Park It

Overview

Park It (developed under the working name ADHD Todo) is an iOS app that treats productivity support as executive-function scaffolding, not engagement hacking. The idea is simple: capture thoughts before they spiral, triage one card at a time so long lists don't trigger freeze, then run a focus session where the current step and timer stay visible—including via Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, aimed at time blindness rather than streak pressure.

The product explicitly avoids shame-first patterns: overdue flows use supportive rerouting, streaks aren't punitive, and copy stays short and plain—aligned with an emotionally safe UX stance in the design spec.

Why I'm Building It

Most mainstream todo apps optimise for throughput and dense lists. For many ADHD and neurodivergent users, that increases overwhelm and avoidance. I wanted something closer to externalised executive function: isolation between capture and backlog weight, deliberate friction where it helps (triage), and time visibility where it matters (focus).

It is also a disciplined excuse to ship native Apple integrations—SwiftData for persistence, ActivityKit for Live Activities—inside a cohesive visual system (semantic colours, gradients, accessibility hooks) rather than a generic template UI.

What's Inside

High-level surface area from the current build and product spec:

• Quick capture — Get items into a parking lot without staring at an endless backlog first.
• Parking lot — Chronological inbox with a calm empty state.
• Triage — One item at a time (do now, elaborate, archive) to reduce shutdown from scanning huge lists.
• Focus — Single-task session with timer visibility; Live Activities keep the session on the Lock Screen / Dynamic Island when that's the right cue.
• Dopamenu — Optional, low-pressure presets (starters / mains / sides) when initiation is the blocker.
• Sensory controls — Global switches for motion, sound, and haptics where applicable.
• SwiftData — Local persistence with a clear schema for captured items, sub-steps, and dopamenu lines.

Technical Notes

The app targets a native SwiftUI codebase with a shared module for Live Activity attributes, a widget extension surface for focus state, and theme tokens (semantic colours, gradients) kept consistent across tabs. CI and App Store positioning are still in motion; when the listing goes live, this page will pick up an App Store link.

Reflections

Shipping for this audience is as much tone and pacing as features: what you don't show matters as much as what you do. Building Park It has reinforced that progressive disclosure—capture without judgement, triage as its own mode, focus as the only “loud” state—is an architecture decision, not just copy.

I'll expand this entry with screenshots and store links once the release candidate is through review.