OrchardNest

Shape is a lucid dreaming app for iOS.I just built Shape, a lucid dreaming app for iPhone. It took 30 days to design the app, build it, produce the audio guides, and ship it in the App Store. Here’s how I did it.Design PhaseLucid dreaming...

Shape is a lucid dreaming app for iPhone and iPad, helping people wake up within their dreams.—In crafting Shape’s design system, simplicity was at the forefront of my mind. I wanted this build phase to go quickly (1 month), and I knew...

I began to lucid dream as a teenager sent off to boarding school. It was a perfect learning environment: since the world around me was so controlled and defined, I felt powerless over my external experience. At the same time, my inner life...

It’s hard to design and build collaborative software. Everything is tied together, so a small change in one place has far reaching impact.It’s also extremely valuable. We’re a social species. Think back to your most memorable meals,...

If you look closely, you’ll rarely find a sharp corner in any Apple product. From the HomePod, to keyboard buttons, to elements in Apple’s own apps, the shapes are so smoothly-rounded that it’s not apparent where the straight lines end and...

I remember looking at an Apple interface, comparing it to the things I was creating, and feeling a bit miffed that Apple’s designs were even rounder and warmer than mine. Once I learned about this shape called a squircle and figured out...

Making Minimal accessible + beautiful in more languages.Minimal has a strong community of beta testers. There are hundreds of notetakers around the world, some writing in Minimal for more than an hour every day. I’m confident that...

My journey as an indie developer crafting my favorite notes appI’m a software developer, and yet I delight in coarse technology. I love a comfortable pair of pants, paper that prevents ink bleed, a table that doesn’t wobble, and a sharp...

As humans, we are surprisingly simple in how we discover and respond to motivation. Our goals are all different, but the basic mechanics of getting excited, doing the work, and then reaping the rewards are generally consistent across...

I compulsively work too hard. I’d like to get better at doing nothing. So I built a company that helps me do nothing. I’m its first…Continue reading on The Startup »

I love the curiosity of asking why. As you point out, it’s the means of going deep and better understanding!However, in a team environment asking people “why” a problem occurred tends to trigger defensiveness and shame. I recommend...

Civilization evolves. Technology changes. Languages shift, merge, and diverge. New mediums arrive, old mediums disappear. This is life…Continue reading on The Startup »

The author warming up on Cactus Rasta.I am often nervous when entering a new stage in life. The fear comes from the impending unknown, the same unknown that inspired me to venture out in the first place. This was at the forefront of my...

Your hypotheses are built around a clear separation between navigation and “self-contained processes,” but I don’t believe that that distinction exists.Which is not to say you’re wrong — that’s not what I mean . I mean to say that deciding...

I’m beginning to think that just a handful of people could take over the world. Which makes me think that surely it has already happened — a few times.Vancouver is an incredible city. Inredible. I have heard more languages today than in...