Hey there, I'm Alexander.

I'm interested in how software can better serve people's daily lives.

In my research, I explore interesting questions that seem to go ignored. My experiments often involve designing and developing many ideas — some of which I build into commercially available products, which further informs my research.

Below is a compendium of my research areas. The best place to start is the article on how I approach my core work.

Want to receive my work as I publish it?

    The future of the operating system

    In my current work, I am researching and building the operating system of the future for personal computing to bring it closer to the “bicycle for the mind” tool for advancing human thought and ability.

    Lab Notes

    Weekly Lab Notes document my research progress. How can personal computing push past its current limitations? This research explores new and newly refined ideas for what the operating system allows people to do.

    Introduction to the research

    Read the article introducing this research currently in progress.

    Products

    Symphonies is the testbed for the ideas from my research on the future of the OS. These products have since spun out.

    Symphonies Planner Logo

    Symphonies Planner

    Digital planner
    Symphonies Thinker Logo

    Symphonies Thinker

    Tool for thought (in research)

    Reimagining email

    My career began with reimagining email and finding ways to build that vision on top of today’s existing email protocols.

    Following a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign in 2012, this work resulted in award-winning products that topped the charts and were frequently featured by Apple in the App Store.

    10 years of research and experimentation

    As we approach the ten year mark for this work, I am compiling a retrospective that catalogues everything: what worked, what didn’t, prototypes that never saw the light of day, and finally, where email is probably headed next.

    Read the retrospective

    Products

    These products have spun out of my research on email.

    Mail Pilot sails logo

    Mail Pilot

    Reimagined email client
    Throttle lightning bolt logo

    Throttle

    Email throttling service

    Thinking in Progress

    Short snippets that reflect my current thinking on various topics which I cite often in my articles and other works.

    On creation: Quantity is the journey to quality · The dots connect later · The merit of ideas and ideation

    On software: Build and rebuild · Pioneering users · Gather a community · Form is function

    Lab Notes

    These Lab Notes document my research in progress. My current research area is on the future of personal computing.

    I publish these Lab Notes weekly to intentionally “work with the lab door open” — inviting others’ thoughts and dialog along the way. Something spark your interest? Get in touch.

    Explore the Lab Notes

    Articles

    My long form articles, published and updated occasionally.

    How I approach my core work

    My core work is independent research in software — here is the how and the why.

    See more articles

    The Weekly

    Updates posted weekly on Saturday or Sunday. To receive these updates by email, sign up at the top of the page.

    May 2, 2021

    How will we organize our things in the OS of the future?

    April 10, 2021

    General purpose personal computing software?

    See the archives

    Mindsense

    Since 2012, I've run Mindsense, a company I started to bring the best ideas that come out of my research into commercially available products.

    Our products have received praise in The New York Times, Macworld, and others; topped the App Store and Product Hunt charts; and been used by the people who make your favorite movies, put astronauts in space, and run your local bistro.

    Mindsense website

    Popups

    Small, just-for-fun projects made available for a short period of time.

    1997.chat

    March, 2020 — A faithful remake of AOL Instant Messenger made available during 2020's quarantines to connect the world's socially isolated.

    Founder Thunder Round

    December, 2016 — A one-time video and podcast mini-series on successful founders and their experiences.