Why an app?
Why an app?
We’ve previously explored how Ping Practice is medium-agnostic.
That is, you can record, reflect on, and synthesize pings in whatever ways work for you.
Despite the abundance of existing methods, we still decided to build a bespoke phone app. Why?
After years of experimenting and talking with people doing the same, we learned the ways people captured “placeless thoughts” varied.
At the same time, commonalities emerged among the different workflows and tools.
Whether people used Apple Notes, emailing/texting themselves, physical notebooks, plain text files, index cards, scrap pieces of paper, sticky notes, Google Docs, Simplenote, Squarespace Note (RIP), screenshots… we all aligned on tools that prioritized:
1) Simplicity
2) Speed
3) Convenience
4) Privacy
All the while, no matter the medium or method, people described a tension:
1) People felt grounded, clear, and inspired when they revisited what they had captured
2) People rarely found room for this reflection
This tension helped inform a variety of experiments – each of which concluded in a similar way: they failed to inspire us to revisit regularly.
No matter the configuration, revisiting felt heavy. As a result, doing so required a level of intention and motivation we experienced too infrequently to encourage an ongoing practice.
We dreamt of a revisiting and reflecting experience that felt a bit like walking: lightweight, open-ended, easeful, impromptu, clarifying, and safe. An experience that worked both while you were waiting in line at the grocery store and sitting silently on a long flight.
Clear about what we were seeking and why, we raised our gaze and saw the space for a dedicated tool — an iOS app to start.
Ping Practice (the app) draws inspiration from the gradual meaning-making editing Wikipedia enables and the gestural and intuitive exploration Apple/Google Photos invites. At the same time, Ping Practice reimagines these experiences for the purpose of inner discovery.
We call it “a camera roll for your thoughts.”
To see how we’ve given initial shape to the above, we invite you to review this case study and/or join us in experimenting with the prototype.
Thank you for experiencing this transmission —
From: Peter Pelberg & Laurel Schwulst
Began on: August 15, 2024
Sent on: April 25, 2025
Permalink: https://pingpractice.org/transmissions/why-an-app/