# Orbital — Project Brief ## The Personal Success Optimizer for People with Spacious Minds --- ## Identity | | | |---|---| | **Name** | Orbital | | **Tagline** | The Personal Success Optimizer for People with Spacious Minds | | **Platform** | Mobile-first, iOS priority | | **Audience** | Neurodiverse thinkers — ADHD, autistic, highly creative, multi-project operators; anyone whose brain doesn't move in straight lines | ### Core Philosophy Orbital reframes productivity using a space metaphor. You don't manage tasks — you manage orbits. Your work has momentum, thrust, and trajectory. The app is built for the way spacious minds *actually* work: in bursts, across many projects, with strong focus but difficulty with transitions and stopping. ### Key Metaphor Translations | Productivity concept | Orbital language | |---|---| | Project | Ship | | Portfolio of projects | Solar System | | Category / area of life | Zone (each Zone is a planet) | | Focus sprint | Burn (orbital burn = burst of thrust) | | Daily time budget | Energy Balls | | Shake-to-spin project selector | Shake to Launch | | Completed project | Off to the Universe | | Paused / blocked project | Suspended (in holding orbit) | | Abandoned project | Gone Dark (decommissioned satellite) | --- ## The 4 Core Pillars 1. **Daily Energy Planning** — allocate and track Energy Balls across ships each day 2. **Ship Management** — portfolio of projects across life zones with phases, tasks, and objectives 3. **Burn Timer** — focus sprints tied to specific ships, customizable lengths 4. **Gamification** — XP, streaks, phases, and rewards that make short-burst productivity feel epic **Bonus mechanic:** Shake-to-Launch — shake the phone to randomly select a ship to work on, weighted by priority --- ## The 9 Zones (Planets) Each Zone is a planet. Ships orbit inside their Zone planet. | Zone | Color | Description | |---|---|---| | 🔵 Core Work | Blue | Primary professional orbit | | 🟠 Side Work | Orange | Ventures, freelance, experiments | | 💚 Health | Green | Body, mind, energy, longevity | | 🏠 Home | Amber | House, maintenance, nest-building | | 👨‍👩‍👧 Family | Yellow | Relationships, presence, care | | 🎨 Creative | Pink | Art, writing, expression, play | | 💰 Money | Gold | Finance, investments, planning | | 🌌 Vision | Purple | Long-range goals, north star thinking | | 🤝 Community | Teal | Giving, belonging, impact | --- ## Ship Phase System Every project (Ship) moves through phases from idea to completion: | Phase | Description | |---|---| | 🛸 Pre-Launch | Ideation — the idea exists, nothing has started | | 🚀 Launch | Work has begun, engines firing | | 🌫 Stratosphere | Early momentum, getting off the ground | | 🌍 Low Orbit | Active, consistent work, building speed | | 🌌 High Orbit | Deep in it, accelerating | | 🌠 Off to the Universe | Completion — launched into space (success) | Ships can also be **Suspended** (blocked/paused) or **Archived**. --- ## Daily Planning System ### Energy Balls - Each Energy Ball = one focus sprint (default 25 min) - User starts each day with a set number based on their day length - Spending a ball feels intentional — it's a commitment, not a checkbox - Completing a real break **refills** energy balls ### The Daily Arc | Block Type | Purpose | |---|---| | 🌄 Morning Ritual | Ease in — journaling, meditation, planning | | 🔥 Sprint Blocks | 15–50 min burns on ships | | ☕ Break / Recharge | Exercise, mindfulness, self-care, sensory reset | | 📅 Meeting Blocks | Fixed commitments | | 🌙 Cool Down | Wind down, reflect, prep for tomorrow | ### Day Modes - **Mission Critical Mode** — laser focus, 2–3 ships max, deep burns - **Daily Progress Mode** — spread across multiple ships, shorter burns, steady momentum --- ## Burn Timer - Circular countdown ring, zone color-coded - Sprint length: 15 / 25 / 35 / 50 min (customizable per ship) - Breathing core animation while burning - Pause / extend (+5 min) / end controls - Post-burn screen: XP earned, streak, log a note, burn again --- ## 🆕 Recharge Ritual System *Captured from beta user feedback — neurodiverse perspective, June 2026* ### The Problem This Solves Spacious minds often struggle to **stop** more than to start. Hyperfocus states feel productive but build cortisol and norepinephrine — leading to burnout, neural fatigue, and crashes. The app needs to be a healthy boundary-setter, not just a productivity accelerator. ### Core Feature: Hard Stop A user-programmable ceiling on continuous work time. Not a suggestion — a real interrupt. - User sets a **Hard Stop threshold**: e.g. "Alert me after 90 minutes of total burn time without a break" - Also triggers on: skipped breaks, time approaching day's hard end time - When triggered, Orbital **pauses everything** and initiates the Recharge Ritual ### The Transition Signal - A distinct celebratory **audio jingle** — feels like "you did it" not "stop now" - Full-screen visual moment — warm, positive, not alarming - Critical for neurodiverse brains that need a **clear sensory signal** to mark state change ### The Pause Ritual (Closing the Loop) A short guided beat before the break begins: 1. **"Name one great thing from this work chunk"** — text input, voice optional 2. **"What's the first thing you'll do when you come back?"** — sets a return anchor 3. Optional: rate energy level 1–5 This closes the mental loop so the brain can actually release the work. ### The Recharge Menu User builds their own personal list of reset activities. Categorized by type: | Category | Examples | |---|---| | 🌿 Sensory / Outdoor | Walk, listen to birds, sunlight, barefoot on grass | | 💧 Physical | Stretch, water, snack, bathroom | | 🧘 Stillness | Breathwork, eyes closed, meditation | | 🎵 Pleasure | Music, doodle, pet an animal | | 👥 Connection | Text someone, brief chat | The app suggests an activity based on: - How long they've been working (longer = more physical suggestion) - Time of day - User's own favorites list ### Energy Ball Recharge - Completing a genuine recharge break **refills energy balls** - Break earns XP too — rest is progress, not a pause from progress - Makes the break feel like gain, not interruption ### Return Anchor When the break ends: - Shows the return anchor they set ("First thing: open the VRespite doc") - Gentle re-entry — not a jolt back to the timer --- ## Integration Decision (Open) **Question:** Should the Recharge Ritual be: **Option A — Baseline function** (always on for all users) - Hard Stop defaults to 90 min, fully adjustable - Recharge prompts are part of the standard burn flow - Appropriate given the target audience **Option B — Spacious Mode** (opt-in toggle) - Users who want deep uninterrupted work can disable - Marketed as the "neurodivergent-aware" mode - Feels more respectful of different working styles **Option C — Onboarding choice** - During setup: "How do you want Orbital to support your energy?" - Sets Hard Stop and Recharge defaults based on answer - Most personalized, most complex to build *Recommendation: Lean toward Option A with easy opt-out — the target audience needs this by default, and neurotypical users who don't need it will simply adjust or ignore the gentle prompts.* --- ## Gamification System (TBD) Open design questions: - Currency: XP + streaks confirmed. Coins/badges TBD - Earning triggers: completing burns, finishing phases, daily consistency, completing breaks - Progression: leveling up (confirmed), badges (planned), leaderboards (future) - Social: solo only for v1 --- ## Screen Inventory ### ✅ Built (prototype stage) - **Day Wheel** — radial daily planning clock with time orbs - **Solar System / Portfolio** — 3D orrery + Portfolio list view with toggle - **Burn Timer** — full sprint timer with post-burn ritual - **Add Ship** — 4-step full-screen flow - **Ship Detail** — full edit screen (name, zone, phase, priority, sprint, objectives, tasks, status) - **XP Screen** — level, stats (placeholder) ### 🔲 To Build - **Recharge Ritual screen** — Hard Stop trigger, transition signal, pause ritual, recharge menu - **Onboarding flow** — first launch, set up zones, Hard Stop preference, recharge list - **Home / Dashboard** — daily summary, mode selector, quick stats - **Shake-to-Launch** — animated spinner screen - **Profile screen** — settings, theme, Hard Stop config, recharge menu editor - **Notifications** — Hard Stop alerts, streak reminders, nudges --- ## Design System ### Themes (all built) | Theme | Feel | |---|---| | 🌠 Golden Hour | Warm amber — default, signature look | | 🌑 Deep Space | Cold blue-black — high intensity | | 🌹 Soft Dusk | Rose-mauve — evening, intimate | | ☁️ Arctic Day | Light blue-white — daytime, clean | ### Typography - **Orbitron** — headings, numbers, logo, timers - **Syne** — body, UI labels - **Syne Mono** — data, metrics, phase labels ### Visual Language - Orbital rings, glowing orbs, depth illusion - Breathing animations during burns - Celebratory moments at phase completions - Dark atmospheric backgrounds with nebula gradients --- ## Open Questions / Backlog - [ ] Recharge Ritual: baseline vs mode vs onboarding choice - [ ] Hard Stop default threshold (90 min? 2 hours? User-set at onboarding?) - [ ] Audio design: what does the transition jingle sound/feel like? - [ ] Recharge menu: pre-populated defaults vs blank for user to fill - [ ] Gamification: full XP/badge system design - [ ] Burn timer: does unused fuel roll over day to day? - [ ] Shake-to-Launch: equal weighting or priority-weighted odds? - [ ] Platform: React Native vs Flutter decision - [ ] Backend/sync: local first or cloud from v1? - [ ] Social layer: share progress, accountability partners (v2?) --- ## 🆕 Gravity System — Psychological Friction Rating *Captured from design session, June 2026* ### The Problem This Solves Priority weight tells Orbital *how important* a ship is. But it doesn't capture *how hard it is to start*. For spacious minds, the gap between wanting to work on something and being able to begin is real, neurologically distinct, and often the actual blocker. A ship can be high priority AND high gravity — you know it matters but something creates resistance: emotional weight, complexity, fear of failure, unclear next step, or just an inexplicable block. ### Gravity (per-ship) A user-configured friction rating on each ship, set during creation or in Ship Detail. **Rating scale: 1–5** | Rating | Label | What it means | |---|---|---| | 1 | ☁️ Weightless | Easy to start, flows naturally | | 2 | 🌊 Light Pull | Mild resistance, usually movable | | 3 | 🌍 Moderate | Takes some activation energy | | 4 | 🪨 Heavy | Real drag, needs the right moment | | 5 | 🕳 Dense | High resistance — emotional, complex, or blocked | **How Gravity figures into the system:** - **Shake-to-Launch weighting** — combined score of priority ÷ gravity. High priority + low gravity = most likely to surface. High priority + high gravity = surfaces only when user energy is strong, or with special framing - **"Courage Burn" framing** — when a high-gravity ship is selected, the burn screen acknowledges the resistance: "This one takes courage. You've got this." instead of the default launch message - **Portfolio view** — optional gravity indicator on ship cards (small icon or color shift) - **AI coach nudge layer** — "You haven't touched [ship] in a while — it's sitting at high gravity. Want to do a short 15-min courage burn just to make contact?" - **Daily planning** — app deprioritizes surfacing high-gravity ships on low-energy days **UI placement:** - Ship creation flow: Step 3 gets a Gravity toggle alongside Phase - Ship Detail: editable gravity rating in its own section - Visual: a subtle downward-pull icon (⬇ or 🌑) next to the priority dots --- ## 🆕 AI Coach Daily Check-in (v2 Feature) *Captured from design session, June 2026* ### Concept A clean entry moment at the start of each session — before the Day Wheel, before ship selection. Two questions asked by a personalized AI coach that calibrates the entire day's experience. ### The Two Questions **Question 1: Energy & Mood** *"What's your general energy right now?"* - Options: low / medium / high (or a 1–5 slider with emoji anchors) - Effect: directly sets the number of energy balls available for the day - Low energy → fewer balls, shorter suggested sprints, more breaks built in - High energy → full allocation, mission critical mode suggested **Question 2: Internal Resistance** *"Do you feel any internal or emotional resistance to getting into action today? If so, how much?"* - Options: none / a little / significant / really stuck - Effect: figures into which ships are surfaced, how they're framed, and whether a "ease in" burn is suggested before mission critical work - "Really stuck" → app suggests a 10-min warmup burn on a low-gravity ship before anything else - Combines with per-ship Gravity to create a session-level resistance score ### AI Coach Personality - Warm, non-judgmental, curious - Never productivity-shaming ("you should have done more") - Celebrates momentum, not just completion - Speaks in Orbital metaphors: "Let's see what's in your orbit today" - Optional: user names their coach or picks a coaching style (gentle / direct / playful) ### Implementation Path - **v1 (current)**: Static check-in screen with the two questions, manual response, no AI - **v1.5**: Responses feed into energy ball count and shake-to-launch weighting - **v2**: Full Claude API integration — coach responds to free-text entries, asks follow-up questions, suggests a daily burn plan based on energy + gravity scores ### Entry Point - Triggered at first app open each day (or manually from the Day Wheel) - Also accessible as "How am I doing?" from the burn screen or profile --- ## Open Questions Updated - [ ] Gravity: should it be always visible on ship cards or hidden unless high? - [ ] Gravity: does the user set it, or can the AI suggest it based on behavior patterns? - [ ] AI Coach: what's the right tone/persona for the Orbital coach? - [ ] AI Coach: should check-in be mandatory daily or optional? - [ ] AI Coach: how does energy score interact with hard stop threshold? - [ ] Gravity + Priority combined score formula — simple division or weighted?