not-boring-software

name	not-boring-software
description	Philosophy and process for making software with a strong point of view — tactile, game-feel-driven, differentiation-first design. Use when designing or building apps that should feel alive, opinionated, and crafted. Triggers on tasks involving interaction design, onboarding, haptics, motion, product philosophy, or making software feel like more than a utility.
metadata	{"author":"andy-allen","source":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XA4a0t6S5s","version":"1.0.0"}

Not Boring Software

A design and product philosophy distilled from Andy Allen's work at Not Boring Software — makers of Not Boring Calculator, Weather, and Camera. Fully bootstrapped, tiny team, no VC pressure. Their apps feel like nothing else on your phone.

The core idea: design as differentiation. Not design that explains new technology or helps you scale — design that makes software worth wanting, the same way great automotive or fashion design does.

When to Use This Skill

Use when:

• Designing interactions, onboarding, or UI that should feel tactile and alive
• Making decisions about product scope, speed, or what to cut
• Questioning whether to add AI, new features, or follow a trend
• Trying to give a product a strong point of view or visible authorship
• Prototyping a new idea and not knowing where to start
• Building indie software or a bootstrapped product
• Deciding when to ship

References

• design-as-differentiation.md — Design that makes something worth wanting, not just usable
• game-feel.md — Tactile, complex-but-approachable interfaces; the kid in the cockpit
• prototype-in-the-real-medium.md — Sketch, 3D print, Lego — get off the computer
• working-prototypes-not-mockups.md — Build the real thing early, not a Figma flow
• add-then-strip.md — Overbuild first, then cut ruthlessly
• one-hour-validation.md — Validate any idea in one focused hour
• ship-signal.md — When you're sick of it but others still react — ship
• point-of-view.md — Software should have a visible creator in the work
• stay-small.md — Scaling doesn't produce better work