Mae

Role-first lifestyle OS app

Challenge

Most productivity tools are built around tasks, calendars, and generic life categories. They can show people what needs to get done, but they rarely reflect the personal roles, values, and identities that make those actions meaningful. When planning becomes only a list of obligations, missed tasks can create guilt instead of clarity.

Strategy

Mae is built around role identity theory: people internalize the expectations and values tied to the roles in their lives, and they are often more motivated when action aligns with self-identity. Instead of asking users to manage generic categories, Mae helps them plan through the roles they want to inhabit, strengthen, or evolve.

Identity

The Mae brand and interface use a nature-inspired visual system to make planning feel reflective, grounded, and alive. Vibrant illustrations give emotional and visual context to activities, while the product language shifts away from rigid productivity terms. Projects become intentions, and long-term goals or aspirations become directions.

Application

The app experience includes role-based weekly planning, saved visual moments, intention tracking, dedicated role-change onboarding, trend discovery, summaries, and semantic search powered by on-device Apple Intelligence. Users can highlight moments from their past activity to draw inspiration from what they have already done and use those reflections to guide future action.

Outcome

In the absence of traditional productivity metrics, Mae encourages users to capture meaningful moments and build a more personal record of progress. The system helps people recognize patterns, revisit past actions, and plan future weeks with more intention. Its role-first structure turns productivity into a practice of identity, reflection, and self-direction.

Mae app overview screen on an iPhone surrounded by an illustrated landscape.

Mae memories screen being used on an iPhone, showing highlighted moments and a monthly calendar.

Mae campaign posters displayed in a bus stop shelter with illustrated role-balancing messages.

Mae journaling screen on an iPhone with the message Balance your roles by journaling with Mae.

Next up

Tony Carretero

Personal brand system

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