Digital products ·
Impulse: one question in the menu bar
I built Impulse because Codex limits were easy to forget during work, not because they were difficult to find. The problem appeared when a limit interrupted a task. I wanted its state to be as natural to see as a laptop battery.
Not another control panel
The first version could have become a familiar miniature dashboard: account, plan, usage, settings and actions. Every new element made it less useful for the one brief answer that mattered.
The final Concept kept one question: “How much do I have left?” The menu bar shows a wave and a percentage. Selecting it opens a card with the weekly limit, a usage bar, the next refresh time and a reset action. Account details disappeared because they did not support the decision.
A quiet interface needs a precise hierarchy
The card should not feel like a separate application demanding attention. Dark glass, soft boundaries and a shallow height make it a pause: open, understand and close.
The interaction follows the same idea. Selecting the icon again closes the panel, as does clicking outside it or pressing Escape. A separate close control and pinning behaviour would add explanation where familiar macOS behaviour is enough.
The first version was too large
A generous heading, prominent bar and wide spacing looked composed in a mock-up. During real work, the card was too heavy for a single glance.
Reduction followed meaning rather than scale. The remaining percentage stayed primary, followed by refresh time and reset. Type size, line height and spacing were reduced until every element justified its place.
A system update tested the form
After a macOS update, the application kept running while its icon disappeared from the visible menu bar. A separate wave and percentage occupied more horizontal space and moved into overflow more easily.
The indicator became a single 46-point-wide image in which the wave and number read as one compact instrument. This cannot control an overcrowded menu bar completely, but it reduces the space required and keeps the main information more likely to remain visible.
A percentage must tell the truth
If 81% has been used, the more useful immediate value is the remaining 19%. The card can show both sides: “19% remaining” above the bar and “81% used” below it.
Missing fresh data is not zero. Impulse shows a dash when the value is unknown and an approximation sign when only the last saved snapshot is available. “≈19%” communicates both the number and the quality of the information.
Reset is not an ordinary button
The action consumes a limited resource, so the number of available resets belongs inside the button. The application should show a confirmation, prevent a second click and avoid repeating the operation automatically if the response is lost after submission.
This complexity should not become interface complexity. The person sees a clear action and its cost; the product takes responsibility for preventing an accidental repeat.
Measure a small tool by the distance removed
Impulse does not replace Codex or construct another management system around it. It shortens the route between question and answer: the state is available without a tab, search or report.
Within the Method, a personal tool like this begins with a recurring friction and one observable outcome. A prototype tests the form, while application development turns it into a dependable daily action without adding unnecessary capability.
From a use case to an app
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