Quivy · design direction 01

Vitsœ.

Quivy watches everything, so the interface has to be the part you never think about. This direction treats the product like the 606 shelving system: a visible 4px grid, opaque paper shelves, hairline joints, one signal colour used as a tool, and type carrying all of the hierarchy. Agent work arrives in the thread the way shelves mount on a rail: aligned, load-bearing, removable. It is the version you could live with for twelve months without muting, because here quiet is a structure, not a mood. The batched morning brief is one calm shelf; the single urgent interruption is a different object class entirely, full-width signal orange, alone.

Risk
Restraint reads as "no design" if the spacing, type ramp and state work are anything less than exact. Justified: the audience asked for trusted, not clever, and nothing builds trust like exact alignment.
Muse
Dieter Rams' 606 Universal Shelving for Vitsœ, 1960: a wall of ordered shelves that disappears behind your life.
Motion
Shelf-settle: 180 to 260ms on a long ease-out, items rise 8px and set. An unasked-for message is one shelf sliding down to rest; patience is a hairline filling too slowly to watch.
Presence
A 10px signal square and the lowercase wordmark. No avatar, no orb. Every item the agent touched carries a 3px orange shelf rail.

Onboarding

S01 – S03
9:41

quivy

One less thing to hold in your head.

Quivy watches your messages, email, calendar, photos, contacts and files, then acts before you ask.

Everything stays on a small box in your home, or on this phone. Never on somebody else's computer.

The box, on a shelf at home
S01 · Welcome
9:42

Setup · step 1 of 2

Connect your sources

One tap each. Quivy reads them here at home; nothing leaves the box.

4 of 8 connected Telegram connecting
GmailConnected
Google CalendarConnected
WhatsAppConnected
PhotosConnected
TelegramConnecting
Contacts
Lightroom
Notion
S02 · Connect · 4 of 8
9:44
quivyFirst look

Here's what I found. Keep what's useful, dismiss what isn't, correct me anywhere.

Marco Feretti

You spoke most weeks for three years. Nothing for 8 months.

WhatsApp + email

Priya Naidoo

You promised her the Lisbon photos 23 days ago.

Thursday evenings

You keep them free. Seen 40 times in your calendar.

No shellfish

From a WhatsApp chat, 2 February 2024.

214 contacts

Sorted into 38 people you actually know. The rest are filed, not forgotten.

S03 · Discovery · entrance plays in view

The thread

S04 – S06 · S06 in dark
8:47

Today

quivy08:47

Morning. Three things before nine. Dan on Thursday needs the Q3 drawings, Priya is still waiting on the Lisbon photos, and Marco is in Cape Town next month. All three are below.

Q3 drawings for Dan

5 days out

Lisbon photos for Priya

23 days out

Marco, 12 to 20 August

3 times suit you both

Message
S04 · First run · arrival plays in view
17:26
quivy17:02

Dan confirmed Thursday at 10:00.

Good. Can we lock in dinner with Marco while he's here?
0:19
quivy17:24

Dinner with Marco

3 times suit you both · 4 people

Thu 14 Aug, 19:00Your pattern
Sat 16 Aug, 12:30
Tue 19 Aug, 19:30
Receipt Hemelhuijs · 21 June R640

Salt & Stone, Thu 14 Aug, 19:00

R1 800 deposit · 4 people

Message
S05 · Live thread
7:12

Wednesday 13 August

quivy07:12

Five things before nine

One list, no alarms

1

Dan Weiss, Thursday 10:00. The brief is ready.

2

Q3 drawings for Dan. 5 days out.

3

Lisbon photos for Priya. 23 days out.

4

Marco, 12 to 20 August. Three times found.

5

Coffee with Bongi. 2 months out.

Point at any of them and I'll start.
Message
S06 · Morning brief · dark

The reconnection

S07 – S11 · S10 in dark
12:26

Saturday 9 August

quivy12:26

You and Marco used to talk most weeks. It's been eight months. He's in Cape Town 12 to 20 August, and three times suit you both. Want me to hold a table?

You and Marco · February 2013
Message
S07 · The reconnection
12:27
quivy12:27

Three times, three places. Tap a time, tap a place, and I'll hold it.

Thursday keeps your evening pattern

Salt & Stone

Kalk Bay · Seafood

R450 a head · R1 800 for four

Mostly seafood. Your no-shellfish note goes on the booking.

Marrow

Bree Street · Small plates

No deposit

Pier 42

V&A Waterfront · Grill

R300 a head · R1 200 for four

Thursday 14 August, 19:00 · R1 800 deposit for four

S08 · Option set · tap places to change the hold
21:56
quivy21:56

Marco isn't on Quivy, so there's no agent on his side. I've messaged him on WhatsApp. Waiting on a human.

Waiting on Marco 2 h 14 m
WhatsApp message delivered
Read by Marco
If he's quiet, I'll nudge him tomorrow morning

Read 21:03

Message
S09 · Waiting · the hairline fills over 48 seconds
21:58
quivy21:58

Marco's in. One thing needs your call.

Approval

Salt & Stone, Kalk Bay

When
Thursday 14 August, 19:00
Table for
Four people
Deposit
R1 800 · R450 a head
Authority
You set bookings to suggest and approve. Your call.
Message
S10 · Approval · dark
22:01
quivy22:01

Done. Table's held, Marco and Ana know.

Booked · Salt & Stone

Receipt

When
Thu 14 August, 19:00
Table for
Four people
Deposit paid
R1 800
Calendar
Holds placed for you and Marco
Noted
Ana's coming. No shellfish for you.

Confirmation · SS-2481

Full refund if released before 12 August.
Message
S11 · Receipt

Daily rhythm

S12 – S14, S18 · S18 in dark
12:31

Today

quivy12:31

Anything to add for Marco before I send the times?

…and ask Marco

00:07
S12 · Voice input · transcript streams in view
9:14
quivy09:14

The Lisbon photos have been sitting for 23 days. I've picked three. Say the word and they're with Priya.

To Priya Naidoo · WhatsApp 3 of 214
Message
S13 · Broken promise
8:00
quivy08:00

Dan Weiss at 10:00. Two hours out, so the short version.

Dan Weiss

Client · Q3 residence

You last met on 4 March.

You owe him the Hendrik introduction. Worth doing before today.

Rosa started school in January. He'll be glad you asked.

The Q3 drawings are still open.

Message
S14 · Pre-meeting brief

Wednesday 13 August

07:12

quivyNow

Salt & Stone can only hold the table until 18:00.

Approve R1 800 to keep Thursday 14 August, 19:00.

quivy07:12

Five things before nine

Dan Thursday 10:00, brief ready · Q3 drawings, 5 days · Lisbon photos, 23 days

Marco, three times found · Bongi, 2 months

Swipe up to open

S18 · Notifications · dark · urgent vs batched

Trust

S15 – S17, S19, S20 · S16 in dark
20:15

Drifting

Marco Feretti

8 months quiet · in Cape Town 12 to 20 Aug

You owe

Priya Naidoo

The Lisbon photos

23 days

Dan Weiss

The Hendrik intro

By Thu

Bongi

Coffee, Thandi's neighbour

2 months

This week

Dan Weiss

Thursday 10:00 · brief ready

Marco and Ana

Thu 14 Aug, 19:00 · Salt & Stone

Steady

Thandi Mokoena

Spoke Sunday, like every week

Weekly
S15 · People
22:04
quivy22:01

Done. Table's held, Marco and Ana know.

Booked · Salt & Stone

Memory

What Quivy knows

Kept on your box at home. Delete anything and it's gone everywhere.

Nina doesn't eat shellfish

WhatsApp · 2 Feb 2024

Marco moved to Milan

Email · 14 Mar 2025

Prefers Thursday evenings

Calendar · seen 40 times

Ana is a paediatrician

WhatsApp · 8 Jun 2025

Deleted.

S16 · Memory · dark · tap a bin to watch it go
20:31
quivy20:31

Tell me how much rope I get in each part of your life. Change it any time.

Messages & replies

Nothing is sent until you say so.

Calendar & scheduling

I tee it up, you tap once.

Bookings & spending

I tee it up, you tap once.

Files & photos

Nothing is sent until you say so.

"Just do it" means I act and tell you after. Nothing changes hands without a receipt in the thread.

S17 · Autonomy
11:20
quivy11:20

Three ways to run me. The agent is the same on all of them.

Quivy Lite$12 a year

Stays on this phone. Same agent, shorter reach.

Your own hardware$24 a month

Run me on a machine you already own.

No trials that expire, no countdowns. Change or cancel whenever.

S19 · Upgrade
12:33
quivy12:33

I can't hold Marrow from here. They only take group bookings by phone. I can call them when they open at 09:00, or hold Pier 42 right now.

Marrow

Bree Street · No deposit

Message
S20 · Can't-do state

Token legend

design01 · Vitsœ · lift verbatim · all values are CSS custom properties

Colour · light

--surface-base#F5F3EE
--surface-raised#FFFFFF
--surface-sunken#ECEAE3
--ink-primary#20201D
--ink-secondary#75736A · on raised only
--hairline#E3E0D7
--accent-signal#D9481C · rails, marks
--accent-deep#B93A12 · text + fills on light
--accent-agent#D9481C · 10px square
--success#2F7D4F
--on-accent#FFFFFF

Colour · dark

--surface-base#191917
--surface-raised#22221F
--surface-sunken#2A2A26
--ink-primary#EDEBE4
--ink-secondary#9B998E
--hairline#34342E
--accent-signal#E86038
--accent-deep#E86038
--accent-agent#E86038
--success#7CC79A
--on-accent#191917

Type · Inter Tight

Display--font-display: 700 34px/1.06 · -0.03em
Title--font-title: 650 20px/1.2 · -0.02em
Headline--font-headline: 600 17px/1.3
Body--font-body: 400 16px/1.45
Caption--font-caption: 500 13px/1.35
Meta--font-meta: 600 12px/1.3 · +0.08em · uppercase

Spacing · 4px grid

1 · 4 2 · 8 3 · 12 4 · 16 5 · 24 6 · 32 7 · 48 8 · 64

Radius

s · 4 m · 10 l · 16 sheet · 20 pill · 999

Motion · shelf-settle

--dur-press: 120ms
Controls, on press.
--dur-settle: 220ms
Default entrance. Items rise 8px and set.
--dur-arrive: 360ms
The unprompted arrival: one shelf slides down, rests.
--dur-ceremony: 720ms
Reserved for the reconnection sequence.
--ease-settle: cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1)
Long ease-out, no overshoot. Used everywhere, entrances and removals.
Only transform and opacity animate. Patience is a hairline filling over 48s. prefers-reduced-motion swaps movement for a 200ms fade.

Recurring parts

agent presence 10px square + lowercase "quivy". No avatar, no orb.
shelf rail 3px left rail in --accent-signal on anything the agent acted on: brief, approval, receipt, reconnection.
urgent class full-width signal object, alone. Never stacked with quiet items.
nav segmented control (Thread / People) top centre. Memory is a sheet from Nina's avatar. Bottom edge holds the composer only.