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ATHY: A UX CASE STUDY DISGUISED AS A BABY TOY STARTUP

an AI collab, sparked by chaos

an AI collab, sparked by chaos

A research-driven, systems-based exploration of modularity, sustainability, and play.
A research-driven, systems-based exploration of modularity, sustainability, and play.

ROLE

Speculative UX Designer, Research Strategist, and AI Collaborator

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Strategy & Systems Thinking
    UX research strategy, modular product logic, circular design systems

  • AI Collaboration & Exploration
    Prompt engineering, AI-assisted design via Figma AI & ChatGPT

  • Prototyping & Testing
    Survey flows, no-code prototypes in Framer and Google Forms

This was never about a toy.

This isn’t a real product. No startup. No manufacturing deal. No client.

This project started as a personal spark—and quickly became a design experiment:
How far could I push a speculative concept using AI, systems thinking, and the tools I already have?

The initial idea was born from a familiar moment: baby toys, everywhere. Overflowing baskets. Clutter creeping into every corner. I started wondering—what if one toy could evolve alongside a child? What if novelty didn’t have to mean excess?

That tiny spark became the catalyst for something much bigger:
A sandbox for exploring modular systems, AI collaboration, and UX processes—all without a roadmap, an engineering team, or a budget.

This wasn’t about launching a company. It was about pushing past traditional UX deliverables to test the limits of my toolkit—creative, strategic, and technological.

In this case study, I used this fictional toy system to:

  • Explore AI as a co-designer in UX strategy and artifact creation

  • Design a full survey experience to showcase research thinking

  • Prototype return logistics and sustainability loops as part of the product system

  • Tell a design story that’s half speculative fiction, half portfolio proof-of-skill

ONE

Speculative Research

This wasn’t about market validation. There was no investor deck, no product roadmap, no pressure to hit a growth metric. Just a spark of an idea and an open invitation to see how far UX processes—and AI—could take it.

I started with a fake premise: babies love novelty, parents hate clutter. That insight became the launchpad for designing a modular toy system that could evolve with a child’s development without completely taking over the living room. It didn’t need to be real. It needed to be cohesive.

A survey designed for a product that doesn’t exist.

To make the experience feel real, I built a multi-path Google Form that asked about toy chaos, sustainability guilt, and return logistics. I wrote the copy with help from ChatGPT, using prompt engineering to strike the right tone—casual, curious, and just self-aware enough to feel human.

The result was a fully functioning UX artifact that felt like something an early-stage startup would actually send out to gauge interest. It worked not because it was real—but because it felt real enough to click through. (Yes, I made a real survey for a fake toy system. You can fill it out if you're curious. No pressure.)

Personas with just enough chaos to be believable.

I created four personas based on patterns from the survey and my own lived experience: the minimalist parent, the eco dad, the gift-giving grandma, and the overwhelmed working mom of twins. Each was built with standard UX methods, but pushed a little further with AI image generation and tone-specific copywriting.

These weren’t personas to hand off to a stakeholder. They were personas to shape a design direction—and give the project a little emotional range.

Tap a chart. Get a hot take.

Tap a chart. Get a hot take.

Tap a chart. Get a hot take.

Tap a chart. Get a hot take.

Speculative UX isn’t about faking a product. It’s about designing a reality worth wanting.

Speculative UX isn’t about faking a product. It’s about designing a reality worth wanting.

Speculative UX isn’t about faking a product. It’s about designing a reality worth wanting.

TWO

From Insights to Ideas

A tiny team of two turning real needs (and toy chaos) into a circular vision.

The research didn’t just confirm the problem—it refined the opportunity. Parents weren’t just overwhelmed by toys; they were craving smarter systems, not more stuff. They wanted sustainability without guilt, variety without clutter, and toys that evolve as fast as their babies do. So instead of a single modular product, the idea expanded into something more flexible: a rotating box of toys tailored to age and developmental needs—modular play, yes, but also sensory toys, surprises, and returns built into the loop.

Together, we shaped a toy subscription system designed to rotate, evolve, and disappear (when you're done). Some toys would be modular—with attachments that click in and out—but others would be sensory or stage-specific, bundled for a short life before being returned or passed along. A system with one core idea: fewer toys, better play, and less landfill guilt. And it had to be weird. Engaging. The kind of thing that might not match your rug, but keeps your baby from losing their mind in hour two of a rainy afternoon.

THREE.1

The System That Solves

Designing a rotating, modular toy box system with built-in logic, sustainability, and surprise.

This wasn’t just a cute brand idea—it was a UX system at heart.
I designed Athy as a toy subscription loop that adapts to a baby’s age and development, while also solving three real-world pain points from my research:

  • Toy clutter (The box rotates. Less stuff stays.)

  • Guilt about waste (Returns are easy and free. Items are rehomed, recycled, or reused.)

  • Overwhelm from milestones and gear (Each box is tailored to the baby’s age—no research rabbit holes required.)

The logic behind the system:

  • Each subscriber starts with a "Core Base Kit" (think: base toy or platform)

  • Every few months, they receive a box with modular attachments, standalone sensory toys, and age appropriate play prompts

  • Parents can return what they're done with using the same box it came in (see Return Loop for details)

  • The system gently rotates and evolves… no mountains of stuff required

Key idea: Let the toys grow with the child. Not in complexity alone, but in purpose—from grasping to stacking, from mouthing to role-play.

This wasn’t just a cute brand idea—it was a UX system at heart.
I designed Athy as a toy subscription loop that adapts to a baby’s age and development, while also solving three real-world pain points from my research:

  • Toy clutter (The box rotates. Less stuff stays.)

  • Guilt about waste (Returns are easy and free. Items are rehomed, recycled, or reused.)

  • Overwhelm from milestones and gear (Each box is tailored to the baby’s age—no research rabbit holes required.)

The logic behind the system:

  • Each subscriber starts with a "Core Base Kit" (think: base toy or platform)

  • Every few months, they receive a box with modular attachments, standalone sensory toys, and age appropriate play prompts

  • Parents can return what they're done with using the same box it came in (see Return Loop for details)

  • The system gently rotates and evolves… no mountains of stuff required

Key idea: Let the toys grow with the child. Not in complexity alone, but in purpose—from grasping to stacking, from mouthing to role-play.

This wasn’t just a cute brand idea—it was a UX system at heart.
I designed Athy as a toy subscription loop that adapts to a baby’s age and development, while also solving three real-world pain points from my research:

  • Toy clutter (The box rotates. Less stuff stays.)

  • Guilt about waste (Returns are easy and free. Items are rehomed, recycled, or reused.)

  • Overwhelm from milestones and gear (Each box is tailored to the baby’s age—no research rabbit holes required.)

The logic behind the system:

  • Each subscriber starts with a "Core Base Kit" (think: base toy or platform)

  • Every few months, they receive a box with modular attachments, standalone sensory toys, and age appropriate play prompts

  • Parents can return what they're done with using the same box it came in (see Return Loop for details)

  • The system gently rotates and evolves… no mountains of stuff required

Key idea: Let the toys grow with the child. Not in complexity alone, but in purpose—from grasping to stacking, from mouthing to role-play.

This wasn’t just a cute brand idea—it was a UX system at heart.
I designed Athy as a toy subscription loop that adapts to a baby’s age and development, while also solving three real-world pain points from my research:

  • Toy clutter (The box rotates. Less stuff stays.)

  • Guilt about waste (Returns are easy and free. Items are rehomed, recycled, or reused.)

  • Overwhelm from milestones and gear (Each box is tailored to the baby’s age—no research rabbit holes required.)

The logic behind the system:

  • Each subscriber starts with a "Core Base Kit" (think: base toy or platform)

  • Every few months, they receive a box with modular attachments, standalone sensory toys, and age appropriate play prompts

  • Parents can return what they're done with using the same box it came in (see Return Loop for details)

  • The system gently rotates and evolves… no mountains of stuff required

Key idea: Let the toys grow with the child. Not in complexity alone, but in purpose—from grasping to stacking, from mouthing to role-play.

The return flow isn’t just sustainable—it’s a UX strategy. By making it easier to return than to toss or stash, we drive real behavioral change.

The return flow isn’t just sustainable—it’s a UX strategy. By making it easier to return than to toss or stash, we drive real behavioral change.

The return flow isn’t just sustainable—it’s a UX strategy. By making it easier to return than to toss or stash, we drive real behavioral change.

THREE.2

The Brand That Sparks Joy

A visual identity designed to stand out in a sea of beige.

Athy wasn’t just about solving toy clutter or parenting logistics—it needed to feel different. The brand identity had to signal to parents, from the very first glance, that this wasn’t just another neutral-toned, solemn-faced baby brand. This was joyful, bright, and built with love.

The brand had to:

  • Ditch the “sad beige aesthetic” in favor of joy, motion, and maybe a little chaos.

  • Feel playful but intentional.

  • Flex across digital, print, and product.

  • Invite trust, delight, and curiosity in equal measure.

Logo & Motif

The logo began as a scribble—loops that nod to play, motion, and circularity. Those loops evolved into a full visual motif, adding movement and charm across the brand. Paired with crayon-style type, the system feels bold, playful, and totally unlike anything else in the space.

Color Palette

The palette was pulled directly from one of the first toy concepts generated in Midjourney (the rainbow garden toy you see above). Instead of choosing colors from a marketing mood board, the colors came from play itself. The result: a palette that feels energetic but cohesive, bold but never overwhelming.

Typography

Clean, friendly, and readable across devices. The type system leans sans-serif for clarity but adds a dash of playfulness through rounded corners and unexpected proportions. In other words, it's like a toybox that took a design course.

Microcopy & Messaging

Tone was everything. From “Tap the targets to see insights” to “Super fakey fake fake,” Athy’s voice strikes a balance between real talk and ridiculous. Everything—from button labels to alt text—was a chance to make the experience feel just a little more delightful.

THREE.3

The Product That Plays Smart

Creating playful, modular, sensory-based toys that evolve with the child—and disappear when they’re done.

Athy isn’t a toy company—it’s a system. But every system still needs stuff. These aren’t random toy concepts. Each item in the system is chosen—and designed—with a child’s stage of development in mind. The subscription boxes are age-based, meaning families always get toys that are relevant right now (and gone before they get stale). No research rabbit holes, no guessing what’s “appropriate for 10 months.” So I designed three core types of toy experiences to deliver surprise, growth, and return-friendly joy.

Each toy type supports a real developmental need and a logistical one: fewer purchases, less clutter, and a built-in reason to let go. Together, these toys create a flexible play loop that evolves with the child—and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Athy isn’t a toy company—it’s a system. But every system still needs stuff. These aren’t random toy concepts. Each item in the system is chosen—and designed—with a child’s stage of development in mind. The subscription boxes are age-based, meaning families always get toys that are relevant right now (and gone before they get stale). No research rabbit holes, no guessing what’s “appropriate for 10 months.” So I designed three core types of toy experiences to deliver surprise, growth, and return-friendly joy.

Each toy type supports a real developmental need and a logistical one: fewer purchases, less clutter, and a built-in reason to let go. Together, these toys create a flexible play loop that evolves with the child—and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Athy isn’t a toy company—it’s a system. But every system still needs stuff. These aren’t random toy concepts. Each item in the system is chosen—and designed—with a child’s stage of development in mind. The subscription boxes are age-based, meaning families always get toys that are relevant right now (and gone before they get stale). No research rabbit holes, no guessing what’s “appropriate for 10 months.” So I designed three core types of toy experiences to deliver surprise, growth, and return-friendly joy.

Each toy type supports a real developmental need and a logistical one: fewer purchases, less clutter, and a built-in reason to let go. Together, these toys create a flexible play loop that evolves with the child—and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Athy isn’t a toy company—it’s a system. But every system still needs stuff. These aren’t random toy concepts. Each item in the system is chosen—and designed—with a child’s stage of development in mind. The subscription boxes are age-based, meaning families always get toys that are relevant right now (and gone before they get stale). No research rabbit holes, no guessing what’s “appropriate for 10 months.” So I designed three core types of toy experiences to deliver surprise, growth, and return-friendly joy.

Each toy type supports a real developmental need and a logistical one: fewer purchases, less clutter, and a built-in reason to let go. Together, these toys create a flexible play loop that evolves with the child—and doesn't overstay its welcome.

How I Made Toys Without Making Toys

These toys don’t exist, the babies don't exist, but every single one had to feel like it could.

I began in Midjourney, generating early modular and sensory toy concepts from prompts crafted with ChatGPT. Once the designs felt right, I took them into Sora, where I used OpenAI’s new image generation model to place them in context—babies playing, toys mid-motion, all captured in bright, believable environments.

And yes, there was cleanup: I used Photoshop and Adobe Firefly to remove extra fingers, smooth out alien typography, and generally make sure nothing was accidentally haunted. The end result? A full set of brand assets without ever prototyping a single object IRL. No studio. No prop styling. No babies were poked, prodded, or photographed. Just thoughtful prompts and a lot of iterative refinement.

The Modular Core

A toy base that grows with clip-in attachments or swappable parts

  • Think stacking rings, blocks, or platforms

  • Evolves through age-appropriate add-ons

  • Encourages open-ended play and return-friendly durability

The Sensory Surprise

Short-term toys with textures, sounds, or cause/effect magic

  • Rattles, teething rings, soft crinkle books

  • Delightful in the moment, then done when the phase passes

  • Perfect for returning and rotating with new discoveries

The Prompt-Based Play

Every box includes play ideas grounded in development research

  • Simple, screen-free activities (e.g., “The Peekaboo Test”)

  • Encourages interaction with the toys, not just around them

  • Builds connection and helps parents feel more confident

The real deliverable wasn’t a toy or a company or a website. It was a demonstration: of systems thinking, visual storytelling, and what happens when you co-design with AI on purpose.

The real deliverable wasn’t a toy or a company or a website. It was a demonstration: of systems thinking, visual storytelling, and what happens when you co-design with AI on purpose.

The real deliverable wasn’t a toy or a company or a website. It was a demonstration: of systems thinking, visual storytelling, and what happens when you co-design with AI on purpose.

FOUR

The Site That Sells the Dream

Because sometimes a fake product needs a real website.

To bring the Athy system to life, I designed and built a fully functional homepage in Framer—just one page, but packed with enough narrative to make the whole system feel real. From rotating age-based toys to a faux testimonial slider, the site acts as a scrollable storybook for the world of Athy.

It leans into playful microinteractions, irreverent copy, and a visual system that balances chaos with clarity. I also built it to be fully responsive, ensuring that no matter what screen size you’re on the experience still holds up. It adapts, resizes, and reorganizes without losing any personality.

This wasn’t a marketing site—it was a proof of concept, a speculative prototype, and a showcase for how far a fake product can go when designed with real UX thinking.

To bring the Athy system to life, I designed and built a fully functional homepage in Framer—just one page, but packed with enough narrative to make the whole system feel real. From rotating age-based toys to a faux testimonial slider, the site acts as a scrollable storybook for the world of Athy.

It leans into playful microinteractions, irreverent copy, and a visual system that balances chaos with clarity. I also built it to be fully responsive, ensuring that no matter what screen size you’re on the experience still holds up. It adapts, resizes, and reorganizes without losing any personality.

This wasn’t a marketing site—it was a proof of concept, a speculative prototype, and a showcase for how far a fake product can go when designed with real UX thinking.

To bring the Athy system to life, I designed and built a fully functional homepage in Framer—just one page, but packed with enough narrative to make the whole system feel real. From rotating age-based toys to a faux testimonial slider, the site acts as a scrollable storybook for the world of Athy.

It leans into playful microinteractions, irreverent copy, and a visual system that balances chaos with clarity. I also built it to be fully responsive, ensuring that no matter what screen size you’re on the experience still holds up. It adapts, resizes, and reorganizes without losing any personality.

This wasn’t a marketing site—it was a proof of concept, a speculative prototype, and a showcase for how far a fake product can go when designed with real UX thinking.

To bring the Athy system to life, I designed and built a fully functional homepage in Framer—just one page, but packed with enough narrative to make the whole system feel real. From rotating age-based toys to a faux testimonial slider, the site acts as a scrollable storybook for the world of Athy.

It leans into playful microinteractions, irreverent copy, and a visual system that balances chaos with clarity. I also built it to be fully responsive, ensuring that no matter what screen size you’re on the experience still holds up. It adapts, resizes, and reorganizes without losing any personality.

This wasn’t a marketing site—it was a proof of concept, a speculative prototype, and a showcase for how far a fake product can go when designed with real UX thinking.

FIVE

The Real Takeaways from a Fake Product

A design sandbox, an AI collaboration, and a portfolio piece that pushes past the usual.

Athy wasn’t just about baby toys—it was about design ambition. About pushing speculative UX into something you could see, click, and believe. Every step of the process—from AI-powered surveys to image generation to building a working return loop—was a test of how far one person (okay, one person and one extremely helpful AI) could go without a dev team or a real product roadmap.

It was weird. It was wonderful. It was wildly instructive.

What I learned:

  • Constraints can be creativity rocket fuel. Having no actual product meant every interaction, flow, and image had to work overtime to build trust.

  • AI is a powerful partner—but only when paired with intentional, strategic design. I didn’t just prompt and hope. I iterated. I curated. I finessed.

  • Details sell the dream. The dynamic typography. The age-based play logic. The scribble that became a logo. None of it was “real,” but all of it was rooted in UX thinking and systems logic.

  • Good UX makes even fake things feel real. And maybe, someday, something like Athy won’t be fake at all.

Remember when this would’ve taken a whole product team and a three-month sprint? I did it in my pajamas over two weekends.

Remember when this would’ve taken a whole product team and a three-month sprint? I did it in my pajamas over two weekends.

Remember when this would’ve taken a whole product team and a three-month sprint? I did it in my pajamas over two weekends.

curious how far a fake product can go?

curious how far a fake product can go?

explore the full Athy site and see the whole delightful mess in action

CHECK IT OUT

CHECK IT OUT

CHECK IT OUT

curious how far a fake product can go?

explore the full Athy site and see the whole delightful mess in action

CHECK IT OUT

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© 2025 Maggie Zukowski. All rights reserved. Portfolio content is displayed for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to confidentiality restrictions.
Please contact Maggie Zukowski for detailed information regarding specific projects.

Resume

download pdf
download word doc

Work

case studies
design goodies
analog visual art
galaxy x832p-19

Connect

linkedin
contact page

© 2025 Maggie Zukowski. All rights reserved. Portfolio content is displayed for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to confidentiality restrictions. Please contact Maggie Zukowski for detailed information regarding specific projects.

Resume

download pdf
download word doc

Work

case studies
design goodies
analog visual art
galaxy x832p-19

Connect

linkedin
contact page

© 2025 Maggie Zukowski. All rights reserved. Portfolio content is displayed for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to confidentiality restrictions.
Please contact Maggie Zukowski for detailed information regarding specific projects.

Resume

download pdf
download word doc

Work

case studies
design goodies
analog visual art
galaxy x832p-19

Connect

linkedin
contact page

© 2025 Maggie Zukowski. All rights reserved. Portfolio content is displayed for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to confidentiality restrictions. Please contact Maggie Zukowski for detailed information regarding specific projects.