Ethereal

The problem

Getting a simple answer currently costs six steps: phone, app, menu, settings, search, answer. Every product we build adds another icon to a screen someone has to remember to open. The friction isn't the intelligence — it's the interface wrapped around it.

Why it matters

Every product we build adds another icon to a screen someone has to remember to open. If the answer can arrive without the app, most of the friction disappears with it.

What we built

Nothing shipped. This is a research direction that runs across the other projects: what does the interaction look like if it collapses to context, intent, one answer? You walk towards the van and One Fleet says leave in six minutes. You pick up a tomato and One Food says eat today. You hold a coffee pod and WasteProof says return to retailer. No app opened, no search typed.

Where it is now

Research, and deliberately framed as a direction rather than a promise. One Fleet, WasteProof and One Food are apps today because apps are what people actually use. Sometimes the answer will still be an app. Sometimes it won't.

Stage

Disciplines

Looking for

• Interaction researchers
• Wearable and in-cab hardware teams
• People who hate apps

Latest progress

• Now

  Reduced-interface trials inside the existing products.

• Next

  One answer, no menu — tested in a vehicle before anywhere else.

Research questions

• Can the best interface have no interface?
• Do we even need an app?
• What is the simplest possible interaction?
• How do we remove friction from every project?

Who it's for

Components