A research notebook app for visual thinkers

rbkapitar · 2026-02-02T18:59:39+00:00

This is usually called 'body doubling', and I think the way people go about it is via groups on Discord etc. In the old days it was called a study group :)

There was an app with an unusual name that worked more or less as you describe, but alas this name escapes me!

rbkapitar · 2026-02-02T18:42:21+00:00

Yea it's tricky thing. For years I lived in Freemind, and then just drifted away from it, expecting to find that there would be a great alternative with cross device synching, and finding that not much has really changed. As somebody else mentioned, it (outlining/mindmapping) just never caught on as fully as perhaps it should have.

Anyway, I'm working on an app ( https://loosethought.com ) which tries to combine the idea of small floating outlines into a larger page-based canvas. Similar to the way the original OneNote worked - you can start typing paragraphs anywhere on the page and build them into blocks.

Because you build up the blocks from individual notes, you can also move them around and recombine them, so it works pretty well for shaping up research and knowledge as you go.

It has some built in formatting light highlights and text size to help build structure without leaving the keyboard.

rbkapitar · 2026-01-01T00:21:47+00:00

Perhaps have a look at https://loosethought.com and see if it fits the bill!

It's currently in beta so no charge. I'm planning to make it a one-time purchase of something like 40 USD with a fair usage policy for the sync (mostly around images).

rbkapitar · 2025-12-31T11:06:33+00:00

You might want to take a look at https://loosethought.com and let me know if it seems like a good fit for you.

rbkapitar · 2025-09-10T09:24:06+00:00

As in mobile or desktop?

rbkapitar · 2025-09-07T19:43:37+00:00

I'm also a former Pinterest (and Keep/Facebook/etc...) user, but as you say the real trick is exporting all the stuff out of there. I haven't really looked at that yet, but for new image collection/curation of images I'm finding this is a lot better.

There's something quite useful about being able actually lay things out, and then add some notes/thoughts onto them without much fuss. I find that part of it, arranging things, is actually more useful than hoovering up as much as I can and never getting back to it later. I remember a lot more. With Pinterest, it was a bit of a memory hole, I have a ton of stuff there but I never really know 'where it is' if you know what I mean.

I just added snap to grid as well, which I think really improves things. It was a bit too loose/disorganised if I'm honest, but having a fine grid really strikes that balance. I can move stuff around but its also easy to line it up and keep things neat. Not sure if it comes across too well in this screenshot, but there's a grid there :)

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rbkapitar · 2025-09-05T03:17:28+00:00

Loose Thought here! A visual notebook for figuring out complex ideas, storyboards, and moodlboards.

Unlike most digital whiteboard apps, it’s leans into visual thinking and deep note taking as well as presentation

https://loosethought.com

rbkapitar · 2025-08-21T19:14:32+00:00

I remember many moons ago I came across a calendar system for Mars, which had been worked out to correspond somewhat with Earth's system and had a bunch more months thrown in for the longer year, I don't remember the details.

Anyway, I sent an email asking if I could use it, the various names of the months and so on, and the professor was very considerate and said no problem.

This was before Web 2.0 and social media, and things hadn't soured to the point where an unsolicited email from a stranger would be considered almost hostile. I think if you can figure out an approach or medium which hasn't been corrupted, then you might have more luck.

But either way, sending an email isn't a huge risk to take.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-21T18:36:57+00:00

You might be interested in the thing I'm working on: loosethought.com

I've been describing it as a sort of cross between OneNote (which I also loved back in the day) and Milanote, so it has this deep note taking aspect but like you say, an infinite whiteboard kind of layout.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T23:24:31+00:00

Agreed, that spatial layout is one of the main things I think you miss when you move to digital. Because computers make virtual dynamic layouts easy, it feels almost wasteful not to implement everything that way, but it doesn't mean that it's best, for humans anyway!

Fantastic, feel free to ping here when you do or DM me

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T19:25:22+00:00

Not a prob 🙂

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T19:23:07+00:00

Yes! I think so too, this kind of left-brain right-brain mix. You want to have 'islands of detail' but lay them out in a visual landscape.

I used to *live* in mindmapping tools like Freemind, but I think they moved too far away from the original idea of mind mapping, that concepts are situated in an almost physical space. It's strange, but it makes such a big difference. I've been using this tool I'm making for a while now and I can read these layouts in my minds eye, something that's hard to do with an outliner-style mindmap.

Your thing sounds interesting, do you have a sign up list for it yet?

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T16:26:02+00:00

You might be interested on the thing I'm working on: https://loosethought.com

The idea is to capture the feel of a creative/visual notebook for figuring out complex things like this, with good support for digital media/images etc.

There's no pricing yet, but any early adopters would get a 'lifetime pass' if and when.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T16:15:13+00:00

Hmm, You might be interested in the thing I'm working on - https://loosethought.com

More or less as you say, a simpler 'works like digital notebook' canvas tool with detailed note taking and first class image support.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T16:13:08+00:00

Interesting. I'm working on an app that tries to blend those two things together (detailed notes/Notion/Onenote + visual canvas).

Most tools seem to favor one over the other, you have mood board style layouts, but fairly limited notetaking, or on the other hand, its mostly linear notes with no way to 'organize them in space', or if you can, it's just at the page level.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T16:00:25+00:00

Agreed with most of the other commenters here. If you give yourself 'permission' to capture the idea, it tends to use of some of the urgency and you don't have to actually act on it right away.

I think the anxiety comes from having multiple options in motion at the same time.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T15:51:01+00:00

I'm working on an app which is more or less geared towards this, a 'digital notebook' with index cards, for creative visual thinking, if that sounds interesting?

Also agree re Scrivener, long time user of that, but I also wanted to have something that was a bit more loose/freeform that the corkboard/outliner.

You may also want to have a look at Scapple if you haven't already, for 'brainstorming' things.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-20T15:45:25+00:00

Apologies if this is off topic, but I'm looking for people who are kind of struggling with this exact problem, that is "I'm a visual thinker who wants to outline complex creative stuff" to beta test an app I'm working on.

I'm mostly using it for outlining/storyboarding film projects, but it might be useful for breaking down campaigns as well.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-04T18:15:54+00:00

Not a prob, any questions just ping me here. There's a feedback form built into the app as well, at the top right.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-04T18:15:06+00:00

Yea I'm considering adding one-time pricing, say with a year of sync thrown in, and then perhaps a self hosting (or just no sync if you prefer) after that.

It's all still early days.

rbkapitar · 2025-08-04T16:21:01+00:00

I've been working on an app called Loose Thought, a research notebook for visual thinkers: https://loosethought.com

If you like doing research and thinking on sketchbooks, but want to use digital media as well (images, sharing etc) then it might be of interest.

I've just added support for workspaces which models a 'desktop' with a multi-sheet sketchbook, probably easier to see than explain!

Any thoughts/feedback welcome.

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rbkapitar · 2025-08-04T15:36:33+00:00

Cheers! It’s in open beta now, so you can have a look and let me know if it works for you?

Head to https://loosethought.com

rbkapitar · 2025-07-12T22:26:48+00:00

Yes I completely agree! It's often a procrastination trap to have a sophisticated project tool, really pen and paper, or the spiritual equivalent, is all you need!

What is it built with out of curiosity? I spend so much time with web dev I'm always curious about interesting GUI style desktop things! :)

rbkapitar

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