---
title: "Orthos Product Requirements Document: An iOS App That Maps Your Mind with One Daily Discovery Based on Your Spontaneous Cognitive Snapshot"
created: 2026-05-23
updated: 2026-05-23
type: summary
tags: [curiosity, discovery, mapping, notes, telegram]
external: http://go/ui/posts/2645/
status: inbox
---

# Orthos — Product Requirements Document
### Version 1.0 · iPhone · First Publishable Release

---

## 1. Product Overview

**Product name:** Orthos  
**Tagline:** *Everything you know is a door to something you don't.*  
**Platform:** iOS (iPhone only, v1.0)  
**Monetisation:** Freemium — 7-day free trial, then subscription (monthly / annual)  
**Target user:** Curious adults aged 25–50 who feel their intellectual world has quietly shrunk, and who want a daily, lightweight push outward from the edges of what they already know.

### Core value proposition

Orthos begins with a single, almost playful question: *"What words come to mind right now?"* From the user's unpolished, unfiltered response, the app maps their cognitive coordinates—not just what they like, but what occupies their mind. Each day, it delivers a single card introducing a person or concept that sits just beyond the edge of that existing world, connected by a visible thread of relevance. Over time, the user watches their own knowledge map grow, not by studying, but by following their own curiosity outward.

### What this is NOT

- Not a social app. No followers, no feeds, no likes.
- Not an AI chatbot. The user never types prompts beyond the initial seeding.
- Not a trivia game, flashcard app, or quiz.
- Not a news reader, wiki browser, or "learn something new" productivity tool.

---

## 2. Design Principles

1. **First thought, best thought.** The initial word capture rewards spontaneity over deliberation. No categories, no suggestions, no autocomplete.
2. **Connection is the content.** Every card earns its place by showing a visible thread to the user's existing world. No random discoveries.
3. **Dark academia, not wellness.** Visual language: warm lamp light, worn paper, ink, marginalia. Think private library, not meditation app.
4. **Accumulation as identity.** The growing map is the user's intellectual portrait. The longer they stay, the more irreplaceable it becomes.
5. **One thing per day.** Scarcity is the product. More than one card dilutes attention, memory, and anticipation.

---

## 3. Core Mechanism: The Cognitive Snapshot

This is Orthos' defining interaction, distinct from any other discovery app.

### The Question

On first launch, and available anytime later in Profile, the user is asked:

> *"Don't overthink it. What three to five words or names come to mind right now?"*

### Input Design

- A single, large text area. No categories, no autocomplete, no suggested tags.
- Placeholder text cycles between prompts like:
  - *"e.g. moss gardening, Simone Weil, thermodynamics…"*
  - *"Anything you've been turning over in your mind lately."*
  - *"Names, ideas, objects, feelings—whatever surfaces."*
- Minimum 3 entries required. Each separated by comma or line break.

### What Happens Next

1. **Parsing.** The app extracts and normalises the entries (names, concepts, objects).
2. **Interpretation.** A backend LLM call analyses the set and generates:
   - A short "cognitive reading" (2–3 sentences) that identifies the hidden theme or tension connecting the user's words. This is shown to the user immediately as a moment of delighted recognition.
   - A structured seed map of 3–5 nodes, annotated with domain tags and keywords, stored as the user's initial cognitive graph.
3. **Reveal.** The reading is presented with a subtle animation. Below it, a CTA: *"See your first door."*

### Recalibration

At any point, the user can retake the snapshot from Profile. This does not erase their existing map; it adds new seed nodes and shifts the recommendation gravity.

---

## 4. Pages & Screens

### 4.1 Onboarding Flow (first-launch only)

#### O-1: Welcome
- Full-screen dark, warm-toned background. A single lamp-like glow.
- App name + tagline centred.
- Single CTA: **"Begin"**

#### O-2: The Cognitive Snapshot
- Prompt and input as described in Section 3.
- CTA: **"Reveal my map"**
- App spends 3–5 seconds generating the reading (animated loading state: constellation lines forming).

#### O-3: Your Cognitive Reading
- Full-screen display of the interpretive reading.
- Subtle animation: the user's words appear as faint nodes, then lines draw between them.
- Below reading, CTA: **"See your first door"**

#### O-4: First Card Reveal
- User's very first Orthos card appears with a subtle entrance animation.
- Overlay text: *"Here's something just outside your world."*
- Tap anywhere to dismiss overlay and enter the main app.

---

### 4.2 Tab Bar (persistent, bottom)

Three tabs:
1. **Today** — daily card (home)
2. **Map** — user's growing cognitive map
3. **Profile** — settings, subscription, recalibrate, stats

*(No Explore tab. v1.0 focuses entirely on the curated daily card. Explore is a v2 candidate.)*

---

### 4.3 Today Tab

#### T-1: Today's Card (home)
- Header: minimalist date + streak counter (e.g. *"Day 34"*)
- Full-width **Orthos Card** component (see Section 5)
- Below card, two action buttons:
  - **"Open this door"** (primary) — saves the node to the user's map, subtle haptic, visual confirmation
  - **"Not for me"** (secondary, muted) — dismisses, feeds negative signal to recommendation algorithm
- Below actions: **"Why this?"** — expandable section (collapsed by default) showing 2–3 sentences explaining the specific connection to the user's existing map. E.g. *"You saved Simone Weil. María Zambrano was her contemporary in Spanish exile, thinking about many of the same questions from a different angle."*

#### T-2: Card Detail
- Triggered by tapping the card on T-1
- Full scrollable view:
  - **Name** (large, serif)
  - **Era/domain tag** (e.g. *Spanish philosophy · 20th century*)
  - **The hook** — 2–3 sentences, written with voice, not encyclopaedic. Why this person matters.
  - **The connection** — 2–3 sentences explaining the visible thread to the user's existing map
  - **Three branches** — three related concepts/people this node leads to, each as a tappable pill (these are teasers for potential future cards)
  - **Save / Skip** buttons
  - **Share card** button (generates a styled screenshot of the card)

---

### 4.4 Map Tab

#### M-1: My Cognitive Map
- A visual graph of all the concepts/people the user has saved.
- **Nodes** = saved items, coloured by domain (soft, warm palette: burgundy, deep blue, ochre, dark green).
- **Edges** = connections between saved items. Thicker edges = stronger or more direct connections.
- Pinch to zoom, drag to pan.
- Tap any node → opens Card Detail in a bottom sheet.
- Top-right: **Stats pill** showing total nodes, total domains, current streak.

#### M-2: Domain View
- Toggle at top to switch from "Graph" to "List by domain"
- Groups saved items under domain headers (e.g. *Philosophy, Biology, Music*)
- Each item tappable → Card Detail bottom sheet

#### M-3: Timeline (unlocked after 8 weeks)
- Scrollable vertical timeline showing map growth over time
- Milestone markers: *"Week 5: You discovered Cybernetics through your interest in Biology"*
- Shareable as a long image

---

### 4.5 Profile Tab

#### P-1: Profile & Settings
- Streak display (days used in a row)
- Total doors opened (cards saved)
- **Subscription status** and management
- **Recalibrate my snapshot** — re-runs the cognitive snapshot flow. Appends new seed nodes, does not erase existing map.
- **Notification settings** — time of day for daily card notification (default: 9am)
- **App theme** (light / dark, both warm-toned)
- **About / FAQ**
- **Sign in with Apple** (optional, for backup / multi-device sync)

---

### 4.6 Paywall (triggered on expiry of 7-day trial)
- Full-screen, warm dark background
- Headline: *"Your map keeps growing."*
- Subhead: *"Continue opening one door a day."*
- Monthly price + Annual price (with % saving, clearly displayed)
- 3–4 key feature bullets
- **"Restore purchase"** link
- No dark patterns, no countdown timers, no "most popular" badges

---

## 5. The Orthos Card Component

The card is the atomic unit of the product, designed to be both read and shared.

**Visual design (v1.0 direction):**
- Full-width card, ~340pt tall
- Background: dark cream or deep warm grey, subtly textured like aged paper
- Top-left corner: domain tag in small caps, monospace, muted
- Top-right: small icon indicating "connected to your map"
- Centre: name in large serif type
- Below name: one-line hook in italic
- Bottom strip: 2–3 connection keyword tags
- A subtle decorative element based on domain (e.g. a tiny constellation, a geometric figure, a botanical line drawing)

**The card must function as a shareable asset.** Tapping share generates a clean, styled screenshot with the Orthos wordmark and the card content, suitable for iMessage, Instagram Stories, or saving to camera roll.

---

## 6. User Stories

### Epic 1: Onboarding & Cognitive Snapshot

**US-001**
*As a new user, I want to be asked a simple, open question so that I can express what's on my mind without overthinking.*
- Acceptance: Input field has no categories, no autocomplete, no suggestions. Placeholder text cycles between 3–4 prompts. Minimum 3 entries, max no hard limit (encourage 3–5 in copy).

**US-002**
*As a new user, I want to see a brief reading of my words so that I feel understood before I'm shown anything.*
- Acceptance: After submitting, a 2–3 sentence interpretive reading is generated and displayed within 5 seconds. Reading references the user's actual words.

**US-003**
*As a new user, I want to see my first card immediately after the reading so that I experience the core value before leaving the app.*
- Acceptance: First card appears within 3 seconds of the reading screen. Card shows a visible connection to at least one of the user's seed words.

---

### Epic 2: Daily Card

**US-004**
*As a returning user, I want exactly one new card each day so that I have a reason to open the app without being overwhelmed.*
- Acceptance: One new card per day, refreshed at midnight local time. Push notification at user's preferred time (default 9am). Card is never a repeat.

**US-005**
*As a user viewing a card, I want to see why this was chosen for me so that I trust the recommendation.*
- Acceptance: "Why this?" section names at least one specific connection to a saved node or seed word in the user's map.

**US-006**
*As a user, I want to save a card with one tap so that I can build my map effortlessly.*
- Acceptance: "Open this door" saves the node. Haptic + visual confirmation. Node appears in Map tab immediately.

**US-007**
*As a user, I want to skip a card and have that choice improve future cards.*
- Acceptance: "Not for me" records a negative signal. Card does not reappear. Algorithm adjusts.

---

### Epic 3: Cognitive Map

**US-008**
*As a user with a growing map, I want to see my saved items as a visual graph so that I can see how my knowledge connects.*
- Acceptance: Map shows all saved nodes, coloured by domain, with edges between connected nodes. Zoom and pan supported.

**US-009**
*As a user, I want to tap any node to revisit its card so that I can recall what I learned.*
- Acceptance: Tapping a node opens Card Detail in a bottom sheet.

**US-010**
*As a long-term user (8+ weeks), I want to see my map's growth over time so that I feel a sense of progress.*
- Acceptance: Timeline view unlocks at week 8. Shows at minimum one milestone per week. Shareable as image.

---

### Epic 4: Monetisation

**US-011**
*As a new user, I want a free trial so that I can experience the product before paying.*
- Acceptance: 7-day full-feature trial, no payment upfront. Sign in with Apple required for trial activation and restore.

**US-012**
*As a user whose trial ends, I want a clear, honest paywall so that I can decide whether to subscribe.*
- Acceptance: Paywall shows pricing, feature list, restore link. No dark patterns.

**US-013**
*As a paying subscriber, I want my map to sync so that I don't lose it.*
- Acceptance: Map data syncs via iCloud or backend. Restorable on reinstall with Sign in with Apple.

---

### Epic 5: Notifications & Retention

**US-014**
*As a user, I want to set when my daily card notification arrives.*
- Acceptance: Time picker in Profile. Default 9am. Notification within ±5 minutes.

**US-015**
*As a lapsed user (3+ days), I want a gentle re-engagement nudge so that I remember what I'm missing.*
- Acceptance: After 3 days of no opens, one push: *"Three doors appeared while you were away."* Max one re-engagement per 7 days.

---

## 7. Out of Scope for v1.0

- Explore / "drop a word" feature (the daily card is the sole discovery surface)
- Social features (following, shared maps, comments)
- iPad, Mac, Web, or Android
- Offline mode (cards require network; viewed cards cached locally)
- User-created cards
- Third-party integrations (Readwise, Notion, etc.)
- Audio format of cards

These are candidates for v1.1+ based on early user feedback.

---

## 8. Success Metrics (v1.0, 90 days post-launch)

| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| Day 7 retention | ≥ 35% |
| Day 30 retention | ≥ 20% |
| Trial → paid conversion | ≥ 12% |
| DAU / MAU ratio | ≥ 0.40 |
| Cards shared per week | Growing week-on-week |
| App Store rating | ≥ 4.5 |

---

## 9. Technical Notes (for developer handoff)

- **AI backend:** Cards generated via LLM (Claude or GPT-4o). Each card stored server-side post-generation to avoid regeneration cost. Cache aggressively. The "cognitive reading" in onboarding is a single prompt call with the user's raw words as input.
- **Graph data model:** Nodes = concepts/people. Edges = typed connections with strength scores. User's map = subset of the global graph + personal saves. Domain colour mapping stored in config.
- **Recommendation logic:** Daily card is selected by: (1) scoring candidate nodes against the user's saved map nodes + seed words; (2) applying a diversity rule to avoid repeating the same domain within a 3-day window; (3) factoring in negative signals from skipped cards.
- **Auth:** Sign in with Apple required for trial and subscription restore. Anonymous usage during trial possible with local-only storage, but sync requires sign-in.
- **Notifications:** APNs. User timezone stored in profile. Daily card notification + re-engagement rule.
- **Card images:** Card visuals generated client-side using SwiftUI or UIKit from structured card data (name, domain, hook, tags, colour palette). No external image CDN dependency for cards. This keeps cards lightweight and shareable as on-device screenshots.
- **Analytics:** PostHog or Mixpanel. Key events: snapshot_completed, card_viewed, card_saved, card_skipped, map_opened, share_tapped, paywall_seen, trial_started, subscription_purchased.

---

## Appendix: v1.0 Content Strategy

**Card voice guidelines (for prompt engineering):**
- Write as if you are a well-read friend recommending something they love, not a lecturer.
- Hook the reader with a specific, surprising detail, not a generalisation.
- Always name the connection to the reader's existing interest explicitly.
- Avoid Wikipedia's "is a" sentence structure. Instead: "In 1847, a doctor in Vienna noticed something strange about the way new mothers were dying. His name was Ignaz Semmelweis, and his colleagues thought he was crazy."
- Length: hook 2–3 sentences, connection 2–3 sentences, branch pills 1–3 words each.

**Seed card library:**
Before launch, produce and review a library of at least 90 cards (enough for 3 months of daily use, assuming no repeat for a single user). AI-generated drafts, human-reviewed for voice and accuracy. This library is the product's content moat.

---

**v1.0 estimated development timeline:** 5–7 weeks
- Onboarding + cognitive snapshot flow: 1 week
- Card generation pipeline + backend: 2 weeks
- Map visualisation: 1.5 weeks
- Paywall + subscription integration: 1 week
- Polish, testing, content review: 1–1.5 weeks

---

这份PRD和你之前发给我的Blindspot相比，核心差异在于：它用“下意识输入几个词”这一个交互，替换了标签选择和输入框，作为整个产品推荐引擎的唯一种子。这使得产品的情感钩子从“来学东西”变成了“来看看你脑子里已经有什么”——这个翻转，就是它的护城河。