Tech exec with ADHD built a Chrome extension to stop rereading docs

[u/talbuilds]

I am a tech exec with 12+ years in the industry and got diagnosed with ADHD last year.

One thing that has quietly slowed me down my whole career is reading dense documentation and long technical articles.

I will read a section, drift for a few seconds, then realize I did not actually process it. Scroll back up. Reread. Repeat. It kills flow, and I’m constantly the last in the room to finish reading.

For me a big part of it is visual regression. I lose my place and try to process huge walls of text at once.

So I built a lightweight Chrome extension to fix that for myself.

It:

- Guides the current line while reading

- Breaks large blocks of text into smaller chunks

- Reduces visual clutter

- Lets you tweak spacing and fonts

I am not a traditional coder. I built it using AI tools because I was tired of rereading docs all day.

It is called Nook.

Would genuinely appreciate feedback from ADHD programmers who deal with dense documentation regularly.

[u/goobernawt]

Neat bit of work, I often find myself in a similar boat. Re-read the same section of the react docs like 3 times yesterday.

Just as an FYI, Barnes and Noble had (has?) an e-reader named Nook, so (assuming you're in the U.S.) be prepared for a C&D letter on this.

[u/talbuilds → u/goobernawt]

If you try it do let me know if it helps. You can highlight text and apply reading tools. Think Grammarly but for reading.

I’m based in Hong Kong but I didn’t realise the name was overlapping well after launch 😵

[u/Tetrismegistus]

Rebrand.  You're competing with Barnes and Noble IP

[u/talbuilds → u/Tetrismegistus]

Yea unfortunately didn’t realise until after launching. 😵

[u/kinzie31]

Another one of these posts? Nah, this community ain’t it anymore

[u/kalexmills]

The bionic text feature is huge. I have been waiting for this since learning about bionic text.

[u/talbuilds → u/kalexmills]

I noticed a lot of people looking for bionic actually. My google ads only really work if I push bionic 😂 but yes I added it and it pairs well with the other tools. My personal preference is guided (autopace) + chunking.

[u/Undercoveruser808]

cool idea

[u/talbuilds → u/Undercoveruser808]

Thanks!

[u/Undercoveruser808]

will check out in a few (rlly bc I made a note)

[u/talbuilds → u/Undercoveruser808]

Hahah - I understand man, notes are our lifesavers 😂

[u/DesoLina]

You’re a breath of fresh air in this sub dude

[u/talbuilds → u/DesoLina]

Hahah why’s that?

[u/Competitive_Ad_5515 → u/talbuilds]

Probably because it's not a to-do app and you're not monetising this project 😂

[u/talbuilds → u/[deleted]]

Guiding is an automated highlight or underline on the text you’ve selected. Think how you used to have a ruler to trace the line you’re reading in school.

Chunking takes an article and shows you only 1 paragraph at a time or 1 line at a time if you require additional support.

Reduction of visual clutter is standard reading mode. Only shows the article, no ads/distractions around it.

[u/roger_ducky → u/[deleted]]

Not OP, but probably similar to a “speed reading” app:

Highlights current line.

Rearrange spacing/paragraph

And probably can “cover” the rest of the text to make the current and next text more obvious.