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Charflow — Project Brief (iOS-first)

One-liner

Charflow is a clean, minimal daily task manager built around four day regions—Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Backlog—where each active region uses a 1–3–5 structure to keep focus and prevent list bloat.

Char = Persian root for 4 → four regions, one focused flow.

The problem Charflow solves

Most task apps become endless lists. People over-plan, lose focus, and tasks silently rot. Charflow replaces the infinite backlog mindset with a daily, time-of-day plan that stays small, intentional, and doable—while still preserving anything unfinished.

Core concept

Four regions

  1. Morning
  2. Afternoon
  3. Evening
  4. Backlog (accumulated unfinished work + future ideas)

The 1–3–5 rule (per region)

For Morning, Afternoon, and Evening:

  • 1 Must-Do: the single critical outcome for that region.
  • 3 Complementary: important support tasks unlocked after the Must-Do is complete (or explicitly overridden).
  • 5 Misc: small, low-friction tasks that are nice to clear.

Backlog is not constrained by 1–3–5 by default (configurable). It’s a holding area that automatically collects unfinished tasks from previous days unless the user specifies otherwise.

North Star behavior

Charstack should help the user finish the Must-Do for the current region, with minimal friction and maximum clarity.

Primary user flow (MVP)

  1. Plan the day quickly:
    • Add tasks into Morning / Afternoon / Evening.
    • Each region has slots: 1 Must, up to 3 Complementary, up to 5 Misc.
  2. Do the work in a focused region view:
    • The Must-Do is always visually dominant.
    • Complementary tasks are de-emphasized or locked until Must-Do completion (configurable).
  3. Carry-over happens automatically:
    • Uncompleted tasks move into Backlog at day rollover.
    • The user can “reschedule” tasks from Backlog back into specific regions.
  4. Calendar awareness (read-first):
    • Show the user’s calendar events alongside regions.
    • Suggest appropriate regions/time windows for tasks (later).

Screens (iOS-first, minimal set)

1) Today (Region Dashboard)

  • Four cards/sections: Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Backlog
  • Each region shows:
    • Must-Do (title + status)
    • Count of Complementary + Misc remaining
    • A simple progress indicator

2) Region Focus View

  • Displays tasks for a single region using the 1–3–5 grouping
  • Quick interactions: complete, reorder, move to another region, defer, add note

3) Backlog

  • A clean list grouped by source (e.g., “Yesterday”, “Last Week”, “Older”)
  • Fast “Pull into Today” gestures:
    • Assign to Morning/Afternoon/Evening
    • Optionally place as Must / Complementary / Misc

4) Plan / Review

  • Evening planning prompt (or morning):
    • Review backlog items
    • Fill each region’s 1–3–5 slots
  • End-of-day recap:
    • Mark items as done / defer / archive / drop

(Keep this to the fewest screens possible; combine screens if the UX stays clean.)

Task lifecycle rules

Default rollover

At day rollover:

  • Any incomplete tasks in Morning/Afternoon/Evening → Backlog
  • Completed tasks remain in history (not cluttering Backlog)

Task-level overrides (optional)

A task can specify:

  • Auto-carry: yes/no
  • Expire after date (drop automatically or prompt)
  • Sticky (stays in its region until done)

Settings-level behavior (optional)

  • Backlog accumulation: on/off
  • Prompt before carry-over: on/off
  • Lock Complementary until Must-Do: on/off

Calendar integration (target)

MVP (read-only)

  • Pull calendar events via EventKit
  • Show schedule context within Today + Region views
  • Highlight free time windows per region

Later (write)

  • Create time blocks for tasks
  • “Schedule Must-Do” button: suggests a block in the region

Notifications (MVP)

  • Morning summary: today’s regions + Must-Dos
  • Region transition nudges (optional):
    • If Morning Must-Do isn’t started by a chosen time
  • End-of-day review prompt:
    • “Review unfinished tasks → Backlog / Reschedule”

All notifications should be gentle, configurable, and minimal.

UX principles (non-negotiable)

  • Minimal & calm: no clutter, no visual noise
  • Intentional constraints: 1–3–5 is the feature, not a limitation
  • Fast capture: add a task in one gesture; edit later if needed
  • Focus-first: the app should bias the user toward finishing the region Must-Do
  • Defaults > settings: the app should work well without configuration

Data model (conceptual)

Entities

  • Task

    • id
    • title
    • notes (optional)
    • region: morning | afternoon | evening | backlog
    • bucket: must | complementary | misc | backlog (or none)
    • status: todo | doing | done
    • planned_date (optional; for region tasks)
    • created_at, updated_at
    • carry_count
    • overrides: auto_carry, sticky, expires_at (optional)

  • DayPlan

    • date
    • region slots:
      • morning_must_task_id, morning_complementary_ids (<=3), morning_misc_ids (<=5)
      • same for afternoon, evening

  • History (optional)

    • completed tasks by date/region (kept lightweight)

Non-goals (initially)

  • Heavy project management (kanban boards, deep nesting, dependency graphs)
  • Collaboration/team workspaces
  • Gamification overload
  • Endless customization/theming

Stretch ideas (post-MVP)

  • Widgets (Today Regions)
  • Siri shortcuts (“Add to Morning Misc”)
  • Auto-suggestions: pull from Backlog based on patterns
  • Focus timer tied to Must-Do
  • Weekly review that stays minimal

Definition of “done” (MVP success)

A user can:

  1. Plan Morning/Afternoon/Evening with the 1–3–5 constraint
  2. Work through regions in a focused way
  3. Have unfinished tasks reliably move to Backlog
  4. Pull tasks from Backlog back into a region quickly
  5. See calendar events for context and receive basic notifications

If Charstack consistently helps users complete their region Must-Dos, it’s working.