Kindest: A Personal Relationship Manager for Happier, More Connected Lives

Kindest app main screen

Project Overview

Kindest is a thoughtfully-designed app that helps users focus on what matters most: their relationships. By organizing important connections and transforming nurturing actions into habits, Kindest empowers people to actively build happier, more fulfilling lives—with privacy, fun, and self-care always at the center.

Project Duration

March 2024 – Present

The Product

Kindest merges simple relationship management with playful, motivating features for real-life impact:

  • Add Relationships: Create and keep a visual record of friends, family, colleagues, partners, or anyone important in your life.
  • Progress Rings & Streaks: Track your relationship-building actions visually. Turn caring for others (and yourself) into a motivating, rewarding experience.
  • Set Actions: Schedule daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or one-time actions—like calls, hugs, check-ins, or birthdays. Never miss another important moment.
  • Reminders: Custom reminders ensure you consistently show up for your people. Actions can be color-coded and icon-personalized for quick recognition.
  • Keep Memories: Capture and link special moments, stories, or images to each relationship or action—preserving what matters.
  • Self-care Tracker: Don’t forget yourself! Schedule and track self-care like meditation, reflection, or rest.
  • Action Templates: Explore inspiration for connecting with different types of relationships—with dozens of actionable prompts.
  • Privacy-First: All data remains on-device. No account required, and no sharing—your details stay safe and private.
  • Kindest Plus: Start free, upgrade for unlimited relationships and premium features.

The Problem

In a busy world, it’s easy to lose touch with meaningful relationships—or even neglect self-care. Existing solutions are either clinical (CRMs for business contacts), focused only on reminders, or lack the emotional and motivational design needed for real success.

The Opportunity

  • Humans thrive on meaningful relationships, but intentional connections require habit, memory, and gentle prompting.
  • Most people want to be kinder, more present, and thoughtful with those they love—but need a nudge and a way to track progress.
  • Privacy and trust are vital, especially for sensitive relationships or personal notes.

The Goal

Design a joyful, easy-to-use relationship manager that keeps users proactive in their connections—with reminders, memories, gamified motivation, and total privacy.

My Role

Solo product designer and SwiftUI developer—end-to-end concept, research, interface design, logic/feature set, App Store strategy, and support.

Responsibilities

  • Crafted a motivating UX: progress rings, streaks, and fun reminders
  • Designed a flexible system supporting every kind of connection—from romance to friendship, work, and self-care
  • Built visual memories attachment (text/photos) for rich, personalized storytelling
  • Developed customizable reminders and action templates for quick setup and inspiration
  • Created onboarding, marketing campaigns, and monitored subscriptions and user feedback for ongoing product growth

The Result

  • Active Relationship Growth: Users are reminded to stay connected and nurture their important personal relationships.
  • Motivation through Gamification: Progress rings and streaks drive positive action, turning relationships into an engaging, rewarding practice.
  • Full-spectrum Care: Unique support for both connections with others and self-care means the app helps users thrive holistically.
  • Memories Preserved: Moments, photos, and notes can be recalled instantly—strengthening the bond to memories and people.
  • Private by Design: Users trust Kindest to keep their hearts and habits secure.

What I Learned

  • Motivation and visual progress are key to turning good intentions into lasting habits
  • Blending care for others and yourself is both unique and deeply valued
  • Keeping data on device (no accounts, no sharing) builds irreplaceable trust with users
  • Action inspiration and templates drive early user success and ongoing engagement

Takeaways

  • Relationship care should be as easy and fun as habit-tracking or fitness
  • Gamification plus privacy = real digital wellbeing for modern users
  • Rich, multi-modal memories (images + text) can strengthen bonds over time
  • Exceeding user expectations on privacy is just as important as adding new features

Ready to nurture your connections?
Kindest is available now on the App Store.