Toolz
Toolz started as a capstone project during my Software Engineering diploma at BrainStation, but really, it came from a personal pain point. I was tired of juggling multiple Chrome extensions that either broke, disappeared, or just made my workflow messy. With no real UX patterns to follow and limited documentation, I had to figure things out on my own. In the end, I built a clean, all-in-one productivity suite that over 50 users were already relying on before it even launched.
Try Toolz: Chrome Web Store
If you’re like me, you use Chrome extensions to make life easier—screenshot tools, timers, color pickers, and maybe an AI tool here and there. But there’s a problem: these extensions pile up. Some break after updates, others get removed from the Web Store, and suddenly you’re left scrambling to find replacements. I got sick of this cycle and decided to build one extension that could handle it all—without clutter, without privacy concerns, and without breaking every other update.
At its core, Toolz is a productivity suite that brings five essential tools—OCR, AI summarization, color picking, screenshots, and a timer—into one seamless experience. No more bloated toolbars or unreliable extensions. Just one clean, lightweight solution that works.
Designing Without a Rulebook
Building a Chrome extension isn’t like designing a website or a mobile app. The UI lives inside a small pop-up, which means every pixel matters. There’s no universal UX standard for extensions, and most existing ones feel clunky, outdated, or overcomplicated.
I had to get creative. Through rapid iterations, I refined the UI to be intuitive, fast, and distraction-free. Every tool had to be accessible in seconds—no unnecessary settings, no steep learning curves. The challenge was balancing functionality with simplicity, ensuring users could get in, get what they need, and get out without friction.
Developing with Limited Documentation
If designing Chrome extensions is tricky, developing them is a whole different story. Chrome’s documentation is scattered, API updates break things unexpectedly, and debugging isn’t always straightforward.
Manifest permissions, scripting limitations, and security policies meant I had to rethink how features were implemented. For example, loading external scripts isn’t allowed in Chrome extensions, which meant adapting libraries like OCR Space (for OCR) and Gemini AI (for summarization) to work within these constraints.
Another challenge was making sure Toolz worked smoothly without unnecessary permissions. Chrome is strict about privacy, and I wanted users to trust that their data was never stored or tracked. Balancing functionality with security meant taking extra steps to ensure features worked without overstepping permissions.
Impact & What I Learned
Before launch, I had 50+ recurring users testing Toolz, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Users loved how it simplified their workflow, saving them time while keeping their data private. Seeing people actually use and rely on something I built from scratch deeply rewarding.
More than anything, this project showed me that I thrive in the unknown. Whether it’s figuring out UX for something that has no playbook or debugging code with barely any documentation, I don’t back down from challenges—I find a way to make things work.
See it in Action
Timer
Set custom countdown timer with pause, resume, and reset functionality.
Hex Color Picker
Pick colors from any webpage. Automatically saves color history.
AI Summarizer
Quickly summarize any webpage content using Google's Gemini AI.
OCR
Extract text from images.
Snaps
Capture webpage screenshots.
