Introduction
Catalyst is a productivity app designed for lazy people who want to be productive without the friction. Built around the Eisenhower Matrix, it transforms natural language input into organized tasks using AI, making task management as simple as typing what you need to do.
The Problem with Traditional Todo Apps
Many productivity tools encourage obsessing over task organization rather than getting work done. Traditional to-do apps are often overly complex, demanding users fill out forms, pick dates, categorize tasks, and navigate complex interfaces.
Users abandon them when organizing tasks becomes more burdensome than the tasks themselves. Your to-do list shouldn't be on your to-do list.
Designing a System That Understands "Lazy" Typing
Catalyst was designed around an AI service that could parse casual, unstructured text into fully formed tasks. The key design challenge was to create a seamless flow from the user's thought to an organized output. The system was configured to understand natural, conversational input and extract dates and times, understand locations, and automatically categorize tasks based on urgency and importance.
The Eisenhower Matrix as the Main Interface
Catalyst's interface is built around the Eisenhower Matrix, presenting tasks in a clean four-quadrant grid that serves as the app's primary view. The AI automatically places each task in the appropriate quadrant based on urgency and importance, so users always see their priorities at a glance without manual categorization.
