A playful but powerful Chrome extension that helps students stay focused and learn in real-time by transforming distractions into learning opportunities.

As students, we often found ourselves getting sidetracked while studying online—one tab for research turns into ten tabs of distractions. We wanted to create a tool that not only keeps users accountable but also helps reinforce learning in real time. That's how WYD ("What You Doin'?") was born.

WYD monitors your browsing activity and detects when you're off-topic. When a distraction is detected, it prompts you with a quick AI-generated quiz related to your chosen study topic. If you continue to stray, it redirects you back to your work. WYD transforms passive screen time into active learning time.

We built WYD as a Chrome extension using:

• Manifest V3 for the extension structure
• React for the popup UI
• JavaScript for content and background scripts
• OpenAI API to generate topic-based quizzes and classification to detect topic drift

The extension runs lightweight analysis in the background, cross-checking page content with the user's selected topic.

• Detecting distractions without over-blocking — balancing false positives and actual off-task behavior.
• Integrating AI quiz generation in real-time with minimal latency.
• Managing Chrome extension permissions and storage limitations.
• Keeping the UI simple to avoid becoming another distraction.

• Created a fully functional Chrome extension from scratch in a short time.
• Successfully integrated AI-powered quiz generation to reinforce learning.
• Designed a seamless user experience that encourages focus without being annoying.
• Developed a topic detection system that works across a variety of subjects.

• How Chrome extensions work under the hood, including background/content scripts and permissions.
• Integrating AI models like GPT for real-time content generation.
• Building clean and responsive UIs with React for browser extensions.
• Balancing user experience with behavioral nudging.

• Deployment to the Chrome Web Store, handling packaging, permissions configuration, and setting up a publishing pipeline.
• Add customizable study goals and progress tracking.
• Train a lightweight local model for faster distraction detection.
• Support for group study mode with shared quizzes.
• A leaderboard to gamify productivity and studying.