Move beyond saving
Capture is already well supported. Make adding a source a short step, then focus on what happens after it is saved.
A personal library that
thinks with you
Personal knowledge · Native macOS
Doppler, a workspace for curious minds.
Bring what you collect, what you read, and what you wonder about into one place.
01 / Context
Saving something is easy.
Making it your own takes more.
A document, a saved image, a question in another tab. The material can be close at hand while the ideas still feel disconnected.
I’m designing Doppler around the movement between collecting, reading, and making sense of things. The source stays present as the conversation grows.
02 / Research & competitive landscape
A library is only the starting point.
A review of Notion, Readwise Reader, and Obsidian looks at how people can collect material, ask questions, and find their way back to a source. These documented patterns shape the design questions below.
The next step is to test these hypotheses with readers; this comparison is desk research.
Desk researchOfficial product documentation · October 2026
| Tool | Documented approach | A question for Doppler |
|---|---|---|
| Notion | Clips webpages into pages or databases. Enterprise Search answers workspace questions with source citations.Web Clipper Enterprise Search | How might the active reading and its questions stay visible together? |
| Readwise Reader | Ghostreader supports passage and document questions. Global Ghostreader searches the library with links back to source passages.Ghostreader Global Ghostreader | How might a question carry its reading context into the next session? |
| Obsidian | Web Clipper saves highlighted content locally. Backlinks reveal linked and unlinked mentions between notes.Web Clipper Backlinks | How might related notes become part of a focused reading flow? |
Keep the evidence close
Source citations are a useful pattern. Keep the original reading visible and make referenced passages easy to inspect.
Design the return
Links create paths between notes. Explore restoring a saved question alongside the passage that started it.
03 / Wireframing the experience
One source. Three ways to move forward.
This concept explores the layout before visual polish: a library for finding material, a reading surface that stays open, and a conversation connected to the source. Step through collecting, asking, and returning to a saved question.
Concept wireframeSample source and conversation
Keep a source in your library and open it in the same workspace.
DopplerResearch & reading
Library Find a sourceYour sources Notes on attention Ways of seeing Design references
Pinned questions Questions you save will appear here.
Notes on attention
A sample essayLooking again.We bring our questions to what we read. The same source can reveal something different each time we return.
Attention shapes what we notice. A familiar object can reveal new details when we change the question we bring to it.
04ConversationWith this source
Start with a question.Select a passage to bring its context into the conversation.
The document remains the main surface. A conversation can open beside it without replacing what you’re reading.
04 / The library
A home for your sources.
And the connections between them.
PDFs, websites, images, and videos share a visual library. Folders, pinned items, and recent reading make it possible to pick up a thread without rebuilding the context.
Search starts with what you remember: a title, a topic, or a folder. The same place that helps you find a source can help you organize it.
Library → Search → ReadingInteraction prototype · sample library
One collection, many formats
Read a PDF, revisit a link, or browse a visual reference in the same workspace.
Organization that stays flexible
Use folders and pins without removing a source from the rest of your library.
A place to resume
Keep open readings and recent conversations within reach.
05 / The reading experience
Ask a question.
Keep your place.
The reading surface is the anchor. Select a passage, attach it to a question, and bring the companion into view beside the document.
The native reader keeps the page centered while the library and conversation occupy the surrounding space. Help can appear without pushing the reading out of the way.
Read → Select → Ask in contextInteraction prototype · sample reading
Design principle
The document is the anchor.
The assistant is a companion.
06 / Room for curiosity
Follow a name.
Find a new way into an idea.
A person or place in a reading can become an inquiry card, with photography and a path back to its source. The answer can become something to explore, not just another block of text.
Cards live beside the reading. The original document, the conversation, and the visual reference stay part of the same context.
A reference you can inspect
Photo sources and credits remain available with the inquiry card.
Keep the thread intact
Explore an unfamiliar name without losing the passage that raised the question.
07 / Learning through dialogue
Understanding deserves
another look.
Doppler’s study flow turns selected readings into a check you can attempt in your own words. Feedback stays connected to evidence, with actions to reread, discuss a gap, or try again.
The goal is to make the next step approachable. Feedback encourages another attempt and makes it easy to return to an idea that needs more attention.
Try the interactionA small check.
A small check.
A way back to the source.
Answer, inspect the evidence, then try again. This sample demonstrates the native prototype’s study flow.
Interactive prototype · sample readingUnderstanding check
Reading with context
Why keep a conversation beside the original reading?
08 / Building the product
From an interface
to a working companion.
Building the native prototype lets me work through the small decisions that shape the experience: how a panel opens, where a question belongs, and what stays visible when the reader changes direction.
The next step is to test whether people can follow a response back to its source, resume an interrupted line of thought, and choose the amount of help they want.
Doppler is an ongoing product prototype.Designed and built by Stephen Jiang.