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§ masterplan.md

Virtual Desktop Pet

A playful browser pet that reacts to clicks, gets hungry, sleeps and leaves tiny notes while you work.

All ideas
Playful

01

App overview and objectives

A tiny browser companion that lives in the corner of your workspace: it reacts to clicks, gets hungry, sleeps when you do, and leaves small notes. It is a delight object with a light productivity edge.

02

The problem worth solving

Focus tools nag. A creature that visibly thrives when you take breaks and drinks water turns self-care into caretaking, which people find far easier to sustain.

03

Target audience

  • Primary — Desk workers and students who want a gentle, non-nagging companion.
  • Secondary — Anyone who grew up with keychain virtual pets and wants that feeling back.

04

Roles and permissions

  • Visitor — read-only public pages, can sign up.
  • Member — owns their own records, cannot see other users' data.

05

Core features

  • Pet with hunger, energy and mood driven by real elapsed time
  • Idle animations and reactions to clicks, drags and keyboard activity
  • Feeding, playing and sleeping interactions with cooldowns
  • Sticky notes the pet leaves and the user can write back on
  • Break reminders framed as the pet needing a walk
  • Persistence across sessions with an offline decay model

Deliberately later

  • Multiple pet species and evolution
  • Cosmetic shop
  • Cross-device sync

06

Technical stack

React with sprite animation, local storage as the source of truth, optional accounts for sync.

Why: The pet must load instantly and work offline; a server round-trip for hunger state would ruin the feel.

Alternatives: A browser extension (always visible, store review overhead) or a desktop app (best presence, narrow reach).

07

Conceptual data model

Pet — species, name, birth date, stats, cosmetics

StatSnapshot — timestamp, hunger, energy, mood

Interaction — type, timestamp, effect

Note — text, author (pet or user), created_at

08

Integrations

  • Optional cloud sync
  • Browser notifications
  • Sound assets

09

UI design principles

  • Rounded shapes, bright accent colours, springy micro-animations on every tap.
  • Reward progress visually — confetti, badges, character reactions.
  • Copy is short, warm and second-person; never corporate.

10

Security considerations

  • Local-first: no account required and no data leaves the device by default.
  • Notifications strictly opt-in.
  • If sync is added, encrypt the payload and keep it tied to one account.

11

Development phases

Phase 1 — Prove the core

  • — Pet with hunger, energy and mood driven by real elapsed time
  • — Idle animations and reactions to clicks, drags and keyboard activity
  • — Feeding, playing and sleeping interactions with cooldowns
  • — Static content and design system in place
  • — Basic analytics

Phase 2 — Make it real

  • — Sticky notes the pet leaves and the user can write back on
  • — Break reminders framed as the pet needing a walk
  • — Persistence across sessions with an offline decay model
  • — Accounts, sign-in and password reset
  • — Empty, loading and error states everywhere

Phase 3 — Polish and launch

  • — Performance, accessibility and SEO pass
  • — Legal pages, contact route and 404 handling
  • — Wire up: Optional cloud sync
  • — Wire up: Browser notifications

Phase 4 — Grow

  • — Multiple pet species and evolution
  • — Cosmetic shop
  • — Cross-device sync

12

Challenges and solutions

Risk — Guilt mechanics feel cruel

Solution — The pet never dies; it naps and recovers, and long absences are forgiven.

Risk — Animation drains battery

Solution — Pause rendering when the tab is hidden and drop to low frame rate when idle.

Risk — Novelty wears off in a week

Solution — Slow unlocks, seasonal events and pet-written notes that reference real usage patterns.

13

Future expansion

  • Team pets for shared workspaces
  • Focus-session integration
  • Physical merchandise

14

Page list (13 pages)

  1. 01 PUBLIC Pet — The main stage where the creature lives.
  2. 02 PUBLIC Feed — Food inventory and feeding interaction.
  3. 03 PUBLIC Play — Mini-interactions that raise mood.
  4. 04 PUBLIC Sleep — Rest schedule and quiet hours.
  5. 05 PUBLIC Notes — The shared notebook between pet and user.
  6. 06 AUTH Sign up — Create an account with email or a social provider.
  7. 07 AUTH Log in — Return to the account, with error and lockout states.
  8. 08 AUTH Reset password — Request a reset link and set a new password.
  9. 09 APP (signed in) Account settings — Profile, email, password, language and delete account.
  10. 10 PUBLIC Contact — Contact form plus real address, phone and email.
  11. 11 LEGAL & SYSTEM Privacy policy — What data is collected, why, and how to remove it.
  12. 12 LEGAL & SYSTEM Terms of service — Rules of use, liability and account termination.
  13. 13 LEGAL & SYSTEM 404 not found — Friendly dead end with search and links back.

15

Page map

PUBLIC      AUTH               APP (signed in)      LEGAL & SYSTEM
──────────  ─────────────────  ───────────────────  ───────────────────
├─ Pet      ├─ Sign up         └─ Account settings  ├─ Privacy policy
├─ Feed     ├─ Log in                               ├─ Terms of service
├─ Play     └─ Reset password                       └─ 404 not found
├─ Sleep
├─ Notes
└─ Contact

key flows:
  Pet ──▶ Feed
  Pet ──▶ Play
  Pet ──▶ Sleep
  Pet ──▶ Notes