NoPresh: Turning a Joke into an App

Personal Project

I saw this post a while back making a joke about an app called You’re Canceled. 

When you have plans with someone, you both can send a tentative cancellation, activated when it’s mutual. It’s a black box, essentially a reverse prisoner's dilemma. It's a solid joke, mostly an introvert fantasy for a world increasingly driven by obligation and social battery. But it's also a pretty cool idea. So I’m going to actually make it.

Step 1: Deconstruction

Let’s boil down what makes this idea engaging on a basic level. First, there’s the desire to have an active social calendar, to make plans with friends. It’s both a basic human need and an aspiration. We all want to be the type of person with a busy social calendar.  

The issue arises where these plans become inconvenient, often with an insufficient reason. You make plans, you’re genuinely excited, but the day comes and you just no longer feel like going out. Maybe work sucked, maybe there’s a TV show calling to you. This conflict causes a couple of problems. 

• Social anxiety, the fear of letting someone down

• A potentially unpleasant conversation, in which you have to lie or apologize

• Guilt for not wanting to go out, feeling like you’re failing socially

• The suspicion that the other party may feel the same way

This problem feels common enough to warrant a really successful social media post. It’s rooted in the exhausting times we live in, the desire for some control over our social lives, the difficulty we have communicating with each other. 

The confetti explosion also reinforces this moment as a positive bonding experience, not a negative one. You both agreed to treat yourselves to a night in!

Step 2: Basic changes

Let’s remember this is a joke. The idea isn’t meant to be taken seriously, let alone be a fully formed app pitch. So let's work out the kinks. 

Of course, “You’re Cancelled” is a bad name. Even once we toss that out, finding a good app name is really hard. We’ll figure out a new name later.

An entire app based around not doing things is going to eventually be a bummer, no matter how useful it is. We need to expand its functionality to feel a bit more positive. But we can’t expand it too much, or it becomes bland. Everyone eventually tries to make their app the new Facebook. 

Step 3: Expanded Functionality

The root of this app is dealing with the uncomfortable parts of social interactions quickly, easily, and positively. What are some other pain points that we could address?

• Rain check: needing to reschedule but still wanting to hang out. You either have to spend a bunch of time discussing new days or worry that the plans will fall through altogether. 

• Picking your activity: choosing a restaurant or thing to do is often vulnerable and frustrating. If you take the lead, you have to worry that the other person isn’t having a good time. The “you pick, no you pick” conversation is exhausting and takes forever. 

That’s three solid functions, enough to change the overall theme of the app. It’s no longer about canceling plans, but smoothing out the annoying parts of social planning. 

Step 4: Ideation

To be honest, I’m of the opinion that most app names are bad and all the good ones were used up by 2015. That said, I’m going with NoPresh, a common (if dated) abbreviation of No Pressure. 

Let's run through a use case for its primary functions: invite, location choice, rescheduling, and cancellation.

1. The user downloads the app, which syncs to their contacts and calendar of choice.

2. The user makes plans to get dinner with a friend on Friday. They use NoPresh to create an event on their calendar, and add their friends' contact info. 

3. Friday arrives, and the user receives a reminder from NoPresh, asking if they want to make changes. 

4. The user realizes they haven’t picked a restaurant. They don’t really know what the vibe would be, just dinner or drinks as well, fancy or low key. They use NoPresh to create a list of options. They send a link to the event via text message. 

5. The friend can either create their own list or view the proposed options. If they create their own list, NoPresh identifies any overlap and notifies both parties, turning it into sort of a game. Otherwise the friend can just look at the list of options and pick one. 

6. It gets a little later and something comes up, the user needs to push back the plans. They go to the “rain check” option and set a list of alternate dates and times. The options are sent to the friend, who picks Monday at 6pm. 

7. Monday comes around and the user is tired. They could power through, but would prefer to stay home. The Cancel button is prominent on the event screen at all times. They choose to send a Cancel Check – a soft cancellation that must be sent anonymously 

8. The cancel button is present on the event screen at all times. The user presses it at 10am. Nothing happens. At 4pm they get a notification, the friend has pressed their cancel button. The screen lights up confetti. 

We have one primary obstacle here: sending the event link to someone that doesn’t already have an app. No matter how useful it is, if a friend sends me an app link when we’re making plans, I’m going to be a little off put. And if they don’t send it until they’re ready to cancel, then you’re just adding extra steps to say you don’t want to hang out. 

We need to get the user to send the event invite as early as possible so it's just a calendar invite. That's the least invasive. The friends side of the experience needs to have an in-browser option, ideally with minimal login requirements. We push them to create credentials and download the app whenever they use its functionality. 

Alright, I think we’ve come up with an app that is genuinely helpful. Let’s create it.

Here’s our Figma file: https://www.figma.com/design/Fosr4qwu51qWzeTeBwrz7q/Planner?node-id=45-698&t=UgfRKOPWeK4b96rr-0

I’ve mocked up a grey scale version of the app (I’m a little rusty at UX design, don’t judge). You can find a full write up of each screen, their entry points, and notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1stmzV8FGVOnb_lQlR2niTwuYqmlQ_2ZIjTstZXhroRs/edit?usp=sharing

Step 5: Copy Principles 

I started with the UX copy first, just feeling out what fit well with the experience, sort of an organic approach. From here, a couple of themes emerged.

1. Keep it casual

   Sucks, not feeling it, bail – all these terms show up in the experience. I’m not doing this for a “how do you do, fellow kids” attempt to capture youth culture (if I was, I’d probably be way off here). This needs to feel like part of hanging out, just a continuation of the experience. 

   If the language is overly formal, it feels intrusive, the participants are more aware of an app communicating for them. Worst case scenario, it feels condescending, like you’re getting an adult to manage this stuff for you. So, even if the language is eye roll-inducing at times, that's preferable.  

2. Tap into frustration

   We are addressing negative situations; annoying interactions, social anxiety, guilt, and miscommunication. Generally as a rule, you want to avoid negativity in copy whenever possible. But if we shy away from it, the function of the app becomes muddled. So, we lean in with a sort of call and response. 

   In my book, “I’m down for whatever” is one of the most irritating phrases in the English language. Just seeing it flashes me back to exhausting conversations and wasted time. We’re going to use that, and other phrases like it, in a call and response system. Use the phrase, elicit the emotion, and address it. It's like playing emotional whack-a-mole.

3. Careful with Cancel

   This service puts us in an awkward position. Cancel is one of the most common terms in UX copy, essentially one of the fundamental pillars. But because Cancelling is our core service, we need to scrub that term from everywhere else. This means we have to use terms like Undo, Nevermind, and Go Back.

Step 6: General Copy

Now that we have our core copy and principles, let’s put together some general copy for marketing, the app store, ect.

General Description, Long

Take the stress out of your social life with NoPresh. 

Do you ever make plans but struggle to pick a restaurant your friends will like? Do you ever want to cancel, but worry about offending the other person?

Let us take care of that.

– Send your friends a list of times and activities that work for you. They’ll choose their favorite, and it’s done.  

– Send a soft Cancel Check when you want to bail. Your friend will only see it if they send one too. Otherwise, the plans are still on. 

– Request a rain check and reschedule, all with the push of a button. 

No more anxiety, no more endless texts back and forth. NoPresh takes care of it so you can focus on having a good time.

General Description, Short

De-stress your social life with NoPresh. No more anxiety, no more texts back and forth, just good times. 

When making plans, send your friends a list of times and activities and they’ll choose their favorite. Want to bail? Send a Cancel Check. They’ll only see it if they send one too.

Cancel Check System, Long

Do you ever make plans to see a friend, but when the day arrives you kind of want to bail? Work sucked, you’re tired, or you’re just not in the mood? You even think they might feel the same way? 

Instead of a bunch of awkward texts feeling it out, send a Cancel Check. If you both send one, the plans are canceled. Get comfy, put something on, and relax. If they don’t send one, nothing happens. You rally and your secret is safe with us.

Cancel Check System, Short

You ever make plans, but when the day arrives you kind of want to bail? Send a Cancel Check. If you both send one, the plans are canceled.

Planner System, Long

Indecision is the worst part of making plans. Going back and forth on times, the restaurant, or the activity – it gets pretty old. Let’s make it easier. 

Send your friend a list of locations, dates, and times. They’ll pick, and your plans are set. You never have to hear “I’m okay with whatever” again.

Planner System, Short

Indecision is the worst part of making plans – going back and forth on times, the restaurant, or the activity. Instead, send your friend a list of options. They’ll pick, and your plans are set. No more “I’m okay with whatever”.