Pack Pal

Overview

Pack Pal is an iPhone app for planning backpacking trips and the food that goes with them. It is our own product, so it shows what we do when the brief is ours: start with a real problem, shape a clear product, and carry it through brand, build and launch. It is still in development.

The problem

A good idea can stall in the gap between a sketch, a logo and something people can actually use. For Pack Pal the idea was simple: someone new to backpacking wants to know whether the food they are packing will be enough for each day of the trip. The work was turning that one question into a focused product with a point of view, instead of another tracker with a long list of features.

What we built

One team took Pack Pal from that first question to a working app. That meant clear product thinking about who it is for and what to leave out, a brand that holds together from the logo to the app screens to the App Store images, a working web app where you plan each day's meals and see a calorie bar against your target, and a written plan for getting it to the App Store.

How we made it

We use AI to take the busywork off people's plates, so they have more room for the parts of life worth being present for. For Pack Pal, that means the app does the counting and the planning, and you get to spend your energy on the trail, the people you are with and a good dinner at camp. We build it the same way. AI helps us move faster on design, code and copy, and people make the calls and review everything that ships.

What is next

Pack Pal is still in development. Next is testing with real hikers and getting ready for the App Store, and we will update this page as that happens.