case study · 1 min read
Shadowpad — a notepad that gets out of your way
- Timeline
- Weekend build
- Role
- Solo — design & engineering
- Stack
- TypeScript
- React
Some overview
Why another notepad?
Most note apps want you to organise before you write — pick a folder, add a title, choose a tag. For quick thoughts that friction is the whole problem. I wanted a scratchpad that opens instantly and asks nothing of me.
Open it, type, close the tab. That is the entire workflow.
Getting to work
Designing for distraction-free writing
- A single, centred writing surface with generous margins
- A quiet footer with a live word and character count and a last edited timestamp
- Copy to clipboard and a light / dark toggle — the only two buttons on screen
Under the hood
Built small on purpose
Shadowpad is a small TypeScript + React app deployed on Vercel — small enough to load instantly and to read end to end.
Pausing to reflect
What I’d do next
Markdown shortcuts and multiple pads are the obvious next steps — as long as they never cost the "just start typing" feeling.
