SYS.PROJECTS
NeuroNav: Sam
ADHD-friendly digital assistant for neurodivergent brains. AI-guided focus mode, voice capture, task chunking, breathing resets, and an AI companion named Sam.
The Problem
NeuroNav started as a personal challenge: the overwhelming, emotional, logistical chaos that comes with ADHD. Typical task managers do not address the actual obstacles.
Executive dysfunction makes getting started feel impossible. Time blindness eats hours. Emotional dysregulation triggers stress spikes and shame spirals, and tasks feel huge and paralyzing. A checklist does not help with any of that, so I built something that meets users where they are.
The Design Philosophy
The whole app is built to be soft, safe, and dopamine-positive. Calming UI, conversational flows, and low-pressure gamification instead of forms and streaks.
Dark gradients and smooth animations feel calming rather than sterile. Instead of overwhelming forms, an AI companion named Sam engages users in short, emotionally aware conversations to break down a task or decompress. Gamification stays gentle: small affirmations and micro-wins, no forced streaks that punish a missed day.
The Core Features
Mind Dump captures thoughts by text or voice, Task Focuser fights the "just do the thing" freeze, Focus Mode is distraction-free, and Reset and Wind Down handle emotional regulation.
Task Focuser guides you to define one task plus the tiniest first step. Focus Mode is a full-screen view with a Pomodoro-style timer and mid-session check-ins. Reset and Wind Down use grounding prompts, breathwork, and reflection, because for ADHD brains that is as critical as productivity.
The Technical Side
NeuroNav is built in React Native with Expo. Voice runs on OpenAI and Whisper, Mem0 handles memory, and Supabase and Firebase cover storage and auth.
Mem0 gives Sam task continuity across sessions through personalized retrieval. Sam's system prompt is tuned to act like a calm therapist- friend focused on brevity and emotional validation, and it can track conversational state and call tools like logging sessions or retrieving your last tasks.
What's Next
The architecture is already set up for CrewAI-style agent orchestration, with a Scheduler, an Inbox agent, and a Task Unblocker planned.
NeuroNav is on Android with iOS coming. I wrote about the motivation in why I built NeuroNav, and if AI-for-wellbeing interests you, see Aphasia Coach, my speech-therapy tool built on a similar personalization-first approach.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is NeuroNav: Sam?
NeuroNav: Sam is an ADHD-friendly digital assistant for neurodivergent brains. It features an AI-guided focus mode, voice capture, task chunking, guided breathing resets, and a personalized AI companion named Sam designed to reduce executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation.
Is NeuroNav available on iOS?
NeuroNav is currently available on Android. iOS support is coming soon.
What makes NeuroNav different from other productivity apps?
NeuroNav is designed specifically for neurodivergent brains rather than adapted from generic task managers. Its conversational AI companion, low-pressure gamification, and voice-first interface are built around ADHD-friendly design principles.
