Logger is an iOS app for tracking anything.

Perfect for self-reflection or data collection, Logger is a personal journal with the flexibility of a spreadsheet.


As the sole designer and developer of Logger, I wear many hats:

Why Build Logger?

Companies collect and analyze thousands of data points on our personal actions and habits every day. But if you wanted to do something similar, privately, your options are limited. Consumer apps mandate what data is important to track, and are inflexible to specific user needs. Spreadsheets are cumbersome, pen and paper is unorganized, and using several apps to track different things is a job on its own.

I wanted a way to Log any sort of data quickly, on a mobile device, in a way that could be easily referenced, or exported and analyzed.


Challenges

I knew that targeting a wide audience and attempting to tackle infinite use cases would introduce many interesting problems.

#1 Data Entry Concepts are Unfamiliar to Many People

To be approachable, Logger would have to cater to a population with different levels of technical savvy.

How do I build a system that my mom can understand just as well as the folks from r/QuantifiedSelf ?

#2 Handling Flexibility

The types of information that can be captured are infinite: # of bedrooms, emotions, movie ratings, tasting notes, etc. Logger would need to display unknown data types in a format that felt custom designed to for each specific use case.

How can diverse data be displayed in a way that's useful and not overwhelming?

#3 Manual Data Entry is Tedious

Anything that gets in the way of a customer entering their data is another reason for them to stop using the app. To help people form a tracking habit, Logger would have to be quick, simple, and enjoyable.

How do I prevent someone from losing interest in data collection?




Left: Sketching out approaches for the Tag & Text Prompts; Right: One of the earliest versions of Logger.

Solutions

The current version of Logger is a result of much testing and many iterations.

Extended Welcome

The welcome experience was designed to be helpful and inspiring. I consider onboarding to be the entire process of familiarizing someone with what a Log is and can do, beyond the introductory slides at first launch. I renamed technical jargon, iterated on copy throughout the app, and removed points of confusion that beta testers experienced.

The concepts of Forms, Fields & Inputs, Logger refers to as Logs, Prompts & Responses. These words resonated strongly with a less technical audience who compared Logs to Journals.


Presenting a variety of templates when starting a Log illustrates relatable use cases — helping to paint a picture of what's possible without forcing people to think of something on the spot.



Interactions Built for Efficiency

Logger was built to be customizable. The ability to edit templates, empowers the user to make the experience unique and tailored to their own life. That means only entering what matters, reducing unnecessary interactions. The Suggested Response and Remembered Response features significantly reduce the amount of typing, helping people make entries quickly.



Make Sense of Your Data, With Just a Glance

Using a clean card design, diverse data is displayed thoughtfully helping users easily track while they scroll through many entries. The card layout is self-adjusting, keeping values in prominent positions so that your information is presented clearly.

Entries can be easily shared, and in an upcoming version, Logs can be exported in CSV format.



Logger is Flexible Enough to Track Anything

A fantastic group of beta testers is proving that. They range from founders and CEOs to professors, students, and therapists. They have shared amazing use cases that have inspired me and support Logger's potential.

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Interested in joining the Logger beta test? Email logger@alexgreene.me and I'll send you an invite ASAP. You can read more about the beta here.