From there, Koralski reached out to two groups of people — those who shared their success stories and those who were still looking for a solution. They became the first group to shape MindSprout into a useful tool to combat problem gambling.
“The thing with gambling is that it gives a lot of dopamine spikes and there’s a thrill to doing it,” she said. “We wanted to simulate that same feeling through the game in the app without going down a slippery slope into gambling.”
A Quest for Knowledge
During Koralski’s senior year, one of her professors encouraged her to enter a project into the Innovation Quest competition.
Put on by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Innovation Quest allows students to pitch their product or service and receive funding. Founded in 2004 by Cal Poly graduates, the event has been giving back to students ever since.
“Austin and I ended up getting second place at the 2024 Innovation Quest, which was super validating,” Koralski said. “It gave us a burst of energy to move forward and make our idea a reality.”
After the win at Innovation Quest, she took part in another of the center’s programs — Summer Accelerator, where students get 10 weeks of intensive mentoring to foster their ideas and mold them into products or businesses.
“The center has a lot of fun, different opportunities, especially funding opportunities, even if it’s just a little bit here and there,” she said. “If I were a freshman and knew more about the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I think it would have been a great opportunity to work on a company throughout my four years of college.”
Despite only a little more than a year passing since Koralski started working on MindSprout, she is close to launching the app to the public.
“The next round of beta testing begins in May, with a public launch planned for this summer,” she said. “We’re focused on getting it into the hands of those who need it as quickly as possible.”
While Koralski and her team continue to work closely with beta test participants and gather feedback on how to best help curb problem gambling, she is also spreading the word on campus to get people to recognize problem gambling sooner.
To be notified when MindSprout is available to the public, sign up for notifications on the app’s website. Resources and information on problem gambling can be found on the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
By Taylor Villanueva
