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Notes from the studio.
Field notes on building practical AI apps, ADHD-friendly product design, and what we're learning shipping All Things AI.
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Why the best utility apps should do exactly one thing in one tap
Utility apps are judged in the ten seconds someone actually opens them. Designing for that moment beats designing for the feature list every time.
How Caregiver Ledger builds a doctor visit packet on one phone
Inside Caregiver Ledger: label scanning, a tap-sized symptom diary, and the one design choice that turns weeks of notes into a printable packet.
Mealime shutting down October 21: why, and how to save your recipes
Mealime closes October 21, 2026, and owner Albertsons is pointing users to Meals Hub. There is no export, so here is how to save your recipes and lists first.
How to read an Explanation of Benefits before you pay a bill
What each line on an Explanation of Benefits actually means, the three mismatches worth catching, and the appeal deadline most people never hear about.
A four-part test for whether an AI feature belongs in your app
Most AI features fail on the same four questions: does it remove a step, is it fast, does it fail gracefully, and does the user stay in control.
How EOB Keeper matches your bill to your insurance statement
A look inside EOB Keeper: on-device scanning, the pairing engine that flags overcharges, and the design choice that keeps the whole thing instant.
How to keep a lasting record of every national park you visit
A practical system for logging park visits so the record still means something a decade later, and how Stampr handles the tedious half of it.
Designing apps that assume the network is not there
Offline-first is not a fallback mode you add later. It changes what you store, what you sync, and what disappears from the interface entirely.
Inside Dialin, the espresso journal that answers back
Most trackers record what already happened. Here is the mechanism that lets Dialin name your next adjustment instantly, with no model and no network.
How to run a game night scoreboard everyone actually trusts
Scorekeeping disputes are never really about the math. Here are the rules that keep a shared scoreboard honest from the first round to settling up.