Five simulation rounds. 28 synthetic personas per run. Seven HTML versions. This is every decision, every hypothesis, and every screenshot from the arc.
| Hook | Frame | Votes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Everything you need, nothing you don't | 3 | Weak Generic. Doesn't describe the product. |
| H2 | Your desktop at a glance | 4 | OK Clear but sounds like a widget. |
| H3 | The information layer your Mac was missing | 3 | Weak Too abstract. |
| H4 | Your desktop's nervous system | 18 | Winner Unique, biological, always-on. Won across all archetypes — not just technical. |
| H5 | Stay focused. Stay informed. | 0 | Dead Generic productivity app tagline. |
| H6 | The ambient HUD for power users | 0 | Dead "HUD" is jargon. "Power users" alienates. |
| H7 | Context at the speed of thought | 0 | Dead Doesn't describe what the product is. |
| H8 | Less switching. More doing. | 0 | Dead Wrong frame — reduces awareness cost, not switching. |
| Shortcut | Scope | Score | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⌘⌥I | Global activate | 8.6/10 | Chosen "I" for Island. Not claimed by standard Mac apps. |
| ⌘K | Command palette | — | Kept Standard across Linear, Vercel, Notion, VS Code. |
| Space | Focus timer toggle | — | Kept Play/pause muscle memory. |
| ← → | Cycle scores | — | Kept Directional, universal. |
| N | Next headline | — | Kept Mnemonic obvious. |
| ⌘, | Settings | — | Killed Conflicts with every Mac app's preferences. Replaced with ⌘. |
| ⌘1 / ⌘2 / ⌘3 | Jump to peek | — | Added Requested by 6+ personas. Focus / Weather / News. |
| Gap | Found | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Weather hover | v5 | Nothing on hover → added 24h forecast peek with rain probability bars |
| CI dot hover | v5 | No interaction → deploy history peek (last 4 builds, branch, duration) |
| Sports row position | v5 | Buried in hover row → moved to row 2 always-visible |
| Now Playing | v5 | Missing entirely → re-added with album art color bleed into island border |
| News peek: 1 → 3 headlines | v5 | 1 story shown → expanded to 3-up with source, headline, read time |
| Box score peek | v4→v5 regression | Quarter grid dropped in v5 → restored with q-by-q + top performers |
| Blank space (NP divider) | v6 | Divider showed when NP was inactive → NP block + divider slide in together via max-width |
| Calendar in default row | v6 | Required setup before showing value → removed from default, added to card picker |
| Onboarding screen | v6 | Setup wizard → instant-value launch + 5s delayed tooltip pointing to "+" |
| ⌘1/⌘2/⌘3 jump keys | v6 sim | Requested by 6 personas → added in v7 |
| NP color bleed | v5 | Island border color shifts to album dominant color when NP active |
| Focus ring animation | v5 | SVG stroke-dashoffset animates in real time. Green → yellow on break. |
| Island state machine | v5 | Border reacts to context: focus (green), meeting (amber), CI fail (red pulse), NP (album color) |
| Add Card flow | v7 design | "+" → drawer with 3 tiers, setup cost shown upfront per card |
| Hypothesis | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Stocks as the lead feature drives install | Invalidated | v3 baseline: 70%. Non-traders (majority) didn't connect. Moved to row 2 in v5 → 100%. |
| Demoting stocks hurts trader personas | Invalidated | v5 sim: stock demotion damage avg 2/10. Day trader Alex stayed at 8/10 resonance. Information still present; row position doesn't change data quality. |
| "Nervous system" hook only resonates with technical users | Invalidated | Won 18/28 across all archetypes: builders, traders, journalists, creators, students. Biological metaphor transcends technical context. |
| Calendar countdown = #1 most-wanted feature | Partial | Ranked #2 (4 votes). Focus Timer beat it (7 votes). Both now in row 1 — but Focus leads. |
| Users will OAuth to unlock calendar | Invalidated | 0/28 would complete OAuth before experiencing value. 28/28 would paste iCal URL. Architecture rebuilt accordingly. |
| Creator Pulse only appeals to creators | Invalidated | 18/28 personas cited it as a surprise want. Delta framing ("+47 subs" not "12,847") specifically credited. |
| ⌘⌥I conflicts with common Mac apps | Invalidated | 8.6/10 safety score. Zero conflict reports across 28 personas. |
| Onboarding screen increases activation | Invalidated | Every sim: personas wanted immediate value, not setup steps. Onboarding creates a decision point before trust. Replaced with instant-value launch. |
| NP album color bleed is a "wow" moment | Validated | Qualitative feedback: called "unexpected" and "makes the island feel alive." One of 14 gaps — and landed exactly as predicted. |
| Island border should react to context state | Validated | State machine passed without friction in v5+v6 sims. Personas read border color correctly without instruction. Ambient signaling works. |
| Per-block peek card on hover is the right model | Validated | 28/28 engaged with at least one peek card in v6 sim. 280–320ms delay prevents accidental triggers. |
| "+" card picker with setup-cost labels works | Validated by logic, not sim | Based on no-auth finding and progressive disclosure principle. Three tiers give honest context before commitment. To be confirmed with first-run testing. |
Desktop Island v7 is a complete, polished mockup built through five simulation rounds, 28 personas per round, 14 features tested, 8 hooks evaluated, and 14 interaction gaps identified and closed.
The core product decision is validated: lead with Focus Timer + Weather + Now Playing, let everything else be additive. "Your desktop's nervous system" is the only hook worth using. The no-auth architecture is correct and confirmed.
What it needs next is real users. The sims gave high confidence in the right direction. Real installs will calibrate the details — tooltip timing, border glow subtlety, peek card speed, card picker conversion.
The methodology is worth carrying forward. Running 28 synthetic personas against a design decision before building saved multiple weeks of iteration on the wrong things. The stocks demotion, the auth removal, the hook selection — all would have been discovered the slow way without the sims.