Introducing Doo, a new kind of app for reminders and to-dos
Three months ago I quit my job and started my own company. It was a decision I made almost spontaneously as my unhappiness reached a breaking point. I was floating — searching for a mountain to climb that would inspire me to push forward personally and professionally. I debated starting a company for years, but I always made excuses.
Sitting in a meeting one day, I had a realization. I saw my life ten years in the future and nothing had changed because I hadn’t changed. I had played it safe. I feared staying in the shadows and never breaking out on my own. It was now or never.
At first I was overwhelmed. My original intention was to create a game, but I realized I’d need something more achievable. Mario wasn’t built in a day. Then I remembered I already had my first app! I did the initial design four years ago after I went looking for a to-do app to remind me to pay bills. Everything I found was too complex or hard to understand. I didn’t want another thing I had to manage. The result is a personal reaction to the complexity and lifelessness of productivity apps. I couldn’t be more excited to introduce Doo — a smart, simple app for reminders and to-dos.
How does it work?
Doo is new way to get things done. Instead of presenting reminders and to-dos as a list, each task you create becomes a card. When you open Doo, you’ll get a stack of cards that need your attention. The stack is what makes Doo special. Swipe a card up to mark it completed, or swipe it down to snooze it for later. You can customize the snooze duration to 24 hours, 1 hour, or 15 minutes.
The cards in Doo help you succeed. Showing only one task at a time lets you focus on a single goal without feeling overwhelmed. You’re also encouraged to acknowledge tasks you swipe away, even if you’re snoozing them for later. This helps give you an extra push to complete to-dos you might have otherwise ignored.
Diving a little deeper…
While researching other productivity tools, I remembered seeing “Learn Spanish” as a reminder. It made me laugh to see it next to “Buy milk” because there’s such a huge difference in effort between them. I started thinking about all the steps it would take to learn another language. And then it hit me.
Every project, big or small, gets completed one step at a time. Even the greatest paintings are created one brush stroke at a time. It’s the combination of each stroke that gives art depth, texture, and emotion. Doo embraces this idea and encourages you to break down big projects into smaller, achievable pieces. It’s the best way to set yourself up for success.
When Doo detects you’ve entered a big task, it’ll prompt you to consider a change. You can tap the notification for help or dismiss it to save as is.
Let’s revisit the Learn Spanish example. Instead of adding a reminder with a list of chapters or high-level goals, Doo can help by holding you accountable each step of the way. You might make a few cards to practice greetings, to re-read an introductory chapter, and to study conjugations for hacer. Doo will present each step one at a time so you can focus, get it done, and move on. Each time you swipe a task away you’ll feel a sense of progress and accomplishment. Little by little you’ll become fluent in Spanish. Never let a list defeat you again.
Meant to inspire
To-do lists are often a sterile inventory of tasks. So many apps out there don’t do anything to fix this. The illustrations in Doo add warmth and personality. Welcoming colors and textures stand out against the cool purple background. Scenes of mountain tops and space exploration act as a reminder of the greatness within us all. Your to-dos become an invitation to climb your mountains, whatever they may be.
Illustrations are only part of the solution. When you open Doo, you’ll notice something special about the animations. Add a new reminder and the text fields animate in with a delightful spring. Start the app and your cards bounce into place. It’s a small way of making the experience more engaging and fun.
Death to unnecessary in-app purchases
It’s always disappointed me to see companies charge users for features that feel core to the experience. For that reason, Doo includes a few notable features without any hidden costs. They’re free and that’s how they’ll stay.
- Sync with iCloud. Doo saves your reminders and to-dos to your private iCloud account. Items created on one device automatically download to others. And if you lose your device, Doo restores all your data so you can pick up where you left off. It’s the type of peace of mind that shouldn’t cost you another piece of change.
- Powerful customization options. Not only can you set alerts for standard daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly repeats, but you can also set it for certain days of the week or for custom intervals. Want to repeat a reminder every 679 weeks on a Tuesday? Go for it. There are no user accounts, no sign-up forms, and no “pro” unlock required.
- Notification Center support and share extension. Add the Doo widget to your Notification Center and have your top three reminders always at hand. It’s a great way to know what to tackle next. You can also jump right into the app using the New Reminder shortcut. Use the Doo extension any time you see the iOS share icon. Create to-dos from text, websites, addresses, and more. I’ve been sending articles and recipes to Doo and my food has never been more delicious.
Pricing
Price is often a tricky subject. Eyebrows go up when the price of an app is higher than a dollar or two. I’m guilty of it myself sometimes. That reaction has been conditioned into us, especially with in-app purchases hiding the true cost of many apps (particularly games).
Doo is the culmination of almost a thousand hours of work. An incredible amount of thought, craftsmanship, and love went into making it a reality. The app is a fully realized and feature-rich playground that you can use for years to come.
I’ve chosen to sell Doo at $4.99, less than the price of a beer. The App Store is an incredible opportunity for developers and users to communicate and to share. So I’m sharing a project that I hope can be the start of something better for my life and for yours. I encourage you to support the hard work of developers like me who make the effort to put you first. No funny business, just a product you can be proud to have on your home screen.
The future
I have big plans moving forward. With enough support I hope to expand localizations so more people can get things done in their native language. A OS X app is also hugely exciting to think about. It would be a great way to complete the family circle with Mac, iPhone, and iPad support.
The idea I’m most excited about is artist outreach. Doo is unique because it makes being productive inviting and fun. I’d love to expand the idea further by asking illustrators to create new images you could use instead of the defaults. I would be a great way to introduce artists to new audiences and a fun way to customize the experience.
Mountains
Doo is only a few months old, but the design I created four years ago planted a seed. That seed has since grown into a company, a product, and the inspiration to follow my dreams. Though it’s been an incredibly challenging journey, I wouldn’t change a thing. I couldn’t be more excited or grateful to share a part of myself with the world.
We all have mountains to climb, some steeper than others. But the satisfaction of getting things done is universal. In more ways than one Doo helped me climb my mountains. Go climb yours.
