kitsune: case study

kitsune: case study

kitsune: case study

owen van vooren

owen van vooren

owen van vooren

kitsune is a focus app for iOS that encourages focus instead of artificially restricting distractions.

i designed kitsuneʼs psychology to be simple: this adorable, pixelated little fox naps while you work and wakes up to play when itʼs time for a break.

this approach aims to help anyone, specifically neurodivergent individuals with ADHD (such as myself) to stay motivated.

kitsune is a focus app for iOS that encourages focus instead of artificially restricting distractions.

i designed kitsuneʼs psychology to be simple: this adorable, pixelated little fox naps while you work and wakes up to play when itʼs time for a break.

this approach aims to help anyone, specifically neurodivergent individuals with ADHD (such as myself) to stay motivated.

kitsune is a focus app for iOS that encourages focus instead of artificially restricting distractions.

i designed kitsuneʼs psychology to be simple: this adorable, pixelated little fox naps while you work and wakes up to play when itʼs time for a break.

this approach aims to help anyone, specifically neurodivergent individuals with ADHD (such as myself) to stay motivated.

I. the problem

I. the problem

I. the problem

  1. pom-pom worked, until it didnʼt

    before kitsune i built pom-pom, a clean pomodoro timer. it looked good and did exactly what a timer does, and that turned out to be the problem. a countdown told me how long, but it never gave me a reason to stay in the session. iʼd start strong, then drift after 10-15 minutes because of a school task, a text, or an idea i wanted to jot down before i forgot. iʼd miss or overrun my breaks and end up more scattered than if i hadnʼt used a timer at all.

    • it became obvious to me that the gap is motivation: a timer measures time but gives you no reason to stay in it.

  2. blockers fake the fix
    most focus apps answer this by blocking apps, but itʼs a fake sense of discipline that disappears the moment the app is off. it never builds the habit, it just rents you willpower. that failure set the brief for kitsune: keep the timer, but give people an incentive to stay.

  1. pom-pom worked, until it didnʼt

    before kitsune i built pom-pom, a clean pomodoro timer. it looked good and did exactly what a timer does, and that turned out to be the problem. a countdown told me how long, but it never gave me a reason to stay in the session. iʼd start strong, then drift after 10-15 minutes because of a school task, a text, or an idea i wanted to jot down before i forgot. iʼd miss or overrun my breaks and end up more scattered than if i hadnʼt used a timer at all.

    • it became obvious to me that the gap is motivation: a timer measures time but gives you no reason to stay in it.

  2. blockers fake the fix
    most focus apps answer this by blocking apps, but itʼs a fake sense of discipline that disappears the moment the app is off. it never builds the habit, it just rents you willpower. that failure set the brief for kitsune: keep the timer, but give people an incentive to stay.

  1. pom-pom worked, until it didnʼt

    before kitsune i built pom-pom, a clean pomodoro timer. it looked good and did exactly what a timer does, but that turned out to be the problem. a countdown told me how long, but it never gave me a reason to stay in the session. iʼd start strong, then drift after 10-15 minutes because of a school task, a text, or an idea i wanted to jot down before i forgot. iʼd miss or overrun my breaks and end up more scattered than if i hadnʼt used a timer at all.


  2. what i learned from pom-pom
    kitsune grew directly out of pom-pom, a pomodoro timer i built before it. pom-pom looked nice but was missing one thing: any reason to keep going.
    that failure set the brief for kitsune. keep the timer, but give people a reason to stay.

II. the approach

II. the approach

II. the approach

  1. a companion instead of a lock

    the core of kitsune is the fox itself: a kitsune from japanese folklore, which i thought fit the Tamagotchi-like vibe. it naps while you focus and wakes up excited when itʼs time for a break. and like any adorable pixelated fox, it gets hungry and has emotions, so you feed it and pet it between sessions.

    • focusing earns a small, immediate reward: time playing with kitsune.

    • an achievements tracker keeps you locked in and rewards consistency over time.


  2. two modes for two different kinds of work
    kitsuneʼs two timer modes — quick and pomodoro — help with tasks whether youʼre doing a simple chore or spending hours studying for finals. a quick timer keeps you on track for shorter tasks, while a pomodoro session handles longer stretches with refreshing breaks sprinkled in. matching the session length to the task is part of the habit.

  3. i designed habits to outlast the app

    because kitsune rewards mindful choices instead of restricting them, the skill sticks. the goal is real focus routines that hold up even when the app is closed, the complete opposite of leaning on a blocker.

  1. a companion instead of a lock

    the core of kitsune is the fox itself: a kitsune from japanese folklore, which i thought fit the Tamagotchi-like vibe. it naps while you focus and wakes up excited when itʼs time for a break. and like any adorable pixelated fox, it gets hungry and has emotions, so you feed it and pet it between sessions.

    • focusing earns a small, immediate reward: time playing with kitsune.

    • an achievements tracker keeps you locked in and rewards consistency over time.


  2. two modes for two different kinds of work
    kitsuneʼs two timer modes — quick and pomodoro — help with tasks whether youʼre doing a simple chore or spending hours studying for finals. a quick timer keeps you on track for shorter tasks, while a pomodoro session handles longer stretches with refreshing breaks sprinkled in. matching the session length to the task is part of the habit.

  3. i designed habits to outlast the app

    because kitsune rewards mindful choices instead of restricting them, the skill sticks. the goal is real focus routines that hold up even when the app is closed, the complete opposite of leaning on a blocker.

  1. a companion instead of a lock

    the core of kitsune is the fox itself: a kitsune from japanese folklore, which i thought fit the Tamagotchi-like vibe. it naps while you focus and wakes up excited when itʼs time for a break. and like any adorable pixelated fox, it gets hungry and has emotions, so you feed it and pet it between sessions.

    • focusing earns a small, immediate reward: time playing with kitsune.

    • an achievements tracker keeps you locked in and rewards consistency over time.


  2. two modes for two different kinds of work
    kitsuneʼs two timer modes — quick and pomodoro — help with tasks whether youʼre doing a simple chore or spending hours studying for finals. a quick timer keeps you on track for shorter tasks, while a pomodoro session handles longer stretches with refreshing breaks sprinkled in. matching the session length to the task is part of the habit.

  3. i designed habits to outlast the app

    because kitsune rewards mindful choices instead of restricting them, the skill sticks. the goal is real focus routines that hold up even when the app is closed, the complete opposite of leaning on a blocker.

III. design & accessibility

III. design & accessibility

III. design & accessibility

  1. playful, handcrafted, and legible

    i wanted kitsune to feel intuitive and playful, built on delightful pixel art, every animation frame was drawn by hand in Aseprite (and also my first time doing pixel art). i designed the UI and interaction flows in Sketch before writing any code. a large bottom tab bar and big CTA buttons keep everything easy to reach and read.

  2. accessibility i tested myself
    i believe everyone deserves to focus well, so i built accessibility in and then tested it for real. iʼd turn on VoiceOver, open the app, and blindfold myself to see how easy it was to navigate for blind and low-vision users.

    • accessibility labels and affordances are built-in.

    • the app never relies on sound to communicate an interaction; every feature and microinteraction works silently.

  1. playful, handcrafted, and legible

    i wanted kitsune to feel intuitive and playful, built on delightful pixel art, every animation frame was drawn by hand in Aseprite (and also my first time doing pixel art). i designed the UI and interaction flows in Sketch before writing any code. a large bottom tab bar and big CTA buttons keep everything easy to reach and read.

  2. accessibility i tested myself
    i believe everyone deserves to focus well, so i built accessibility in and then tested it for real. iʼd turn on VoiceOver, open the app, and blindfold myself to see how easy it was to navigate for blind and low-vision users.

    • accessibility labels and affordances are built-in.

    • the app never relies on sound to communicate an interaction; every feature and microinteraction works silently.

  1. playful, handcrafted, and legible

    i wanted kitsune to feel intuitive and playful, built on delightful pixel art, every animation frame was drawn by hand in Aseprite (and also my first time doing pixel art). i designed the UI and interaction flows in Sketch before writing any code. a large bottom tab bar and big CTA buttons keep everything easy to reach and read.

  2. accessibility i tested myself
    i believe everyone deserves to focus well, so i built accessibility in and then tested it for real. iʼd turn on VoiceOver, open the app, and blindfold myself to see how easy it was to navigate for blind and low-vision users.

    • accessibility labels and affordances are built-in.

    • the app never relies on sound to communicate an interaction; every feature and microinteraction works silently.

IV. how it was built

IV. how it was built

IV. how it was built

  1. the stack
    SwiftUI is the main framework: its declarative layout kept iteration fast and the UI code readable. i used ImageIO for the non-interactive animation in onboarding, and SwiftUI properties to fetch, scale, and display frames from my sprite sheet across devices. it works and looks great on both iPhone and iPad.

  2. build order
    i built the onboarding first, then the home screen, then the systems behind them. iʼm a much better designer than a programmer, but SwiftUI helped even that out and let me turn my designs into a working app pretty smoothly. i made sure that the order of operations was consistent with the app flow and UI mockups i had generated.

  3. where AI helped, and where it didnʼt

    i used AI tools to lay the groundwork for supporting functionality like the notification manager and animation engine, plus small UI tweaks. but the concept, UX decisions, and all pixel art were mine. AI helped me move faster but i never let it decide the creative direction or a design choice.

  1. the stack
    SwiftUI is the main framework: its declarative layout kept iteration fast and the UI code readable. i used ImageIO for the non-interactive animation in onboarding, and SwiftUI properties to fetch, scale, and display frames from my sprite sheet across devices. it works and looks great on both iPhone and iPad.

  2. build order
    i built the onboarding first, then the home screen, then the systems behind them. iʼm a much better designer than a programmer, but SwiftUI helped even that out and let me turn my designs into a working app pretty smoothly. i made sure that the order of operations was consistent with the app flow and UI mockups i had generated.

  3. where AI helped, and where it didnʼt

    i used AI tools to lay the groundwork for supporting functionality like the notification manager and animation engine, plus small UI tweaks. but the concept, UX decisions, and all pixel art were mine. AI helped me move faster but i never let it decide the creative direction or a design choice.

  1. the stack
    SwiftUI is the main framework: its declarative layout kept iteration fast and the UI code readable. i used ImageIO for the non-interactive animation in onboarding, and SwiftUI properties to fetch, scale, and display frames from my sprite sheet across devices. it works and looks great on both iPhone and iPad.

  2. build order
    i built the onboarding first, then the home screen, then the systems behind them. iʼm a much better designer than a programmer, but SwiftUI helped even that out and let me turn my designs into a working app pretty smoothly. i made sure that the order of operations was consistent with the app flow and UI mockups i had generated.

  3. where AI helped, and where it didnʼt

    i used AI tools to lay the groundwork for supporting functionality like the notification manager and animation engine, plus small UI tweaks. but the concept, UX decisions, and all pixel art were mine. AI helped me move faster but i never let it decide the creative direction or a design choice.

V. in summary

V. in summary

V. in summary

  1. what kitsune proves
    kitsune started as a fix for my own focus and became a case for a gentler kind of focus app. instead of locking you out of distractions, it encourages you to stay, all because of a little fox that naps while you work and depends on you to feed and play with it. the trust and small rewards become the point.

  2. what i took away
    the best lesson came from a failure. pom-pom taught me that a clean timer isnʼt enough, and kitsune is what happened when i took that seriously. designing for accessibility from the start, drawing every sprite by hand, and building it in SwiftUI as a mostly-designer made this one of the projects iʼm most proud of. iʼve been using kitsune consistently throughout its development, and iʼve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of time iʼm able to focus and spend on a session, from just fifteen minutes to two or more hours.

  1. what kitsune proves
    kitsune started as a fix for my own focus and became a case for a gentler kind of focus app. instead of locking you out of distractions, it encourages you to stay, all because of a little fox that naps while you work and depends on you to feed and play with it. the trust and small rewards become the point.

  2. what i took away
    the best lesson came from a failure. pom-pom taught me that a clean timer isnʼt enough, and kitsune is what happened when i took that seriously. designing for accessibility from the start, drawing every sprite by hand, and building it in SwiftUI as a mostly-designer made this one of the projects iʼm most proud of. iʼve been using kitsune consistently throughout its development, and iʼve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of time iʼm able to focus and spend on a session, from just fifteen minutes to two or more hours.

  1. what kitsune proves
    kitsune started as a fix for my own focus and became a case for a gentler kind of focus app. instead of locking you out of distractions, it encourages you to stay, all because of a little fox that naps while you work and depends on you to feed and play with it. the trust and small rewards become the point.

  2. what i took away
    the best lesson came from a failure. pom-pom taught me that a clean timer isnʼt enough, and kitsune is what happened when i took that seriously. designing for accessibility from the start, drawing every sprite by hand, and building it in SwiftUI as a mostly-designer made this one of the projects iʼm most proud of. iʼve been using kitsune consistently throughout its development, and iʼve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of time iʼm able to focus and spend on a session, from just fifteen minutes to two or more hours.

  • © 2026 owen van vooren

  • © 2026 owen van vooren

  • © 2026 owen van vooren

  • © 2026 owen van vooren

  • © 2026 owen van vooren

  • © 2026 owen van vooren