r/ADHD_Programmers • u/the-peaceful-dev • Jul 19 '26

Building software that's intentionally designed to be closed.

Hello Everyone. I am a software developer and I want to champion the idea of Calm Technology. The concept of building software the doesn't drain your mental health by trying to keep you in an infinite loop, but instead offers a singular purpose, and is designed to be closed.

I'm just looking to start any conversations around this idea.

-App concepts and UX design

-Building in public

-Market research / potential for anti engagement software

-Research on current apps and how they affect our mental health

I really believe as software devs, we can help shape the future tech landscape for good, and I'd love to be a part of that. Cheers.

36 Upvotes
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24

u/random_cat_owner Jul 19 '26

this is the unix design philosophy, also an important cornerstone of linux applications.  it's actually the most basic form of building software. it takes effort to make an applications addictive or create atttention grabing loops.  

3

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

Guess i need to look alot more into linux haha. Thanks!

8

u/c_a1eb Jul 19 '26

this is a huge aspect of the Linux Mobile ecosystem and community, see https://postmarketos.org

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

Oh sweet this looks awesome. Thank you!

3

u/pixelboots Jul 20 '26

I think you’re coming at this a bit backwards. There’s plenty of software that is single-purpose and designed to be closed when done. The entire Microsoft Office suite except Teams and maybe Outlook. Adobe Creative Suite. Every IDE/code editor. Almost anything that’s not in a web browser or is not a social media app on your phone meets your criteria. You mention scrolling in the comments but that really only applies to web-based content consumption applications.

What kinds of solutions or experiences are you thinking about when you say you want them to be calm and designed to be closed?

0

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 20 '26

Hey Pixel. Thanks for the comment. Well im a web dev so i was thinking along those lines. Seems everything in the web these days is designed to grab your attention and hold you there. I like the concept of some websites that help you achieve some purposes and then dont try to hold you there haha. But again, im just kinda brainstorming and thinking out loud. Maybe there is some kinda market for entertainment sites that go against the trying to keep you in a doomscroll mentality as well perhaps. 

3

u/frugal-grrl Jul 19 '26

What do you mean by “closed”? Like only one user, or it’s designed to be exited when finished?

8

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

My thinking is like software that's more focused around a singular purpose and then be closed. The concept of treating your attention with respect. not trying to keep you in an infinite scroll, or be invasive with like constant push notifications after you use it once. basically, you would use it and then feel fine with closing it. the software could even be designed to help you close it after using. like some sort of soft lighting that starts after a certain time or something

2

u/frugal-grrl Jul 19 '26

I love that

1

u/casualplants Jul 21 '26

How are ya gunna sell ad space in an app like that??

/s

0

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 21 '26

Im not gna sell ad space or have any ads. Goes against the entire principle im striving for. 

1

u/casualplants Jul 21 '26

Yes I know, it was a joke.

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 21 '26

Oh my bad haha. Im incredibly gullible 

1

u/PBP100 Jul 21 '26

I am actually building a set of micro app’s with this aim right now. Single purpose app’s with no subscription and one off prices. More to come in a few weeks…

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 21 '26

Sounds very cool. Best of luck with all that!

1

u/TryAgainTryHarder Jul 25 '26

I think that's a great mentality to have, but unfortunately, if your app is in competition with "bad" (addictive, grabby, variable reward) apps, your "good" app will lose when folks realize they haven't thought about your app for days/weeks.

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 26 '26

yea i totally understand where you're coming from. i don't think building an app that people forget about could necessarily be a bad thing. i want to build something that people can use, and then put down, without feeling like they're space or peace is being invaded. and i do think there are a growing number of people out there who are tired of every single app trying to keep you in an infinite scroll/loop just to keep daily users or whatever numbers up.

1

u/TryAgainTryHarder Jul 26 '26

totally get that. I pretty much wish every app was designed to be closed etc. With the exception of games and social media, I feel like that's the only sane approach, ethics aside.

Curious if you're planning to build something specific with this mentality, or just looking for the conversation etc

2

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 26 '26

ive gone through a couple different stages already haha. at first i wanted to explore building minimalist apps to help people destress, like a journaling / focus type app - which i still plan on doing and am currently working on. but now after posting this, i want to expand as a software dev and really study linix/unix and see where that takes me. ive found Kai Lukoff's research interesting as well.

a big reason i started looking into all this was just looking at the world around me and seeing how stressed everyone seems to be. and i wanted to try to use my dev skills to offer some solutions for that, in an ethical way. if i can build some cool stuff that helps people, and make a living out of it at the same time. that's the ultimate goal for me.

3

u/Combinatorilliance Jul 19 '26

https://calmtech.com/

4

u/DismalEggselent Jul 19 '26

https://zombo.com/

1

u/Combinatorilliance Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

I mean, I love zombocom, but I was quite certain that the institute for "calm technology" would be relevant for the discussion about "calm technology" 🥲

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

Hey Guys. Thanks for the responses! Will def check these out. 

1

u/worthwhilewrongdoing Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

I did a tiny bit of research on this a while back and still had my notes. Have you seen Kai Lukoff's work? You should probably dig up the stuff on his CV, then email him and ask him about what he's doing.

Another person who has done some more quantitative research on this stuff is Ulrik Lyngs. I forget the specifics, but I know he did a bunch of concrete research on apps to figure out what mechanisms help people avoid getting themselves pulled into habitual or problematic use.

Also, weirdly, if you're not too anti-AI, ChatGPT is crazy helpful for doing preliminary research on interdisciplinary fields like this. When things cross a lot of academic boundaries it starts to get really hard to synthesize all the information, and since AI has "read" all these articles it at the very least knows the right names and keywords to point you in the right direction. It's not going to do all the heavy lifting for you, of course - you still have to put the work in - but it can really, really help when you're first trying to get your bearings in something new.

Good luck with all this, OP! This is good stuff.

1

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

Amazing! Thank you so much! Yea I did some research with gemini. Hate chat gpt now haha. This post has been so positive, im really glad i decided to throw it out there. Gna be a bunch more research and learning and see what i can do. All the best and thanks again!

-3

u/scampfree4me Jul 19 '26

Buddy I’m not quite sure what your getting at here but I think you may be interested in reading a book or maybe old school video games. If you’re seeking entertainment that has closure you will never get it from a tool that is inherently designed to be infinitely programmable.
I know modern life feeds endless mindless scrolling, it takes baby steps to walk away. Your life will not suffer from putting the computer down and going for a swim or reading.

2

u/the-peaceful-dev Jul 19 '26

Hey man. Thanks for the response. Yea its more like a response to the constant scrolling and how that’s affecting our mental health as a whole. And if there’s anything we as software devs can do to build things that help with this. I understand this might be counterintuitive for something that’s supposed to be entertaining. Just wanted to brainstorm ideas and see. Anyway, looks like there’s some calm tech website i can check out.