The creation Discko came up with is called Aloe Bud. The app uses friendly-looking pixel-art icons to set reminders and log basic bits of self-care: meals eaten, glasses of water drank, medications taken. It also offers gentle affirmations and reminds its users to occasionally interact with friends or the outdoors in order to avoid isolating circumstances.
Discko created it for people struggling with mental illness, chronic illness, ADHD, or people who just forget to floss their teeth before calling it a night.
In contrast to other health-minded reminder apps, like the Activity app on the Apple Watch, Aloe Bud’s nudges are especially soft-edged: “You can’t have a rainbow without a little rain. Ready to shine?” Compare this to what an Apple Watch wearer would see on their wrist: “Make it happen. Yesterday, your Move ring didn’t get enough love. Let’s get it closed today.” You can see the contrast; Aloe Bud’s notifications feel more like texts from your Deadhead aunt than shouts from your high school gym teacher commanding you to take another lap.
“I want to show that it’s casual because it has to be,” Discko says, “You’re not going to want something if it’s in your face.”
Budding Prospects
In August of 2017, Discko launched a Kickstarter project for the app. The name Aloe Bud was chosen as a nod to the aloe plant, which is harvested for its medicinal properties, and for its apt imagery of a growing bud on its way to full bloom. “We're all unaware of our own magnificence until we have someone shine that light on us,” Discko says.
The final app is a bit different from the early concepts, but the gist is the same—you set up a grid of activities to “check-in” on, like taking deep breaths and keeping your mind present or reflecting on ways to show kindness to your loved ones, and arrange them in whichever order you want. You can use it as a quick journal, a medication tracker, or as a way to remind yourself to live in the moment.
Discko developed the app with the help of the team at software studio Lickability with the aim of making it approachable and welcoming. When you open the app, you’re greeted with a grid of light-toned icons, all in a pixel-art design you’d see in games like Super Mario World, along with an action verb below each one. You’ll see things like a watermelon with sparkles coming off the top, with the word Fuel underneath, as a reminder to munch on something at times when you might struggle with remembering to eat.
Aloe's grid of icons is customizable too. You can pick up any activity and drag it across the screen to rearrange them based on time of day, type of action, or even just whatever you think looks orderly. (Aloe Bud is free to download, and you can unlock advanced features with an in-app purchase of a few dollars.)
Each activity can be set as either a “check-in” or a “reflection.” Check-ins serve as a checkbox to say you remembered to call your loved ones today, while a reflection will ask you to answer a specific prompt, kind of like Instagram’s question box, and write about someone who always makes you smile, or the ways in which you can “show yourself kindness” today. You can set custom reminders for anything, giving yourself nudges to stand up and move around, reset your brain with a music playlist, or take your medication if you’re prone to forgetting.