The calm scorecard
How does real software stack up against the six principles of calm design? Click any app to see the breakdown.
Defaults over choice
State not feed
Cheap deviation
Contextual data
Personality ok
Minimal notifs
Click any row for details
Calm
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Today view is auto-populated from scheduled tasks. You don't build it each morning.
State
"Today" and "Upcoming" are pure state views. No activity feed, no "since you were away."
Deviation
Rescheduling is drag-and-drop. No streaks, no guilt for overdue tasks. "Evening is clear" is peaceful.
Contextual data
You do manually set up areas and projects upfront—though the setup is minimal.
Personality
Beautiful animations, satisfying check-off sound. Delightful but never distracting.
Notifications
Only fires reminders you explicitly set. Zero unsolicited notifications.
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
One font, one mode, one focus. No configuration required. Open and write.
State
Your document. That's the state. No dashboard, no feed, no analytics.
Deviation
No word count goals, no writing streaks. Stop whenever you want.
Contextual data
No setup wizard. It learns nothing about you. It doesn't need to.
Personality
Intentionally minimal. Could be warmer—but austerity is the brand here.
Notifications
Zero. Never sends a notification. Ever.
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Opens to current location. Shows the temperature. No setup.
State
Pure state: 68°, mostly sunny. Not "weather has changed since you last checked!"
Deviation
Not applicable—but there's nothing to deviate from. No goals, no streaks.
Contextual data
Uses location automatically. Never asks preferences.
Personality
Animated backgrounds are delightful and ambient. Calm, not austere.
Notifications
Only severe weather alerts. Safe to ignore 99% of the time.
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Auto-triage, keyboard shortcuts, split inbox. Decisions are pre-made.
State
Terminal state is "Inbox Zero—enjoy your day." Done is done.
Deviation
Snooze, archive, and "remind me" are all one keystroke. No penalty for deferring.
Contextual data
The onboarding concierge call is thorough but lengthy.
Personality
Satisfying animations. Inbox Zero screen is a genuine moment of delight.
Notifications
Configurable and conservative by default.
Mixed
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Opinionated workflows, auto-triage, keyboard-first. Decides how issues should flow.
State
"My issues" is state. Shows what's assigned to you now, not an activity feed.
Deviation
Cycles and velocity metrics can create implicit pressure to "keep up." Mostly fine.
Contextual data
Auto-detects project conventions. Minimal upfront setup.
Personality
Fast, polished, satisfying to use. Dark theme with beautiful micro-interactions.
Notifications
Conservative defaults. Notifies for assignments and mentions, not activity.
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Doesn't decide anything for you. It's a blank grid. But it also doesn't guilt blank slots.
State
Pure state: what's scheduled. No suggestions, no "you have a free hour!"
Deviation
Rescheduling is easy, but a packed calendar is itself a source of anxiety the tool doesn't address.
Contextual data
Works immediately. Syncs calendars automatically.
Personality
Functional but plain. Not austere, not delightful. Just there.
Notifications
Only fires for upcoming events. No marketing, no "check your schedule!"
Anxious
D
Duolingo
Language learning
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Auto-selects your daily lesson, which is good. But the path is rigid.
State
The streak IS the state. "142 days" is a feed of commitment, not a summary of knowledge.
Deviation
Missing one day breaks your streak. "Streak freezes" exist to monetize the anxiety this creates.
Contextual data
Placement test is good. But then it nags about daily goals you set under social pressure.
Personality
Duo the owl is charming. The animations are delightful. The personality is genuine.
Notifications
Escalating guilt: "Duo is sad," "Don't lose your streak," "These reminders don't seem to be working."
in
LinkedIn
Professional network
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
Default view is an algorithmic feed optimized for engagement, not utility.
State
"47 people viewed your profile" is vanity metrics as a feed. Not state you can act on.
Deviation
You can skip the feed, but the app constantly pulls you back. Not technically punished, just... nudged.
Contextual data
"Congratulate Sarah" and "endorse Mike for Java" are data extraction disguised as courtesy.
Personality
Sterile corporate aesthetic. Neither warm nor hostile. Just bland.
Notifications
Relentless. Profile views, connection suggestions, post reactions, job alerts, "people you may know."
Defaults
State
Deviation
Data
Personality
Notifs
Defaults
All channels are noisy by default. You must manually configure your way to calm.
State
Every channel is a feed. Bold names and badge counts create a to-do list you never asked for.
Deviation
You can mute, snooze, and set schedules—but these are expert features, not defaults.
Contextual data
Doesn't interrogate you, but also doesn't learn what matters to you.
Personality
Genuinely playful. Custom emoji, Slackbot, loading messages. Warm personality.
Notifications
Default: notify for all messages in all channels. This is the core problem.
The six principles
Software should do work so users don't have to.
The best interface is absence; the second best is a summary.
Defaults are kindness.
Corrections should be easier than configuration.
Interruptions should be rare and proportional.
Ignoring the app should be a valid usage mode.