Year
2026
Client
Personal Project
Category
Vibecoded Pomodoro
Product Duration
2 days
WHY THIS
I wanted a small side project, something fun to design and actually useful for myself. I'd been meaning to explore Claude's design and coding capabilities, and this felt like the right excuse. I've always struggled with focus, so I rely on the pomodoro method. But most pomodoro apps feel like utilities, not experiences. There's no reward for staying focused and no real cost to breaking it. I wanted something that made focus feel like a game worth playing.
A Game & Watch aesthetic: Dual-screen handheld with LCD displays, physical buttons, and that chunky retro feel.
Mystery as motivation: Users pick a silhouette without knowing what they're building, keeping them curious until the end.
Real consequences: Break focus and the monument crumbles. No undo, no second chances. Stakes make the timer meaningful.
Tetris-style block building that reveals the monument pixel-by-pixel, giving constant visual feedback throughout the session.
A collection drawer to showcase completed monuments, turning productivity into a long-term game worth returning to.
What I shipped
Fully functional prototype designed and built with Claude
Complete UI design: Retro handheld device with dual LCD screens, pixel monuments, and physical button controls
Working timer logic with real-time block-by-block building animation
Gamification mechanics: Crumble animation on focus break, collection system for unlocked monuments
Multiple modes: Pomodoro, short break, and long break with distinct screen states
Designing with AI felt like pair-designing with a very fast collaborator. I could iterate on ideas in minutes instead of hours exploring visual directions, tweaking animations, and refining mechanics in real-time. The key was knowing what I wanted and guiding the output, not waiting for magic.
