TimeMates
WorkbenchA body double for people with ADHD: an animated TimeMate works on the same task beside you while the clock runs.
The problem
Working next to someone else, called body doubling, is one of the most used ADHD strategies. Another person’s presence makes it easier to start, and to keep going.
But there isn’t always someone free to sit with you. TimeMates is a body double that always is.
What we’re trying
You tell TimeMates what you’re doing, and your TimeMate does the same thing in its own little scene. Right now that’s a zebra at a desk, writing while you write. ClearTime’s clock hangs on the wall and keeps the time.
Pause, and the zebra takes a break: a sip of tea, a stretch. When time’s up there’s a quiet happy moment. No sad faces, no streaks, no scolding.
The first playable version runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV, with one activity, writing, for 10 to 60 minutes. Next up: a first TestFlight build, a bit of shading, and more activities, starting with folding laundry.
What we’ve learned
A full illustrated scene would crowd ClearTime’s calm timer, so TimeMates became its own app and borrows ClearTime’s clock as is.
The first zebra was a flipbook that changed about once a second. It felt slow and jarring, so we rebuilt it as smooth motion, with tests that fail if a hoof, the pencil or the mug ever jumps.
Desks with solid fronts mean we only draw a TimeMate from the waist up. That halves the drawing and animation work for every activity.
Even the handwriting has to be honest: it faces the zebra, so from our side it reads upside down.
From the log
Stage changes, launches and the things that broke. We write it all down.
Read the whole logSmooth motion beats the flipbook
The zebra now writes across two pages, sips tea and stretches, instead of flipping drawings once a second.
A zebra at a desk
First playable version: pick Writing and a length, and the zebra writes while ClearTime’s clock counts down. Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch and TV.
TimeMates gets its start
A name for ClearTime’s characters turned into its own app: a body double that’s always free.
Where it’s headed
- Napkin
Sketch it
An idea on paper, a problem worth chasing. Nothing built yet.
- Workbench
Build it
The crew is building. Not public yet, but the log is.
We’re here - Sea trial
Test it for real
Real people are using it. Expect rough edges, and tell us about them.
- Set sail
Ship it
It graduates into an Awesome Cause product, with support behind it.
- Scuttled
Or stop it
Any stage can end here, on purpose. The log says what we learned.