MAP is a place where I can map out three kinds of information — Mods, Agencies and Projects — so that I can build a better understanding of myself, as well as how I can become a better and more alive person. Because it keeps in mind the question of how it can still be continuously evocative and useful in 10 years time, it emphasises simplicity and elegance in both its design, as well as the kinds of information that is recorded on it. Because of this, it is not a journalling app — it’s purpose isn’t simply to document, but to clarify and to help guide. Everything should be useful when revisiting it, and might in fact become more useful as time goes on as I get a broader picture. To speak to the three parts, starting from the last: Projects that repeat over time, for example a yearly reflection, a 3 month improv course I take that repeats weekly, or a month long experiment where I try to notice beauty daily and reflect on how it's going every 2 weeks. The orbits on the home page are the time scales of each cycle (ranging from 1 week to 3 months to 1 year), and the planets are the days on which there is a project. Agencies are my ways of being, different parts of me, for example sad-when-lonely Vincent views the world and acts in it differently than sad-when-thinking-about-the-future Vincent. The things that I might map include: what kinds of textures are they experientially, what results in them, how do I work with them well, how do I move out of them or “phase shift” out of them. There can also be agencies that I want to get into more — the taste-of-summer Vincent, or the post-movement-class Vincent. Finally, mods, or modifications, are things that I can do to modify how I currently am. An example might be the prompt of +10% chaos — how can I increase the chaos in my life by 10%. Another more mundane one would be to sleep before 10:30pm. Another one yet might be a sequence of actions that can help me phase shift from one agency to another, for example 1 hour walk followed by a shower followed by half an hour of calling a close friend. Visually I strove for both be simplicity and beauty. Much attention was put on small details — transitions, spacing, stripping out any unnecessary noise and so on. I wanted it to feel really good to use so I would look forward to visiting it. This aspect of the design is an ongoing process.

For another project that aims to foster a more thoughtfulness through technology, see Dialogos. Otherwise, return to home here.