UI/UX | Product Design
Interaction
Motion Graphics
Branding
Typography | Print

Fine Arts

Growtopia-A Gamified Productivity Platform

Role: Product Designer
Skills: UI/UX, Product Design, Systems Thinking, Game Design, AI image generation, AI animation generation, AI audio generation, Prompt Design
Software: Figma, Cursor, Midjourney, KlingAI, Suno
Timeline: 1 Month

A productivity platform that blends Pomodoro focus sessions with cozy gardening mechanics, turning tasks into progress and play.
View my game here! (Best viewed on laptop): https://growtopia-phz5.vercel.app/main.html?v=1

Product Glimpse

My Role

I designed, developed, and deployed the project end-to-end, handling everything from concept and UI/UX to development and launch.

Problem & Goals

Problem: Traditional productivity tools often feel rigid and uninspiring, which makes it difficult for people to stay engaged over time. While timers and task lists provide structure, they rarely offer the sense of quick progress and reward that keeps users motivated.

Goal 1: Make Productivity Engaging

Turn focus and productive work into something fun, rewarding, and interactive. Provide quick feedback, visible progress, and rewarding completion.

Goal 2: Player Retention via Cozy Game Mechanics

Incorporate short reward loops, nurturing tasks, and playful progression inspired by games like Hay Day and Animal Crossing.

Goal 3: Balance Productivity with Play
Blend structured focus with playful rewards, creating a system that builds consistency, motivation, and a sense of accomplishment.

Target Audience

Maya
BackgroundAn Overwhelmed College Student

Quote“I lose focus easily. I wish productivity felt less like a chore and more like a game.”

Pain PointsProcrastinates, finds timers rigid, gets demotivated.

NeedsQuick feedback, visible progress, structured focus tool that won’t be distracting.

Design ResponsePomodoro timer + garden growth loop.

Alex
Background A Young Professional

Quote“I need to get through long work sessions, but I burn out fast and lose track of tasks.”

Pain PointsGets distracted, struggles to sustain attention, finds apps too plain.

NeedsCalm environment, motivating rewards, sense of accomplishment.

Design ResponseLo-fi soundtrack, calming visuals, day/night animation & weather integration.

User Research

To understand why productivity apps often fail to keep users motivated, I looked at how playful, nurturing systems sustain engagement. Unlike rigid task-based tools, these systems create quick reward loops, visible progress, and immersive environments that encourage consistency over time. Drawing from these patterns, I explored how similar mechanics could reframe productivity as something more rewarding and enjoyable.

Design Process

Visual Research and Inspiration

Userflow

Key Implementation Features

Focus Mode

Pomodoro timer + to-do
Custom AI-Generated lo-fi soundtrack

Garden Mode

Planting, tending, and harvesting system
Purchase items at the Garden shop
Harvest fruit for rewards

Reward Loop

Quick progress feedback via visual plant growth
Earn money and rewards through successful growing and harvesting

Environmental Integration

Real-time weather reflected in-game
Weather simulator for different environmental conditions

AI-Accelerated Workflow

Asset generation, music creation, prototyping
Shipped from concept → deploy in 1 month

Deployment

Designed, built and deployed working online game
End-to-end execution

AI Workflow: Accelerating Design and Development

I integrated AI tools throughout the design process to speed up iteration and expand creative exploration.

Ideation & Structure
ChatGPT

Core gameplay brainstorming
Information architecture & asset lists
UX writing & prompt design

Systems
Claude

Systems thinking & logic structure
Progression flow refinement

Design
Figma

User flows & wireframes
UI components & visual spec

Art & Inspiration
Midjourney

Asset generation
Visual Inspiration
Generated sprites & backgrounds

Build & Develop
Cursor

Game Development
Asset implementation
Rapid prototyping
Front-end integration & iteration

Motion
Kling

Animation generation for mode transitions

Audio
Suno

Original lo-fi soundtrack generation (6 different genres)
Default Audio for Garden Mode

Asset Library: MidJourney

Background Image and Animation: Midjourney & Kling AI

Final Product and Special Game FeaturesFull Game Walkthrough (with audio)

Focus Mode: timer, to-do list, lo-fi soundtrack
Designed to support deep work sessions, Focus Mode combines a Pomodoro timer, to-do list, and an original set of AI-generated lo-fi tracks created specifically for the game.

Garden Mode: Planting, Harvesting, Tending, Garden Shop
Turn productivity into play by planting, tending, and harvesting crops. Completed tasks grow your garden, while the shop adds rewards and progression.

Environmental Features: Real-time weather integration, Weather simulation
The game tracks the player’s location and mimics current weather conditions inside the game, creating a more immersive and personalized experience.

Impact & Outcome

Takeaways:This project taught me how to balance ambition with usability, adapt quickly through iteration, and keep clarity and user experience at the core. Most importantly, it showed me that even solo projects can become proof-of-concept products when approached with structure, iteration, and focus.

Timeline

Completed and deployed in one month, demonstrating efficiency under tight deadlines.

Design Cycle

Managed the entire design cycle: research, information architecture, UI/UX, prototyping, and development.

AI Acceleration

Leveraged AI tools to streamline workflows, explore creative directions, and facilitate execution.

Initiative

Brought the project from concept to launch independently, showing adaptability and ownership.

Thank You!

oliviahylam@gmail.com