This is the first AI-powered ADHD Coaching App that I am aware of. As a Mental Health Coach with ADHD, I am always looking for tools and strategies for myself and my clients to improve how we can improve our overall functioning in various levels of life. Most of the apps in the ADHD category I have found either focus on working through executive function improvement (usually focus or organization) or on training someone on the basic understandings of what ADHD is and how it affects them. Indy is on a whole other level. It works to help the person learn to reflect and integrate the actions they are currently taking into the future view of themselves that they want to become. I know for my brain, this is a particularly difficult skill to do, which usually leads me to trying something new and different long before any actual benefit has had the chance to manifest.
In my opinion, the next best thing to using Indy would be to pay for a coach or a therapist to help you learn how to work on the skills that Indy is teaching its users at a deep level. It is an amazing tool!!
For those who go to coaching or therapy, I would highly recommend bringing Indy into your sessions, so the professionals in your life can see some of the insights that you are gaining and the work you are doing every day (that you already forgot about).
Shimmer ADHD
@garrytan @christal Congrats on the launch Christal. How (practically) do you handle gentle nudgebacks into task flow and keep that compounding?
@garrytan @christal Amazing! What specific ADHD cognitive challenges does Indy aim to address? How do you balance supporting users without reinforcing stigma or pressure?
Product Hunt
Shimmer ADHD
@curiouskitty This is something we've thought a lot about and specifically why we don't have streaks. We do have 14-day challenges that allow you to "lock in" when you choose to, but also you won't approach these when you're on vacation or in "low spoons" mode. The goal isn't just productivity or goal achievement, but it's life well-being, so that might mean investing in self care or rest when it makes sense!
Really like the framing of “not just a to-do list”.
Curious what you’ve noticed around when structure helps vs. when it hurts – especially for ADHD.
In my experience, some thoughts need a place to linger before they’re ready to become tasks at all.
Shimmer ADHD
@dmitry_petrakov Yes, totally and great point! We actually have two input styles - one structured for morning / night, and one for "quick adds". We've found that the usage from our beta users was about 50 / 50 for those two input formats! We're also working on ways to improve memory so that Indy better holds on to things and surfaces them in the right context so you don't need to remember them all but also don't need to open up an overwhelmingly long list!
@christal That 50/50 split is fascinating — it really reinforces the idea that
people don’t live in one mode.
What resonated for me is the “don’t make me remember, but don’t overwhelm me” tension.
It feels like the real work is not capturing more, but surfacing things
only when the context is right.
Curious how you think about decay or fading over time –
do some inputs naturally lose importance if they’re not revisited?
minimalist phone: creating folders
As someone who also has some ADHD users, this is noticeable.
If you can learn people how to turn this "diagnosis" to skill, you can do miracles.
Shimmer ADHD
@busmark_w_nika Yes! There are so many under-noticed and under-leveraged strengths that ADHDers have, once they gain the awareness and self-confidence to explore them. We'll actually be building out a structured strengths-finding flow as well later this year!
Shimmer ADHD
@busmark_w_nika Thanks so much Nika! Your support helps us a ton!
minimalist phone: creating folders
@vikram_sreedhar you are welcome, this has a huge potential!
Indy has been very useful in just helping me track some of my learnings about how I work best and identifying blind spots or things I hadn’t considered. It’s become a part of my morning routine!
Shimmer ADHD
@tiasabs Thanks so much Lavanya! Love that Indy is being integrated that way into your day, and we'll make sure to keep improving it's pattern recognition!
Shimmer ADHD
Thank you so much @garrytan for hunting us! Hi everyone! 👋
I am Xenia – the Principal Scientific Officer at Shimmer.
As a person responsible for evidence-based approach to Shimmer products, I am very excited about this launch.
Most of ADHD apps treat human like a machine who needs to be “trained” from getting distracted to fixing their eyeballs on the goal for long enough to receive a pat on the back.
Others attempt to reduce human complexity into what can be measured and averaged, at the expense of nurturing a singular subjective experience of each person.
These approaches ignore the most important thing: humans are not machines. We are living our life story as we go along, making meanings in interaction with our context and other people.
Altogether, this results in a never-ending loop of responding to what feels urgent…
Indy is radically different.
The modern developmental science suggests that we should instead focus on what is important first. What do you want to see happening in your life this year? In five years? Thirty years on?
Else, existential psychology shows that despite the uncertainty of the modern world, there is much more choice and freedom available to us. There is every reason to invest into the strategic life-span view - and this is what Indy does.
I would love to answer any questions you might have and look forward to you trying it out!
Shimmer ADHD
@xeniaangevin Kudos to all the work you put in to set the foundation for Indy! We couldn't have done this without you and it's exciting to see how helpful Indy has been already from our early set of users!
Shimmer ADHD
@xeniaangevin It's been such a pleasure working on Shimmer and Indy with you! We wouldn't be where we are without the level of insight and innovation you bring into every interaction and project we have! Cheers to Shimmer, Indy, and the future of ADHD!
Indy is game-changing. I have been using it since its launch and I am seriously so grateful for it. Came across it through @christal's page and cant thank you enough!
The design is very clean and intuitive. It was easy to get started and to keep using it consistently.
The 'Lifeline' exercise is my favorite feature so far. Having my goals and dreams for the future mapped out in categories really help anchor it and I love how the app reminds me of these when solving problems or setting daily goals.
The messaging feature was a bit tricky to get used to. Since AI chat apps usually let you ramble. But I am starting to see its strength in helping me stay focused, reduce overwhelm, and explore new possibilities.
Looking forward to seeing how the app keeps generating insights and patterns that would help me in the long term.
Shimmer ADHD
@sruthy_sasi so glad you found us through Chris's page and thank you so much for giving us a try! We definitely went back and forth between allowing our AI to talk at length or not, but decided that the limitation would help with the structure and push forward a lot of our beta users were needing.
Really hope Indy can continue to help you tackle the day-to-day responsibilities and keep moving forward towards your goals!
@vikram_sreedhar Absolutely! uncomfortable does not mean bad. This looks like the gentle structure we needed afterall.
Curious to see how Indy could support someone sort of 'falling of the wagon' or having a stretch of bad or low to no activity days? I have noticed a shame in going back to the app when a couple of days didn't go as expected. Would it gently nudge us back or do we need to take the first step back? Thank you for your answer