Launch HN: Indy (YC S21) – A support app designed for ADHD brains

> I feel very strongly that any device which has other apps is a terrible tool for ADHD management and organization.

I strongly disagree. While that approach may work for you, it did not work for me. I do not believe there is a one size fits all approach in this regard. My limitation is far more on the executive side than it is with distractibility or addiction, my devices present no sigificant negative impact in that regard.

> One needs to spend less time on devices. Go analogue. Pen and paper. The best tool that I have found is the Bullet Journal Method.

That may be true for you, but device usage itself is not a problem for me. I spent significant time attempting bullet journaling and found it ineffective, it increased cognitive overhead and time spent managing the system rather than executing tasks. Additionally, handwriting based systems are not well suited to me due to motor limitations from an incomplete spinal cord injury.

I use a single Kanban board in Trello to manage my entire life. It works precisely because it is digital. Always accessible, frictionless, and available wherever I am. For me, that constant availability is essential.

> The ROI is higher than from any app.

For you, perhaps. For me, adopting a Kanban based digital system was life changing. As you suggested of your own system, no other tool has had a greater positive impact on my organisation or productivity than Trello. The only thing which has had even remotely the same level of impact is medication.

For Trello itself (kanban) I think the reason it worked when nothing else did is due to its visual/spacial nature, combined with WIP limits and low friction capture. But it didnt truly click until I could have it with me at all times. Whenever I notice I've gotten distracted or drifted, no matter where I am I know i'm one "click" away effectively from re-orienting myself on what I was supposed to be doing and what matters.

>“knowing what to do” is rarely the problem for people with ADHD. The harder problem is actually doing it consistently over time, especially when attention, motivation, and emotional state fluctuate.

I don't have a diagnosis, but I can say that choosing what to do very often seems like the stumbling block for me.

Some really good stuff in here. - on testimonials. We have some early ones here https://testimonial.to/indy/all and a bunch of video ones that include the good and the bad (but not shared for privacy). i do like the idea of sharing all of it in a live place so people can engage though. something we'll look into - community building is huge for us. i'm on IG with 200K+ and we constantly throw free community events (live), e.g. last week we did a 2026 planning with 1,000+ ADHDers there - we’re also looking to include thumbs up/down around messages similar to other ai chat apps so people can provide more feedback around specific messages/outputs and for each chat interaction too! any other ideas welcome :)

we love blunt and critical, it's why these forums are so important for us. totally hear you on these, and some other folks here have mentioned similar comments. we'll be looking at our landing page further over the next week! thanks! and also agree time = money, with you on that one. appreciate the feedback

When you say assistive technology, what kind of things are you thinking about?

I don't have ADHD myself but I'm heavy into home automation and am just interested in it in general, since I think there's so much potential for smart tech to actually improve the lives of those with ADHD.

Some things that come to mind:

- Washing machine alerts you if you have accidentally done washing and forgotten to take it out.

- Household lights change colour consistently throughout the day to assist with time blindness; house goes into wind-down mode at night automatically at the same time. Music starts automatically when you should be getting up out of bed. Coffee machine starts brewing coffee (if that's your thing).

- Doomscrolling pits like Instagram and Tiktok are disabled except for very specific times of the day.

- Extremely low friction note taking (eg- smartwatch, recorder pin) that's instantly available, searchable and automatable.

- Airtags for finding misplaced items quickly.

Also goes without saying -- when you know one person with ADHD.... you know one person with ADHD. What works for any particular person is going to be mostly unique, or at least a unique combination of things.

Essentially, anything that a) puts cues in your environment to help steer you in the right direction and b) requires very little executive function to access.

Is that on the right track?