Building FocusZen in Minutes with Kiro: A Minimal Productivity Dashboard
Productivity tools are everywhere — but sometimes, we just want something simple. No logins. No accounts. No distractions.
That’s what inspired me to create FocusZen, a calming personal productivity dashboard, built entirely with HTML and CSS. And I built it fast — thanks to Kiro, the AI-powered IDE that made the process feel like pair programming with a helpful assistant.
🔗 Live Demo
🎥 Watch the Video Demo
🧠 The Idea: Simplicity > Features
FocusZen is designed to be your digital desk. Just open it in a new browser tab and you're greeted with:
- ✅ A daily goals checklist
- 🕒 A clean Pomodoro timer UI (purely visual for now)
- 📅 A simple weekly planner grid
- 🌟 An inspirational quote of the day
There’s no JavaScript. No backend. It’s just a focused, minimal homepage to help you stay on track throughout the day.
And the best part? I went from idea to working site in under an hour.
⚒️ Enter Kiro: The AI IDE That Feels Like Magic
This project was built as part of the Code with Kiro Hackathon, where developers are challenged to create something using Kiro, a new IDE powered by conversational AI.
Here’s what stood out about Kiro while building FocusZen:
🗂️ Spec-Driven Development: I started by telling Kiro, "Create a productivity dashboard layout with sections for to-dos, a timer, a weekly planner, and a quote." Kiro structured the HTML almost instantly.
🎨 Inline CSS Assistance: I used Kiro’s in-editor suggestions to style my layout. Instead of searching Stack Overflow for how to center elements or create a responsive grid, Kiro helped me write and tweak CSS in real-time.
🚀 Rapid Prototyping: With Kiro helping scaffold the boilerplate, I could focus on what really mattered — layout, design, and flow. I didn’t waste time on repetitive code.
It felt like I was building with a co-pilot that understood the bigger picture.
💡 Why This Matters
Tools like Kiro make it easier than ever to bring ideas to life — even if you’re not an expert in frontend design. You don’t need a huge app or fancy animations to create something meaningful. Sometimes, all you need is a clean page and a little help from AI.
FocusZen isn’t the most advanced productivity app — and that’s the point. It’s about doing more with less.
📌 What's Next?
While this version is completely static, here are a few ideas I’m excited to add later:
- 🧠 Quote of the day from an external API
- ⏱️ Functional Pomodoro timer with JavaScript
- 💾 Local storage to remember completed goals
- 🎨 Theme toggles (dark mode, minimal mode)
🚀 Final Thoughts
If you’re thinking about building something — anything — I highly recommend trying out Kiro. Whether you’re prototyping, learning HTML, or building full apps, it’s one of the smoothest developer experiences I’ve had in a long time.
And if you're like me — someone who sometimes just needs a blank canvas to focus — check out FocusZen:
🔗 Live Demo
🎥 Watch the Video Demo
Happy building!
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Built with ❤️ and Kiro.
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