ConfPal
I designed and built ConfPal to turn fragmented conference programmes into a calm, glanceable experience before, during and after the event.
Team
Independent product
Stack
SwiftUI · watchOS · Vapor
Role
Product design & development
Status
In development
Journey 01 · Prepare
Before — Turn scattered information into a plan
The idea began at Config 2023 in San Francisco. Between packed sessions, long queues and constant movement, the conference programme demanded more attention than it returned. I wanted a companion that could help me prepare beforehand, orient myself in seconds during the day and preserve useful context afterwards.
ConfPal turns a photo or link into a structured conference draft. Automation removes the setup work, but not the person’s judgment: uncertain details remain visible in a review step before anything is saved.
The conference library makes the product useful before arrival
FIG. CONF-LIB
Text alternative: A finished contextual mockup shows the ConfPal conference library using the SwiftLeeds 2026 dataset, with the live conference, upcoming event and current session accessory visible together.
Automation ends in review, not silent decisions
FIG. CONF-02
Text alternative: A finished device mockup and an interaction clip show the import review, with field-level confidence visible before the draft is applied.
Journey 02 · Navigate
During — Keep the next decision glanceable
During the conference, the product collapses around two questions: what is happening now, and what comes next. The schedule keeps tracks and time visible, while semantic zoom reveals detail without losing the moment beneath the person’s fingers.
The same Now/Next state moves across iPhone, Apple Watch and Live Activities. Each surface changes the amount of information it shows, but not the session, timing or countdown it communicates.
The schedule keeps the conference moment in view
FIG. CONF-01
Text alternative: A finished device mockup shows the ConfPal schedule on iPhone, with session cards arranged by time and track and the current conference moment visible.
One Now state, shaped for different moments of attention
FIG. CONF-03
Text alternative: An iPhone mockup and interaction clip show the current SwiftLeeds session with its countdown, title, speaker and timing. A contextual Apple Watch mockup and interaction clip show the same state in a more glanceable composition. Two finished Live Activity mockups extend that shared timing state to the Lock Screen, showing both the current session and what comes next.
Journey 03 · Remember
After — Preserve the context around a session
The Journal keeps notes, photos and voice capture attached to the conference and session that produced them. Instead of becoming disconnected files, each memory retains the context that can make it useful after the room empties.
This part of the product remains in refinement. The mockups show the current direction for capture and recall, without claiming transcription or summarisation that is not yet represented in the finished experience.
Text alternative: A contextual mockup shows a composer tied to SwiftLeeds 2026 and the current session, with a written note, conference photo and active voice recording. A second contextual mockup and interaction clip then show the resulting Journal timeline moving across written, photographic and audio memories grouped under the session.
Method · design in the material
Craft through implementation
I worked iteratively across Figma → AI → Xcode → testing on iPhone. That was the primary path, but each build and device test could send the work back to an earlier stage. Building directly in SwiftUI made interactions, states and edge cases explicit earlier than a design-to-handoff workflow would have allowed.
AI accelerated implementation; it did not choose what deserved to exist. The craft came from keeping design intent stable as the product moved between visual exploration, code and the device in my hand.
- Figma
- AI
- Refine → Figma
- Xcode
- Reframe → Figma
- iPhone
- Iterate → Xcode, AI or Figma
Text alternative: An iterative workflow moves primarily from exploration in Figma to AI-assisted acceleration, implementation in Xcode and testing on iPhone. Lighter return paths connect later stages back to earlier ones.
Outcome · active development
Current state and next proof
ConfPal is a working multi-target product moving toward TestFlight. Building across iPhone, Apple Watch, widgets and Live Activities made the system more coherent, but also allowed its breadth to grow faster than its validation.
The next meaningful step is not another feature. It is a release candidate tested on devices and with people navigating a real conference day.