What is the "Monooboe" app?

Do you still have toilet paper stocked at home? How long have you been using your current towel or toothbrush? Doesn't your computer feel a bit slow lately? When was the last time you cleaned your air conditioner?
There are things you occasionally want to remember — things that, if you did remember, would actually improve your quality of life. "Monooboe" is an app that remembers those occasional things for you.

We made a video for it ↓

@youtube

"Monooboe" comes pre-loaded with suggested items to register, complete with recommended intervals, and you can also add your own items. Then, right when it's about time to remember something, it sends you a notification. You can adjust the timing yourself, and if a notification comes too early or too late, you can tell the app, and it'll learn to notify you at just the right timing for you over time.

On designing it

↑ This is the very first design. I was aiming for something childlike and gentle, but it ended up looking cleaner and colder than expected — hmm.

• Childlike quality
• A gentle feel

I aimed for these because I felt the word "Monooboe" itself carries a childlike cuteness, and because I wanted a gentle atmosphere for a design that reminds you of things you've forgotten.

The reason it drifted from what I intended was insufficient research into the design I was aiming for. I moved forward without ever putting into words the specific qualities of the vague "childlike" image I had in mind, so looking back now, the reference designs I used were all over the place. Color saturation and brightness, the outlines of illustrations, how images are arranged relative to each other, and so on — there are many different ways to express "childlike," and without properly narrowing down your target, it's hard to land on the design you actually want. It seemed simple but turned out to be difficult, and I realized this applies to just about everything.
Since this was an app idea unlike anything that existed before, I also ran into trouble designing the UI in various places this time. But I think it turned into an app that's genuinely easy to use, blends naturally into daily life, and is easy to grow attached to! Thank you for reading all the way to the end!