all those "somedays" needed a home. so I built one.
it started with a movie we forgot
January. I'm at home, and we're somehow already planning March and May — a few activities, a couple of trips, all sorted. Very adult of us. And then, mid-conversation: wait. What about that movie we wanted to watch? And the new Korean place we forgot to check out?
Forgotten. Both of them.
That was my bingo moment. I truly love spending time with my partner — every moment with her is just awesome — and I didn't want to miss out on any of it. The big plans were fine. It was the small ones that kept slipping away.
where our "someday" ideas used to live
Everywhere and nowhere. My partner is a notebook-and-real-pen kind of person; I'm all digital. So some ideas lived in a messenger, some in notes on my iPhone, some in her notebook, and most of them just in our heads.
Gifts were the worst. I love surprises, and bringing a gift for no occasion at all. But even keeping a gift list was a mission: take a picture of her notebook, save it to the gallery, lose it, start again. And every round meant being sneaky all over again.
so I built Smooch
I'm Ana, a Ukrainian designer. At the time I was deep in my AI development phase and in between ideas, and this one just felt right. I pitched it to my love. She said "yeah, okay, sounds interesting", and she's been supporting me (and struggling with me and Smooch) ever since. When I'm passionate about something, I'm no joke :D
I built it on my own: the idea, the design, the code, the product, even the legal bits. It wasn't all smooth. Notifications gave me nightmares — every time I thought they were fixed, nope-nope. At one point a timezone mix-up had us going to squash not at 2pm, but at 2am xD There were a lot of hysterical laughs along the way, and one moment I'm not proud of: I yelled at my dev tool for a while, then realised the mess was mine all along. But I'm proud of how committed I turned out to be.
So, founder? Probably I am xD Not the all-business, office-full-of-people kind. But I guess I still am, and it sounds cool. :)
what Smooch is (and what it isn't)
Smooch is a shared space where all those "we should try this someday" moments finally have a home. You both save what you want to do together, and when you're ready, you turn it into a plan.
What it isn't: a work calendar. It was never designed to be one. The timeline is there for one reason: so you stay connected and actually have plans, instead of netflixing every weekend.
For us, it changed more than I expected. We feel more connected, we have more memories and mementos, and I don't feel like I'm wasting my life that much anymore. We are MORE because of it. Cheesy? For sure. But that's our story.
why the fluffy dudes
I've always loved cartoons — Big Hero 6, par-la-laaaa-la — and I think the goofy lil dude in the app is my subconscious doing its thing. But there's a reason too. Smooch isn't Google Calendar or another work app (no offense, those are useful). It's about the person you love, and most of us don't call our loved ones by their names. We call them something cute and personal. That's why there are no photos in Smooch, just fluffy-fluffos with different looks and moods.
now it's your turn
So that's us. Yours probably has its own forgotten movie, its own "new place we should try", its own gift list that keeps getting lost somewhere in a gallery. Give them a home.
Download Smooch, invite your person with a code, and start with one "someday". The first 7 days are free, and one subscription covers both of you.
say hi
One last thing: if you have an idea, go for it. Possibilities are endless, even when there's no investment on the way. Smooch is my proof.
And hey, if you have suggestions for Smooch, or you'd like to help make it better, ping me. Email, LinkedIn, carrier pigeon, whatever works :)
hello@barbash.design · LinkedIn