In 2007, the first iPhone still had yet to be discovered on a biergarten bench in Redwood City after an Apple employee had forgotten it there. Everyone I knew was using flip-phones, and mine had a particularly clunky system for calendar and notes, always clashing with my paper daily planner and other notes. I envisioned a way to keep my notes and to-do lists organized in a way that would be dynamic, intuitive, interactive and non-abrasive.

 

I directed my thinking to the appeal of urban vinyl; collectible figurines for adults. I gained inspiration from character-themed USB drives, which were just starting to be available at the time, and also illuminating fabrics. I brainstormed all the actions I’d want such a companion to do, connected them into a flow chart, and created a series of animations in Flash to demonstrate how such a toy would behave. Using a disposable camera and a scanner to document interaction with the prototype, I sought to illustrate what it would be like living with the product, how it would respond to your touch, your location, and to items on your list. 

 

I presented the idea to a group of friends and an investor that year. It was an exciting experience to visually convey my concept, gauge feedback, and gather information about what audiences such a device might appeal to. The world was destined to be transformed by smart phones a year later, but its interesting to look back on alternative visions of how the problem of task-lists might have been answered. 

 

Project created in 2007