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Work Time

Javascript HTML Google Chrome Extension Real-time Processing

Role

Lead Developer

Timeline

December 2025 — January 2026

View GitHub ↗

Money Shielded

Money Spent

Potential Interest

01. Problem: Lent and Lost

In a world of one-click checkouts and contactless payments, the psychological connection between labor and capital has been severed. Money has become an abstract digital number rather than a representation of human effort.

The Gamification of Consumption Modern e-commerce is designed to remove "friction." Features like "Buy Now" buttons and saved credit cards exploit impulse triggers, leading users to spend money before they can rationally process the cost.

The Devaluation of Time Most consumers view a $50 purchase as a minor dent in a bank balance rather than a specific chunk of their life. If you earn $25/hour, that $50 item isn't just money—it represents two hours of your life spent at a desk or on your feet, a trade-off many people fail to recognize.

02. Solution: Tracker

a "Mindful Spending Guard." It reinjects healthy friction into the shopping experience by translating currency back into the universal language of human effort: Time.

Contextual Re-framing By displaying the "Time Cost" directly on the product page, the extension forces a perspective shift. It changes the internal dialogue from "Can I afford this?" to "Is this item worth five hours of my labor?"

The "Shield" Reward System: Instead of just being a budget tracker, the extension uses a "Shield" mechanic. Every time a user decides not to buy, the extension tracks that "Saved Time" and shows the potential future value of that money, turning the act of saving into a visual "win" or a growth achievement.

03. Key Technical Challenges

Challenge: Handling "Single Page Applications" (SPAs)

Modern sites like Facebook Marketplace or Amazon don't "reload" when you click on different products; they just swap out data behind the scenes. Initially, the extension would only detect the price on the first page load.

Challenge: Visualizing "Financial Protection"

Designing a financial tool that doesn't feel like a boring spreadsheet was difficult. If the UI looked too clinical, users would ignore it; if it was too loud, it would be annoying.

Technologies Used

JavaScript
Chrome Extension API
CSS
HTML

What I Learned

"I learned that I can't always rely on simple IDs or classes. I had to learn Pattern Recognition—looking for price symbols ($) or specific attributes (dir="auto") rather than just a name. Forcing me to learn how to write code that is "resilient" enough to handle different site structures."