Tools for thought: science, design, art, craftsmanship? | Andy Matuschak<br>Andy<br>Matuschak<br>Andy Matuschak<br>EmailXBsky
I'm an applied researcher, focused on creating user interfaces that expand what people can think and do. more…
I'm an applied researcher, focused on creating user interfaces that expand what people can think and do. My current focus is an augmented book which actively helps people understand, remember, and use what they read.<br>I believe personal computers can enable transformative tools for thought: environments that radically transform what people can think and do, so much so that we expand the set of thoughts it’s possible to think. I want to produce alien cognitive and creative powers—as wondrous and magical to us today as a modern visual effects artist might seem to a cave painter.<br>I’ve been independently funded by my Patreon community since 2019. But as of late 2025, I’m on “para-academic leave”, helping make Pico, a conservatory for human attention.<br>Prior to my current work, I helped build iOS at Apple and led R&D at Khan Academy.
How might we learn?<br>Towards convivial AI-augmented learning
How can we develop transformative tools for thought?<br>Barriers and opportunities, joint with Michael Nielsen
Quantum Country<br>An experimental “mnemonic book,” joint with Michael Nielsen
Why books don’t work<br>On designing media to reflect how people think and learn
Timeful texts<br>Extending the reading experience over time; joint with Michael Nielsen
More<br>More work<br>Apps and programming: two accidental tyrannies<br>Coding agents, malleable software, and invention
Orbit<br>A platform for memory system experiments
How to write good prompts<br>Using spaced repetition to create understanding
Notes<br>Working notes<br>What‘s top of mind<br>An index of the questions and ideas I‘m exploring
The mnemonic medium<br>Design properties, evidence of impact, top questions
Evergreen notes<br>Methods for developing ideas over time
Enabling environments, video games, and the Primer<br>Incomplete notes on a new kind of growth environment
Programmable attention<br>Systems which systematically orchestrate your mind
Taking knowledge work seriously<br>Athletes and musicians vs. knowledge workers
Working with blips: our second system<br>A year of augmented attention work
Augmenting scholarship: a proto-proposal<br>Towards dynamic media for reading and synthesis
Preparatory notes for a manifesto<br>Some core beliefs behind my work
A malleable reading environment<br>Towards an improvisatory digital reading environment
A startling glimpse of malleable software<br>Case study for an AI-mediated software ecosystem
Tools for tools for thought<br>Some principles for inventing tools for thought
Design-in-action: book markup grid<br>A look inside my design process
Invention, influence, and impact<br>Notes on my theory of change
A primitive for enabling environments<br>Early work on machine-generated prompts
What can malleable software learn from Realtalk?<br>Connecting two dreams of software liberation
On sitting down to study independently<br>A catalog of problems for self-motivated students
Five years of evergreen notes<br>Some long-term reflections on networked notes
Exorcising us of the Primer<br>Transcending The Diamond Age's vision for learning
A spring flood of projects<br>April '24 updates on Orbit, BookBridge, etc
What's worth learning if we have AGI?<br>What kinds of knowledge remain meaningful?
What does spatial computing want to become?<br>Pouring the silicon into the concrete
In praise of the particular<br>…and other lessons from 2023
Initial results from highlight-driven prototype<br>Observations from working with 14 students
On breadth vs. depth in learning<br>How to distribute time in study?
Highlight-driven practice/comprehension support<br>A new reading augmentation design concept
Studying myself studying linear algebra<br>Some problems with problem-solving practice
Initial experiments in self-explanation support<br>Painting a text with explanation
Reading comprehension and memory systems<br>Memory failures are often not the root problem
Fluid practice for fluid understanding<br>Reframing review sessions as practice sessions
Ethics of AI-based invention: a personal inquiry<br>Grappling with my moral obligations as a designer
Memory systems and problem-solving practice<br>Difficulties in knowledge transfer
Becoming a Wizard-of-Oz learning assistant<br>Field work experiments in adult learning
Three years of crowdfunded research<br>Reflections on my membership program
Towards impact through intimacy<br>Tentative plans for my 2023 research
Cultivating depth and stillness in research<br>Notes on whatʼs worked for me
Lessons from summer 2022 prototype<br>Synthesis on new mnemonic medium
Breaking the mnemonic medium out of its box<br>Demo/talk of a new floating design
Prospects for consumer silent speech interfaces<br>Systems for dictation without audible sound
The joyful surprises of user observation<br>Notes from testing a new mnemonic medium
A peritextual mnemonic medium<br>Demo/talk of a redesign around reader...