A companion for readers who collect thoughts

iOS

User research

Reading

Claude code

Solo Project

There are lines that make you pause, words that resonate with you.
Margins started as a way to bring them all together. Not in the way the productivity tool would, but as a space for things worth remembering.

Industry:

Education

Role:

Independent

Year:

2025

The problem

We collect words that move us, but rarely return to them.

Scattered notes everywhere

Quotes and highlights live across screenshots, notebooks, and note apps. Hard to find, impossible to connect.

Inefficient capture flow

Highlighting and retyping quotes from books or screenshots feels tedious; a simple “photo + highlight” flow mirrors real reading behavior.

Forgotten meaning

Once saved, quotes lose context. Why they mattered? What we were thinking about when we saved them?

The idea

When I looked at all the quotes I saved, I realized they often reflected what I was thinking about at the time, what I was worried about or trying to understand. So I wanted to create a space to store and reflect on them.

Goal

30 seconds to capture the quote

Snap a picture of the page, highlight the text, done. Didn't add a book? No problem, we'll hold it in Loose Pages until you're ready. The app should never interrupt your reading flow.

Books as structure

Books are first-class objects, not folders you have to invent. Tag manually or let AI discover themes across your reading. Your collection structures itself, revealing patterns you might not have seen.

Rediscovery

A widget brings quotes back to the surface. Your library reflects your intellectual journey over time.

Margins is also my way of exploring what it means to design and ship with AI.
I’m building it entirely myself, from ideation to development.

Margins is also my way of exploring what it means to design and ship with AI. I’m building it entirely myself, from ideation to development.

Designing the mood

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.
The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

Capturing quotes,
the real-world way

Capturing quotes, the real-world way

Adding a quote should feel natural and easy.
The goal was to make it take less than 30s.
Most of people highlight text directly in books or screenshots.
I mirrored that behavior, users can take (or upload) a photo and highlight the quote with their finger, and the app extracts the text automatically.

Adding a quote should feel natural and easy. The goal was to make it take less than 30s. Most of people highlight text directly in books or screenshots.
I mirrored that behavior, users can take (or upload) a photo and highlight the quote with their finger, and the app extracts the text automatically.

Adding a quote should feel natural and easy.
The goal was to make it take less than 30s.
Most of people highlight text directly in books or screenshots.
I mirrored that behavior, users can take (or upload) a photo and highlight the quote with their finger, and the app extracts the text automatically.

Serendiptious messages

A small widget surfaces random quotes throughout the day, tiny reminders of what once mattered.

What’s next

Margins is now open to friends and family for feedback, (they shake the phone a lot to send me notes). I plan to keep refining it, adding moments of delight and deeper reflection features before a public release.

A companion for readers who collect thoughts

The problem

We collect words that move us, but rarely return to them.

Scattered notes everywhere

Inefficient capture flow

Forgotten meaning

The idea

When I looked at all the quotes I saved, I realized they often reflected what I was thinking about at the time, what I was worried about or trying to understand. So I wanted to create a space to store and reflect on them.

Goal

30 seconds to capture the quote

Books as structure

Rediscovery

Margins is also my way of exploring what it means to design and ship with AI.I’m building it entirely myself, from ideation to development.

Margins is also my way of exploring what it means to design and ship with AI. I’m building it entirely myself, from ideation to development.

Designing the mood

Designing the mood

Designing the mood

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

Capturing quotes, the real-world way

Capturing quotes, the real-world way

Capturing quotes, the real-world way

Adding a quote should feel natural and easy.The goal was to make it take less than 30s.Most of people highlight text directly in books or screenshots.I mirrored that behavior, users can take (or upload) a photo and highlight the quote with their finger, and the app extracts the text automatically.

Adding a quote should feel natural and easy.The goal was to make it take less than 30s.Most of people highlight text directly in books or screenshots.I mirrored that behavior, users can take (or upload) a photo and highlight the quote with their finger, and the app extracts the text automatically.

Serendiptious messages

Serendiptious messages

A small widget surfaces random quotes throughout the day, tiny reminders of what once mattered.

A small widget surfaces random quotes throughout the day, tiny reminders of what once mattered.

What’s next

Margins is now open to friends and family for feedback, (they shake the phone a lot to send me notes). I plan to keep refining it, adding moments of delight and deeper reflection features before a public release.

Margins is also my way of exploring what it means to design and ship with AI.
I’m building it entirely myself, from ideation to development.

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.
The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.
The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

I wanted the app to feel tactile and calm, like a late-night journaling.
The quotes rest on subtle paper textures, and the dark theme helps create that sense of intimacy and focus. It’s not about utility, it’s about mood and being alone with your thoughts.

Capturing quotes,
the real-world way

Capturing quotes,
the real-world way