Research Study
2016
How Messaging UI Beats Note-Taking Apps
Overview
Mindchat started as a simple question: what if I could text myself instead of annoying my partner with random reminders? (This was 2016, before iOS added conversation pinning or easy self-messaging features.) The app tested whether messaging UI could work better than traditional note apps for quick thoughts—the kind you need to capture while walking, talking, or juggling other tasks. What began as solving my own habit became an iOS app with 2.91k downloads that I still use daily 9 years later, proving that sometimes the smallest design problems reveal bigger truths about how different moments need different interfaces.
My Role
Designer
Programmer
Researcher
Platforms
iOS
Tools & Stack
Figma
React Native
Redux
Local Storage
Year
V1: 2016
V2: 2017
The Discovery
I kept texting my partner random reminders followed by "reminder, ignore." It was my favorite way to never miss tasks—I'd always see the reminder when we texted again. This discovery revealed an interesting problem that I had with modern reminder apps.
The Problem
When you need to capture a quick thought, traditional note apps create just enough friction to make you give up. Choosing folders, adding titles, or navigating categories interrupts the exact moment when you need speed most. Even that small moment wondering if I need a new page or if I should drop the note within an existing page creates friction.
I wanted to understand what kind of notes or reminders would be unlocked by removing that friction.
Notion app: From the last message to the new one
Apple notes app: From the last message to the new one
The Gap
Most productivity apps optimize for one type of use case, leaving a significant gap unaddressed:
Current apps (Notion, Evernote, Google Keep) target the bottom-right: Complex content during focused work time. But there's an underserved top-left quadrant: Simple thoughts during high cognitive load moments—when you're mid-conversation, walking somewhere, or juggling multiple things and just need to dump a thought without any organizational overhead.
The Opportunity
Hypothesis:
For quick thought capture, messaging interfaces will beat traditional note apps because they eliminate organizational overhead.
Rapid Prototyping Through the App Store
Rather than testing through mockups or controlled studies, I used rapid prototyping by building and launching actual iOS apps during my free time. This approach would let me validate the design theory with real usage data while learning React Native, taking time between versions to personally test whether each iteration actually solved the problems I'd identified. Each major release represented a significant test of different aspects of the core hypothesis, allowing me to understand not just whether the concept worked, but how users actually discovered, adopted, and used messaging UI for personal productivity.
MVP Launch: Testing the Core Concept
Launched MVP October 9th, 2016
I started with an incredibly simple MVP and tested it with friends. Even this basic version had surprising traction. It took about a month of designing and developing during my free time.
The MVP was the simplest possible messaging interface for talking to myself. Single conversation thread, notes or tasks, just type and send, chronological order—no organizing needed, no management features at all.
MVP Goals
Test if messaging-style interface makes note capture faster and easier
See if other people would find this approach as useful as I did
MVP Results
Core hypothesis validated - Users engaged regularly, found utility
Messaging to yourself concept sparked curiosity - The concept attracted downloads
Conceptual utility and clarity problem - People couldn't immediately understand why they'd use it after downloading: "It's not what it is, but why I'm using it"
Missing assurance factor - Unlike my partner's text stream, no guarantee users would actually see captured thoughts again
V1 Launch: Adding Communication and Management
Launched V1 March 8th, 2017
After using the MVP for several months and getting user feedback, I added basic functionality to make the concept clearer and more useful.
V1 Goals
Explain the use case better through simple onboarding
Add basic utility like editing and deleting while keeping the core focus
Continue testing with zero marketing to see if the concept itself attracted attention
V1 Key Changes
Opening screen with two clear actions (create note or reminder) - solved the "why would I use this?" problem
Message options - users could now edit, copy, and delete each note and task
Basic onboarding - launch screen that taught the concept by asking users to create their first note or task
V1 Wireframe
V1 Results
Core hypothesis validated - 40% of users that saw the App Store page downloaded it and engaged regularly.
Messaging to yourself concept sparked download curiosity - The curiosity of what it was seemed attractive for downloads
Conceptual utility and clarity problem - People couldn't immediately understand why they'd use it after downloading: "It's not what it is, but why I'm using it"
Missing assurance factor - Unlike my partner's text stream, no guarantee users would actually see captured thoughts again
V2 Launch: Full Product Experience
Launched V2 July 25th, 2017
The redesign changed the entire brand and style, added an opening screen with clear action options, a reminder system, and editing, copying and switching (from note to task and vice versa) abilities while maintaining the core principle of no organizational overhead during capture.
V2 Goals
Formalize the experiment into a product now that the concept was proven
Add a playful brand that reflected the attitude of quick, casual note-taking
Complete the missing piece: ensuring users would rediscover their notes
V2 Key Changes
Complete visual redesign - playful brand and colors that emphasized quick use
Reminder system: "Today, Tomorrow, In a Week" - solved the rediscovery problem without adding complexity
Note/task switching - users could convert between types seamlessly
Maintained core principle - preserved zero organizational overhead during capture
V2 Wireframe
V2 Results
Improved adoption - Users understood the concept immediately
Better retention - Reminders solved the "forgetting to check" problem
Maintained speed - Added functionality without breaking the core capture flow
Long-term Results & Discovery
2.91k downloads with zero marketing from the Apple App Store first year, spreading organically to China, Thailand, and California.
2.32 average sessions per device, per day across all users. It was being used quickly, and consistently for what seemed to be it’s simple use case.
Unexpected behavioral discovery: When writing new notes, I'd naturally see previous notes as I finished writing the new ones. Unlike traditional note apps where old notes are hidden in lists, the messaging format keeps everything visible, creating accidental rediscovery of forgotten thoughts over longer time periods.
Downloads followed updates: The app store discovery would continue consistently as I kept making updates. The biggest spike in downloads coming from the redesign that also added reminders. After I stopped maintaining and updating around 2018 the app store impressions kept steadily reducing until I took it out of the app store in 2022.
Still using it 9 years later alongside tools like Notion and Apple Notes. Some friends still use it regularly, even though it has not been updated for iPhoneX and above.
What This Proved
Different problems need different interface approaches. Most productivity apps try to solve "quick capture" and "organized storage" with the same interface, but these are fundamentally different user needs. The quick capture of the small use case requires a near zero friction as the app is called up, but longer building notes and documents require an organizing storage from the start. Fundamentally different use cases often lumped in the same place.
Messaging UI excels when you need to "brain dump and move on" because it matches how your brain works in that moment—no decisions, just capture.
Interface design should match user mental state. Before choosing an interface pattern, think about the exact cognitive moment your user is in, not just the functional requirements.
This experiment shows that even simple interface decisions can have lasting impact when they're perfectly matched to a specific user need
The engagement increase was great, but the real value was scalability. We didn't know what the future would bring, but we had a hunch the web app would be needed to manage it. The redesign enabled dozens of features that mobile couldn't support, making the web app essential for complex healthcare workflows.
Transformed company positioning from "encrypted messenger" to "healthcare workflow platform." The framework we created enabled dozens of new features that mobile couldn't support, making the web app essential for healthcare workflow management.
The Mindchat App was launched October 2016 on the app store, I stopped maintaining it on 2018 and removed it on 2022. I still use it and so do many friends.
