I was inspired by the Time Well Spent movement about a year ago and didn’t notice that I’ve been developing apps under the same purpose: respecting the user’s intention.
So, a couple of months ago I decided to bundle the apps under one brand and mission: Introducing Intent – tools to help you be more intentional with your digital life.
Here’s the list of apps:
Launcher – is an Android app launcher that lets you organize essentials and distractions
Browser – is a browser extension that functions as a mute switch for website features that don’t respect your intent. Think AdBlock but for persuasive design patterns; targetted for non-technical users.
Timer – is a timer that lives in your browser aiming to provide insight and access controls to the time you spend online.
Intent apps are currently in active development. I would appreciate any feedback for the products and the website itself. Maybe some talking points:
What do you think about the website’s messaging? Is it clear enough?
Do the screenshots give enough idea on how the apps would work? Would you use them?
To anyone interested, please sign up for the beta list. I’d love for this community to be a part of Intent’s early development!
@nelonoel Just my thoughts hope you include in you apps being developed the privacy concern of the users. Hope you consider alternative business model with out collecting user data.
Yes @richard1, I value privacy very much. That website doesn’t even have Google Analytics installed. Nothing will be sent to the cloud for processing. I’m looking at storage solutions that put the user in control (e.g. Blockstack), so that not even me can see the data.
The name “add intent” is great and communicates your value prop well
The site is visually beautiful, shows a peaceful thoughtful brand, and your writing is clear
I had trouble discovering your Product pages. Because (1) I didn’t notice the navigation links. Your links for Launcher, Browser, etc look very different than for Contact and Join Beta. I would use the same style as “Contact” and make the icons colourful, which will help more users recognise that they’re links. (2) Your cards for the 3 products on the homepage don’t look terribly clickable. I would change style or use a mark/word that signifies clickability, for example a Chevron inside the card, or a link to learn more below each.
Those are relatively minor UX issues, so don’t over-index on solving them, and ask plenty of others for feedback, too!
While subscribing (after filling captcha) for the beta, got this error. [Wanted to add a picture to the post, however, it does not let me, so:
Corrupted Content Error
The site at https://addintent.com/subscribed/ has experienced a network protocol violation that cannot be repaired.
The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because an error in the data transmission was detected.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.
Q1: How are you thinking differently about the solutions you provide? Is the (only) upside that the apps are bundled?
Q2: What is the ideal human-computer interaction you are striving for?
Thanks! Might be because I was in the middle of a deploy. No worries, I see that your subscription went through.
Q1: How are you thinking differently about the solutions you provide? Is the (only) upside that the apps are bundled?
Each app has its own advantages over the solutions that are currently available. I tried my best to showcase the value prop for each, but I think it will be more concrete once the beta is out.
Being bundled under one brand / mission just makes it a bit sweeter by sharing consistent UI, underlying principles, and values.
Q2: What is the ideal human-computer interaction you are striving for?
tl;dr
Users should be able to opt out of features they don’t find valuable.
—
Most services provide valuable core features. That’s what makes them popular in the first place. For example, YouTube can be used for learning. Twitter can be used for networking, etc.
Since most of these services are free, problems arise when persuasive design patterns are used to extend the users engagement to the point where the value is deemed to be paid for.
This is where Intent comes in. By providing distraction controls, be it in the form of a feature toggle, a usage timer, or a launcher with a dedicated panel for distracting apps, the users get to choose what’s valuable to them, what to keep, and what to avoid.
Your website is hosted by DigitalOcean which is a reseller of AWS hosting or Amazon Web Services Hosting with markup.
They have all analytics baked into their hosting servers, after all the data is flowing right through them unencrypted…
Just saying I am not insinuating it was done on purpose or you are even aware but by my agreed somewhat paranoid threat model, this is not secure (but neither is a phone, it is all relative).
IMO whoever sold you this site as private either knew this was falsehood or is incompetent in regards to privacy.
Knowing who your host is is basic day one IT stuff:
