There are thousands of to-do apps.
Many of them now include projects, labels, priorities, subtasks, calendars, collaboration, AI assistants, dashboards, productivity scores, and more settings than some development tools.
I wanted something simpler.
So I built WeekLane, a weekly task app designed around one screen and one question:
What do I need to get done this week?
The problem with powerful productivity apps
I have tried plenty of task-management systems.
They usually work well at first. Then the system itself starts requiring work:
- Organizing tasks into projects
- Choosing priorities
- Maintaining labels
- Rescheduling overdue items
- Cleaning up an increasingly large backlog
- Deciding which view to use
Eventually, managing the productivity tool becomes another task.
For many people, that complexity is useful. Teams need structure, dependencies, deadlines, and collaboration.
But for an individual trying to remember a handful of important things this week, it can be unnecessary.
The idea: make the week the interface
Weeklane is based on a simple weekly layout.
Each day is shown as part of one continuous list. Tap a day to expand it, add what you need to do, and check tasks off as you complete them.
There are no complicated project hierarchies to maintain.
The week provides enough structure by itself:
- Today contains the immediate work
- Tomorrow remains visible
- Later tasks have a clear place
- Completed tasks stay visible as progress
Instead of asking users to design their own productivity system, the app provides one opinionated workflow.
Constraints can improve product design
One of the most useful lessons from building small apps is that adding functionality is often easier than protecting simplicity.
Every new feature sounds reasonable in isolation:
- Recurring tasks
- Categories
- Notes
- Time estimates
- Reminders
- Multiple lists
- Calendar integration
- AI task planning
But features interact.
Each new option adds another decision, another interface state, and another opportunity for the user to feel that they are using the app incorrectly.
For WeekLane, the main design constraint became:
A user should be able to understand the app without an onboarding tutorial.
That affected almost every decision.
The checkboxes look like checkboxes. Completed tasks are crossed out. The active day is expanded. Future days remain visible below it. Adding a task happens directly inside the list.
There is very little abstraction between the user and the task.
A mobile app should feel immediate
Another goal was to make the app feel more like opening a small paper planner than loading productivity software.
That meant focusing on:
- Fast startup
- Minimal navigation
- Large, readable typography
- Clear touch targets
- Very few screens
- No account required before getting started
The visual style is intentionally restrained.
The interface uses mostly neutral colors, with orange reserved for completed items and important interactions.
The result is not designed to look like a complex SaaS dashboard compressed onto a phone. It is designed to feel like a native, personal utility.
Building for a specific type of user
A common product mistake is trying to build for everyone.
Weeklane is probably not the right tool for managing a software team, a large client project, or a detailed multi-year plan.
It is for people who think in weeks.
People who want to write down:
- Finish the landing page
- Buy groceries
- Run 6 km
- Review customer feedback
- Call the dentist
...and then get on with their day.
Having a narrower target also makes development decisions easier.
When considering a new feature, I can ask whether it helps someone plan and complete their current week, or whether it turns the app into another general-purpose task manager.
What I learned
The biggest lesson was that simplicity is not the absence of product decisions.
It is the result of many product decisions.
A small app still needs careful work around spacing, typography, interactions, empty states, persistence, editing, task completion, navigation, and the transition from one week to the next.
Users may never consciously notice those details.
They will notice when the app feels slow, confusing, or unnecessarily demanding.
That is the standard I am continuing to work toward: an app that quietly does its job and then gets out of the way.
Try Weeklane
Weeklane is available for iPhone.
You can learn more and download it here:
I would especially appreciate feedback from other developers and indie makers:
- Does the weekly structure match how you naturally plan?
- Which feature would improve the app without making it feel heavier?
- At what point does a simple to-do app become too simple?
Top comments (1)
Open to any kind of feedback, we are happy to deliver new features to the app!