$ ls ./prototypes
Things I keep coming back to. Some are weekend experiments, some have a small playable build, and some are ideas for an app I might make. This is the sketchbook.
61 entries
$ ls ./labs
Older experiments I keep returning to, from games to an audiobook.
One house, one person, and something outside the window.
I keep coming back to this one: Ellis is alone in a house, and the presence outside gets harder to ignore over five days. The browser prototype lets you look through rooms, give text commands and board up windows while small things happen around you.
Learn shell commands as spells in a fantasy adventure.
I wanted the commands to be part of finding your way through the world. This browser prototype has a tutorial, places to explore and a few boss trials, with feedback when a command is almost right.
A Linux course you can listen to as a story.
An older Linux fantasy draft grew into this audiobook experiment. The manuscript and a first audio edition are ready for a proper listen-through; pronunciation and pacing are the parts I want to get right next.
Keep a little Linux machine running in your browser.
The interesting part is that the machine remembers what you change. The prototype lets you work with files, services, logs and networking as you solve small problems around a simulated home lab.
$ ls ./ios-apps
Ideas for helping with a particular part of someone’s day.
A place for speech practice between appointments.
This idea is about keeping a familiar practice routine close at hand: warming up, reading aloud and recording a short piece to listen back to. I am exploring a simple ten-minute session that someone could use alongside work with their speech pathologist.
Practise the sales conversation before making the call.
The idea is to rehearse with a particular kind of prospect in mind, then listen back and notice what happened. Did you leave room for an answer? Did you respond to the concern, or talk past it?
A gentle reminder to move during a desk day.
I am exploring whether the phone camera could help someone notice how they are sitting. Break reminders would fit around meetings, so the app has some sense of when it is useful to interrupt.
A migraine journal you can bring to an appointment.
It is hard to remember the details of an attack weeks later. This prototype gathers notes about timing, medication and possible triggers, with a record that could be shared during a conversation with a doctor.
Keep food and symptom notes together.
This is an idea for recording the stages of a low-FODMAP plan, including elimination and reintroduction. I wanted the day-to-day logging to feel manageable for someone following a plan with their clinician.
Remember the route, the attempts and the training behind them.
This climbing log brings sessions, projects and training notes together. I am interested in the longer view: what someone tried, how it felt, and what they might change next time.
Work backwards from the loaf you want for dinner.
Sourdough has a way of taking over the day. This scheduler starts with when you want the bread ready and works back through the steps, so baking can fit around the rest of your plans.
Remember how you made the good coffee.
A small notebook for dialling in a bag of beans. Grind, ratio and time matter, but so does a plain note about how the shot tasted. I wanted those things easy to compare the next morning.
A notebook for the life inside your aquarium.
Water readings mean more when you can see what else changed that week. This idea keeps measurements beside feeding, dosing and maintenance notes, with a place to record the animals in the tank.
Make room for the planning that happens before a long walk.
This is a place to work through the stages of a long hike: where to stop, where to resupply and what to carry. The plan should be easy to revise as the trip becomes more concrete.
Practise an interview and leave with something to work on.
I wanted a practice session to end with more than a vague feeling that it went well. The idea is to choose an interview type, try an answer and review it against a few clear criteria.
An idea for organising the last weeks of NCLEX study.
This study prototype brings review questions and case practice together, with explanations and a record of the topics that need another look. It remains an early exam-preparation concept.
Short study sessions for the commercial driving written test.
This prototype explores a straightforward way to review state-specific material and endorsements. Large controls and quick access to missed questions are the main design priorities.
Remember who you meant to follow up with today.
A solo real-estate agent may only need a clear list of people, conversations and next steps. This idea keeps that daily work together and gives follow-up drafts a place to start.
Keep track of the reptiles and amphibians in your care.
Feeding, shedding and weight notes are easier to use when they stay with the right animal. This prototype gathers them with vet and breeding records for keepers managing a growing collection.
Explore sounds and keep a record of how the day felt.
This is an early idea for trying masking sounds and noting tinnitus severity over time. I am exploring how the sound controls and daily journal could sit together in a simple interface.
Put a morning HRV reading in the context of your training.
The idea is to look at a person's usual range and recent workload alongside the latest reading. I want the reasoning behind a suggested training day to be understandable.
A gentler way to get from one part of the day to the next.
This daily-planning idea is for AuDHD adults who find transitions difficult. I am exploring visual timers, a place to put loose thoughts, sensory check-ins and company during a task.
Take useful hive notes while you are still in the field.
This beekeeping notebook groups observations about the queen, brood, mites and feeding by hive. The challenge is making it quick to fill in during an inspection and clear enough to learn from later.
Remember what worked on the river.
A fishing journal can hold more than a catch count. This idea connects trip notes with the flies used, hatches and water conditions, so an earlier visit can help with the next one.
Keep score and look back at a match.
This pickleball prototype is for scoring at the court and making a few notes afterwards. I am interested in whether a simple record can help someone notice the same mistakes across several games.
Plan a class as a sequence you can come back to.
This idea gives yoga teachers a way to arrange poses, estimate the timing and keep their teaching notes together. Previous classes would stay available to adapt for another group.
A marathon plan that can change with the week.
This prototype starts with a race date, a goal and the running someone already does. I am exploring how a sixteen-week plan could adapt while explaining the reason for each change.
Give a music practice session a little shape.
The idea follows the way a teacher might lay out a week: a few exercises, a piece to work on and something to listen for. Timers, a metronome and recordings would support that routine.
$ ls ./ios-utilities
Small tools for things like keeping receipts, packing a bag or finding the car.
Keep the family paperwork where someone can find it.
This is an idea for gathering important documents, contacts and instructions in one private place. I want it to feel approachable, including for the person who may need to find something in a difficult moment.
Know where the receipt for that camera went.
A record of valuable camera, audio and computer gear, with serial numbers, receipts and warranties beside each item. The aim is to make an insurance inventory easier to put together when it is needed.
Keep a driving record without rebuilding it at tax time.
This prototype explores detecting journeys and making it quick to mark what each trip was for. The useful result would be a clear mileage record to review and export for an accountant.
Save the receipt while it is still in your hand.
The idea starts with a photo, then asks you to check the details and give it a category. A tidy export later depends on making that small capture step easy now.
Find your way through a long property disclosure packet.
This prototype explores pulling repair notes and possible issues into a readable summary. I want someone to be able to return to the original document and understand where each point came from.
Find your way back to the car.
A photo of the level, a map pin and a note about the meter can save a lot of wandering. This idea puts those details together in a screen that is quick to check on the way back.
A baby log for three in the morning.
I pictured someone holding a baby in one arm and trying to remember the last feed. This prototype keeps the controls large and the screen dark, with a shared record of feeds, sleep, nappies and other care.
Leave a trail you can follow back.
This hiking prototype explores a recorded route, saved waypoints and offline maps. The main screen would answer a simple question: how far is it back to where I started?
Keep the dates of your travels in one place.
Frequent travel can turn dates and day counts into a small admin job. This idea gathers trips and passport information into a calendar that is easier to review before planning another visit.
Work out a song from your own recording.
This prototype explores showing suggested chords along an audio timeline. A musician could move through the recording, change the key and save notes about the parts they want to revisit.
Plan the night, then put the songs where you can read them.
This setlist idea lets a musician arrange songs and check the running time before a gig. On stage, the same set would become a clear view of the lyrics and notes.
Turn a photo into simple line art.
I am exploring a small tool for choosing how much detail survives from a photograph. The result could be cleaned up, separated from its background and exported as an image or vector.
Get one product photo ready for several listings.
Different marketplaces ask for different crops. This idea starts with one photo and prepares the sizes and filenames needed for each listing, keeping the subject in view.
Make a little space in your photo library.
This prototype explores a quick way to review screenshots, blurry shots and near-duplicates. Undo is part of the idea, so an overenthusiastic swipe does not have to be the final decision.
Start a food log with a photo, then check the details.
A photograph can be a useful first guess at a meal. This prototype puts corrections close to that guess, so the person logging can change the food and portions before saving the entry.
Turn the week's meals into a plan for Sunday.
This meal-planning idea connects a weekly menu to a shopping list and a prep checklist. I wanted it to answer what can be done now to make the next few evenings easier.
Remember what you last did for each plant.
This idea keeps care reminders alongside photographs, so you can look back at how a plant has changed. I am also exploring ways to identify a plant and record leaves that need attention.
Plan an outfit from the clothes you already have.
A small wardrobe catalogue could make packing and getting dressed easier. This prototype explores photographing clothes, grouping them into outfits and planning around the weather.
Keep a clear record of a noise problem.
This idea gathers times, duration, locations and phone sound readings in one log. The aim is to make the record easy to review and share when explaining a recurring problem.
Pick up your reading by listening.
This app idea brings documents and web pages into a listening library. I want changing the voice or speed to be easy, and returning to the right place to take very little thought.
A knot guide you can follow one step at a time.
This reference would stay available offline, with clear steps you can move through at your own pace. I pictured using it outdoors, where reception and fine finger movements are not always reliable.
Remember when you last serviced the bike.
This maintenance notebook brings mileage, parts and service costs together. It would help a cyclist see what has already been replaced and what needs a look before the next ride.
Know whether someone has already fed the cat.
This idea is for households where pet care is shared. A simple daily record of food, medication and appointments could save everyone asking the same question twice.
Keep the birds, the photos and the memory of the day.
This birding prototype brings sightings and identification notes together. I wanted a journal that makes an old walk worth looking back at, as well as a list of species seen.
Hear a neighbourhood's stories as you walk through it.
This audio-tour idea lets a place cue the next part of the story. Downloaded narration and sound would keep the walk going when mobile reception drops out.
Remember the bottles you put away.
This wine notebook keeps the location and label of a bottle beside tasting notes and an intended drinking window. It is a way to find something in the collection before forgetting it is there.
Make time for a short stretch.
This prototype explores a few minutes of guided movement around a chosen body area. I wanted the session to be easy to start in a small gap in the day.
$ ls ./narrative-games
Strange places, unusual jobs, and decisions that stay with you.
Tune the radio. Decide what belongs in the log.
This story sketch puts you at a wartime radio with incomplete, possibly dangerous information. Decoding a signal is only part of the job; choosing what to record is the other part.
Find the right book for a customer who may be asking for the wrong one.
This is the earlier shop-game sketch behind The Last Bookstore. Books can help or harm, and sometimes the most useful decision is to leave one on the shelf.
Solve a noir mystery, twelve words at a time.
A telegram gives you very little room to say what matters. This game sketch explores assembling messages from a small vocabulary and living with what the recipient understands.
Find out who you were aboard a ship that remembers.
Rooms and objects offer pieces of a lost identity in this haunted-ship sketch. The vessel changes as you learn more about the person you used to be.
The last train is leaving. There are not enough seats.
This evacuation-game sketch puts the choices at a station desk, one manifest at a time. The small act of stamping a document decides who gets to leave.
A shelf of strange jobs and unfinished stories.
These thirty-one premises are ideas I still like returning to: unusual workplaces, mysteries and choices that could fit into a small phone game. They are starting points for possible projects.
> no prototypes matched. esc to clear.