Design technologist · Front-end prototyper

Make the future testable.

I turn ambiguous experience ideas into functional web, voice, character, and AI prototypes people can see, use, critique, and move toward production.

View prototypes maxtoms@gmail.com

Proof over promises.

Five working surfaces show the through-line: interaction and visual intent, fast prototyping, real feedback, and enough technical depth to make the idea behave outside a Figma frame.

01 / TV-FIRST INTERACTION

Signal Guide

A working, unbranded TV discovery remote that searches a live catalog, ranks real shows by mood and taste, and offers opt-in MiniLM semantic AI entirely in the browser.

ConstraintTen-foot readability, free operation, remote-first input, mobile, browser zoom, and large-text resilience

ValidationLive search, AI reranking, D-pad, details, taste, power, speech, outbound links, and 125% mobile text tested

Use the working remote →

02 / CHARACTER + MOTION

Walter Puppet Lab

A living character interface exploring presence, reactions, performance modes, and the feeling that a digital subject is sharing the screen with you.

My focusConcept, visual direction, interaction behavior, iteration, QA

Prototype signalMotion, state, personality, responsive browser interaction

Open live prototype ↗

03 / INTERACTIVE WORLD

Machine Elves

A compact browser world with art direction, player controls, dialogue, HUD state, inventory goals, and enough narrative structure to test whether the premise holds attention.

My focusWorld premise, interaction model, pacing, visual QA

Prototype signalGame-like input, state, responsive layout, atmosphere

Play prototype ↗

04 / GENAI EXPERIENCE

Voice Step Thru

A React and ElevenLabs prototype that converts an open-ended voice conversation into a structured, reviewable service record with explicit human handoff.

My focusWorkflow, conversational UX, tool logic, failure states, deployment

Prototype signalReact, APIs, live state, structured output, human review

Open live sample ↗

05 / SHIPPED PRODUCT

VacTrack

A paid field-operations system shaped from a real owner’s workflow—crew closeout, photos, manager review, records, and invoice-ready handoff.

My focusDiscovery, product flow, implementation, testing, release safeguards

Production signalMulti-surface UI, APIs, cloud data, role-based workflows

View sanitized demo ↗

How I make decisions.

A prototype is useful when it isolates a question, respects its constraints, and produces evidence a design or engineering team can act on.

01 / SIGNAL GUIDE

TV discovery without pointer habits.

Hypothesis: Recommendation context can reduce choice uncertainty without becoming another screen of metadata.
Constraint: Ten-foot viewing, directional input, strong focus visibility, and no assumed hover state.
Decision: One focused rail, short “why this pick” copy, and an optional context layer mapped to a single remote action.
Evidence: Arrow-key selection, context, playback, back flow, desktop and mobile behavior verified.

02 / VOICE STEP THRU

Conversation becomes reviewable state.

Hypothesis: A voice agent is more useful when the operational handoff is visible while the conversation happens.
Constraint: Messy language, microphone permissions, uncertain fields, safety boundaries, and no fake promise of dispatch.
Decision: Tool callbacks update a live job card; readiness stays incomplete until required fields arrive; human review remains explicit.
Evidence: Live and simulated modes expose field capture, transcript state, error handling, and the final handoff.

03 / VACTRACK

Real workflow, protected data.

Hypothesis: Field work becomes billable faster when closeout evidence and manager review share one system.
Constraint: Multiple roles, private client records, field conditions, payment state, and release risk.
Decision: Role-based surfaces, review gates, demo-safe data, backups, explicit environments, and guarded deployments.
Evidence: Paid deployment plus a sanitized public demo showing the complete operating shape.

Working code, visible intent.

Representative front-end and API patterns from the prototypes: directional state, scenario configuration, tool callbacks, safe fallbacks, and environment-aware behavior.

Design decisions that execute.

The work is built through an AI-assisted development practice. I own the problem framing, interaction model, visual direction, testing, iteration, and deployment; coding agents accelerate implementation while browser QA determines whether the result is acceptable.

I can explain the behavior, constraints, failure states, and product decisions behind every sample shown here. The standard is working evidence, clear ownership, and honest capability boundaries.

View TV interaction JavaScript View React sample View TypeScript sample

voice-prototype.jsx● ● ●

const clientTools = useMemo(() => ({
  update_service_request: (params) => {
    updateLog({
      job_type: params?.category,
      issue: params?.issue,
      urgency: params?.urgency
    }, "update_service_request");
    return "Service request updated.";
  },
  complete_demo_summary: (params) => {
    updateLog({
      summary: params?.summary,
      next_step: params?.next_step,
      status: "Ready for human review"
    }, "complete_demo_summary");
    setDemoState("summary");
  }
}), [updateLog]);

Why this role.

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Functional, high-fidelity prototypesMultiple public prototypes across TV-style discovery, web, motion, character, voice, and operational workflows.

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TV-first interaction thinkingSignal Guide demonstrates directional focus, ten-foot readability, recommendation context, playback intent, and back-state behavior.

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Front-end developmentReact/Next.js, TypeScript/JavaScript, HTML/CSS, responsive design, APIs, and cloud deployment.

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GenAI experience workVoice agents, structured outputs, human-review patterns, generative media, and AI-assisted prototyping.

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From ambiguity to implementationDiscovery, workflow mapping, rapid iteration, browser QA, documentation, and shipped systems.

→

Growth edgeDeeper hands-on AWS service integration and native TV-client frameworks remain areas to develop.

Maxwell Toms · Independence, Missouri · Open to relocation

Let’s prototype
what comes next.

+1 816 328 9146 · maxtoms@gmail.com

Contact Maxwell Threshold portfolio ↗