Show HN: I built a system for active note-taking in regular meetings like 1-1s
Posted by davnicwil 1 day ago
Hey HN! Like most here regular meetings have always been a big part of my work.
Over the years I've learned the value of active note taking in these meetings. Meaning: not minutes, not transcriptions or AI summaries, but me using my brain to actively pull out the key points in short form bullet-like notes, as the meeting is going on, as I'm talking and listening (and probably typing with one hand). This could be agenda points to cover, any interesting sidebars raised, insights gotten to in a discussion, actions agreed to (and a way to track whether they got done next time!).
It's both useful just to track what's going on in all these different meetings week to week (at one point I was doing about a dozen 1-1s per week, and it just becomes impossible to hold it in RAM) but also really valuable over time when you can look back and see the full history of a particular meeting, what was discussed when, how themes and structure are changing, is the meetings effective, etc.
Anyway, I've tried a bunch of different tools for taking these notes over the years. All the obvious ones you've probably used too. And I've always just been not quite satisfied with the experience. They work, obviously (it's just text based notes at the end of the day) but nothing is first-class for this usecase.
So, I decided to build the tool I've always felt I want to use, specifically for regular 1-1s and other types of regular meetings. I've been using it myself and with friends for a while already now, and I think it's got to that point where I actually prefer to reach for it over other general purpose note taking tools now, and I want to share it more widely.
There's a free tier so you can use it right away, in fact without even signing up.
If you've also been wanting a better system to manage your notes for regular meetings, give it a go and let me know what you think!
Comments
Comment by Brajeshwar 20 hours ago
Quite a while back, I realized that anything digital, from phones to computers, tends to become or look like very official/non-personal and hence looks bad, especially in 1:1 meetings. I decided to go with pen and paper, in a simple Notebook (A5 or A7 is my choice). I’m do not write anything personal, but the points shared or noted down between us are enough to remind me of any points that I might have noted in my mind.
I’ve carried this habit to many other meetings (non-1:1s too), even when there is a note-taker (AI or otherwise). My meeting notes usually get shared or used as references by other participants.
Even during the meetings, other participant(s) sometimes contribute to my notes. I don’t hate digital mediums; in fact, I have used Freeform on an iPad just like I use my Notebook for meeting notes.
The interesting part is that I learnt to draw like Dan Roam[1] quite a while back. So, my notes contain texts with a lot of arrows, stick figures, shapes, etc.
Sidenote: A lot of conversations got sidetracked to discussions about paper, fountain pens, the way I write, etc.
Comment by stronglikedan 19 hours ago
Tangential: I also recently switched to paper without lines after 20 years, and it's been quite liberating.
Comment by Brajeshwar 19 hours ago
Comment by grimgrin 18 hours ago
are these the same things or are we reaching differently w/ the consideration
Comment by andrei_says_ 16 hours ago
In my experience empowered coworkers make a better team and are a better deal for the company.
Maybe it was a humorous remark lost to the absence of tone in the written medium.
Comment by Brajeshwar 4 hours ago
Comment by idiotsecant 16 hours ago
Comment by CoffeeOnWrite 18 hours ago
How are you transcribing, or are you sharing photos?
Comment by Brajeshwar 4 hours ago
My meeting notes are, well, like comic books; quite a lot more drawings. So, people usually take pictures or I just take pictures and email them.
For instance, I was once in a meeting at a company planning the product roadmap for the next 3-5 years. I did a timeline-of-sort note with circles (inspired by DaisyDisk), complete with a few different colors. That note became the "official" starting base for the plan, shared across the company and referenced by the team.
Comment by jaffa2 16 hours ago
Comment by epec254 1 day ago
Here’s the issue - all my meetings have confidential, sensitive info. I can’t use a version you host (or well, I could, but you won’t be willing to do the 6 month security review I need).
Can you give me a version I can host (or run locally) and I give you some $ one time or per year?
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
My email is davnicwil at gmail, please email me and let's talk about it!
Comment by xiconfjs 1 day ago
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Comment by 7777777phil 1 day ago
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Comment by incoming1211 1 day ago
Comment by jherbkersman 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
I'm going to give everyone who signs up today full access to everything and access to those features will be grandfathered in to any future plans.
The plans as you see them now are just rough shape anyway just to launch something!
--
UPDATE
alright that should be implemented now, and all existing signups ported (if I got everyone :-)
Everyone is now on the 'Business' plan (full access to everything) on signup
Comment by gppmad 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
That means
- meetings notes are structured as entries, new entry in 1 click, with a template, with responsive structure
- easy to see who wrote what, everyone gets their own section
- first class action tracking and management of actions in one place
- distraction-free editor optimised for one-hand typing with only minimal formatting necessary to make notes tidy
- easier to search and navigate through history of notes
I think this applies for google docs but also other 'general' note taking tools and editors.
Comment by edmundsauto 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
But to get directly to your point, I just think entries give better structure than a sort of 'open doc' self-regulated-formatting type system with headers etc. You get an 'entity' that can be tagged with date&time, searched, displayed in a cluster of sections with responsive layout, etc. That's actually one of the precise things I'm trying to improve upon from my own experience with using general note taking tools for meeting notes. But I concede it could just be subjective opinion.
This might be a stretch but if you are at all up for it I would absolutely love to quiz you further on this though on a call or via email. I may have misunderstood. davnicwil at gmail, if you'd be up for it :-)
Comment by doomerhunter 17 hours ago
Comment by mannanj 1 day ago
Comment by guessmyname 1 day ago
That said, I, of course, always welcome competition.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMoGOWOBicY
[2] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/facilitator-in-mi...
Comment by thesamurai97 1 day ago
Comment by cipehr 1 day ago
Comment by voxelv 1 day ago
You're in a ton of regular meetings, and you and want to take notes and actions to keep track of what's going on in them week to week.
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
Comment by dwedge 1 day ago
Missing "be". Plus here is another vote for self hosted
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
Writer's blindness is real!
My email is davnicwil at gmail, if you email me just so I have yours I'll update you when self hosted is available
Comment by pillefitz 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
- actions (checkboxes) with mentions that you can track in one place
- images
- templates and one-click new entry
On the shared thing, it's opinionated in that it's not a shared single document like a google doc, rather everyone you share with gets their own section, so you can very easily see who wrote what.
Comment by devsda 1 day ago
May be add a small section for private notes ?
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
For now, you could temporarily turn off wifi and rant away ;-)
Comment by raw_anon_1111 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
Relatedly, I've had a few requests for a self hosted version already and will be offering this very soon as a priority. If that'd solve the issue also, please email me at davnicwil at gmail and I will update you when it's available.
Comment by raw_anon_1111 1 day ago
We already use Lattice for performance notes, peer to peer feedback and it’s a place where we put notes for our 1:1s. It integrates with Slack to remind us to enter topics before the meeting, etc.
Even with all of those objections, you won’t get anywhere in corporate America with your product unless you offer SSO. It’s not that hard to do.
I have recommended a one man SaaS once in my career to something that was critical to what I needed for a large company critical initiative. But we got lawyers involved and negotiated our own instance and the code be put in escrow with a third party that we would get access to under certain circumstances. We were going to be 70% of his post sign in revenue and growing.
Comment by Oxodao 1 day ago
I don't know Lattice so I would not use it.
Comment by FinnKuhn 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
If anyone wants to be updated when this is available, email me at davnicwil at gmail
Comment by raw_anon_1111 1 day ago
https://medium.com/@Arakunrin/the-post-ipo-performance-of-y-...
So yes, if you want to start a business your most likely outcome is going to be complete failure. Your second most likely outcome is muddling along in obscurity until you give up realizing you could make more money being an enterprise CRUD developer at a bank and not work as hard. The next outcome is you might get acquired.
Unless you are decision maker for a medium to large company, you shouldn’t have heard of Lattice.
But don’t you think before someone invest time in building something they hope to be successful they look at the landscape of others in their vertical?
Comment by qweqwe14 1 day ago
I'm not even mentioning trust issues, when sensitive data is involved.
Doing anything less and hoping that companies would use your toy project is just wishful thinking. Sorry to be that guy, but please get real.
Comment by nijave 21 hours ago
Comment by raw_anon_1111 21 hours ago
Any midsize company that would trust having their proprietary information like would be in one on ones would be a complete idiot to depend on a random website.
One on ones usually feed into reviews. What guarantees would their be that the site would be up in a year?
Comment by IAmBroom 19 hours ago
IRL: I could add whatever I wanted into my computer at most places I've worked, including multi-billion$ international companies.
Comment by raw_anon_1111 18 hours ago
If your company wouldn’t mind you putting details of your 1 on 1s on his website, do you mind just emailing me those notes?
Yes it would be kind of crazy to do that wouldn’t it?
Comment by jms703 17 hours ago
Comment by raw_anon_1111 16 hours ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
Comment by IAmBroom 19 hours ago
And I say that from a similar situation: I can't bring ANY executable onto my computer without corporate IT approval. Even as an untouched file.
But that isn't common in most companies.
Comment by raw_anon_1111 18 hours ago
If you think they wouldn’t mind, post your quarterly goals you discussed with your manager as a reply.
If you aren’t willing to do that, why are you willing to put your information in his website?
Comment by ktallett 1 day ago
Comment by raw_anon_1111 22 hours ago
But that take is cliched founder take. “X is a $10 billion industry. If we just get 1% we will be a great investment”.
If someone doesn’t more narrowly target their market to something more realistic than the entire population in the world. They have already lost
Comment by ktallett 20 hours ago
There are many people that don't have regular meetings so I'm guessing he is focusing on those that do which is a market. I wouldn't use it as personally I prefer to avoid the meetings.
Comment by raw_anon_1111 20 hours ago
How often do you have meetings except at work?
Comment by ad_hockey 20 hours ago
Comment by raw_anon_1111 19 hours ago
Comment by IAmBroom 19 hours ago
I don't live in your head.
Comment by raw_anon_1111 18 hours ago
Would you post your companies secrets to HN?
See what happens if he goes to let’s say Coca Cola. I’m sure they will be glad to tell their employees to put notes about the Coke formula and the discussions they had with their manager
Comment by voodooEntity 21 hours ago
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Comment by davnicwil 14 hours ago
It's fixed now and the emails should come through.
Comment by replwoacause 18 hours ago
Comment by kgthegreat 1 day ago
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Comment by janijarvinen 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
Absolutely, yes, full export of notes (in variety of formats) is coming soon :-)
Comment by throwaway81523 1 day ago
Comment by dotancohen 1 day ago
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Comment by dotancohen 22 hours ago
I was emphasizing that E-Ink devices with EMR pens provide an input experience very close to writing on paper. Combine that with all the advantages of actually having a digital document. The EMR pen never needs charging, and the E-Ink device gets charged on the weekend.
Comment by crashabr 1 day ago
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Comment by dotancohen 1 day ago
Almost as good as Emacs Org mode. I use Org mode with Evil, to get VIM keybindings. This way I can quickly navigate and edit the document, not just append to the end of it. And of course, Emacs is completely local.
I suppose there is supposed to be a collaborative element that Emacs won't provide. In my experience people in meetings already have workflows and are seldom interested in using the tool somebody else asks them to.
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
I take that as the highest compliment!
But yeah, the sharing aspect is a key thing I wanted to nail here. In my mind, it should be so simple to share and just start typing in Docket that say, the organiser of a meeting will just share the notes and it should be the simplest (or, at least, a simple) option for everyone to dive in.
Comment by dotancohen 22 hours ago
RTL (right-to-left) text is displayed with LTR directionality and alignment. Even when preceding an RTL line with the RLE character, it remains left-aligned. I suggest using the method that most other software uses: detecting the first strongly-directional character in the sentence and then using that directionality. And since you provide formatting, provide also an option to override the detected directionality.
See here for more information about handling RTL:
https://dotancohen.com/howto/rtl_right_to_left.html
Also, the floating toolbar on mobile is maddening. It precludes reading what was written, which is very important when using e.g. a voice dictation keyboard (maybe not in meetings).
Comment by dotancohen 22 hours ago
That also means that the URL must be unique enough to not be guessed, and that the person initiating the session should be able to boot off users and lock the session so other users cannot join after every wanted user joins.
Comment by throwaway0665 1 day ago
Comment by dotancohen 21 hours ago
Who am I kidding? If anybody ever gets their meeting partners to actually install and use this, I want to hear about it.
Comment by hberg 1 day ago
One point of (hopefully) constructive feedback is that it wasn't obvious from my first interaction with the temporary doc that I was able to create checklists and bullet points. Once I saw that those are possible, I quickly guessed the keystrokes, but it might be helpful to add some graphical guidance.
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
On desktop, you get a little popover menu with all available formatting when you highlight some text. On mobile, it's always there when you select.
I was thinking along the lines of something like a little help icon (?) that might toggle it on desktop, some sort of overlay that only appears on first use, or just a real simple tutorial video or something. I'll think on it. Thanks for the feedback!
Comment by mojoe 16 hours ago
Comment by jimkleiber 1 day ago
I'd love a help button or keyboard shortcut to show keyboard shortcuts.
Thanks!
edit: I figured out the action, with putting [] first. But that was an educated guess based on some other comment here that said actions were checkboxes and me knowing more about Markdown than maybe your average meeting notetaker.
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
But yeah, I need to make the formatting and shortcuts available much clearer somehow. Thanks for the feedback!
Just for reference in case anyone else finds this comment, we have
action: []
bullet: - at the start of a line
indent: tab and shift tab
bold: cmd+B / ctrl+B
emojis: type : and it brings up an autocomplete selector
image: just paste one in
---
You can also highlight any word to bring up a small popup panel with all these options too.
Comment by mrweasel 20 hours ago
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Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
What browser are you on if you don't mind me asking?
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Comment by delis-thumbs-7e 1 day ago
Also, I use pen and a notebook. It is better than anything electronic, since we are monkeys and using our eye-hand coordination has proven effects on concentration and learning.
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
I guess in the end it's my take on a system that I want to use for regular meeting notes with others and that I've never been able to find in any other tool, so I built it.
Comment by BaudouinVH 1 day ago
Comment by davnicwil 1 day ago
If you triggered a few login flows there may be some race condition with emails arriving out of order or something.
If you're feeling even more generous with your valuable time and want to let me know your sign in email (my email is davnicwil at gmail) I can investigate further.
Comment by fkarg 1 day ago
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Comment by globular-toast 17 hours ago
But I agree with the other commenter about taking handwritten notes. I use pencil and paper and type them up into org-mode afterwards.
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Comment by nijave 21 hours ago
Also shout-out to Attendee which is OSS for building meeting bots https://github.com/attendee-labs/attendee