Contacts

I know everyone you write to or meet – from your mailbox, calendar and address book. For each person I show circle, warmth, history and what's open, every fact with its source.

Contacts lists every person you write to or meet. You don't have to enter anything: I learn the list from email, calendar and address book. Shared addresses such as info@ or noreply@ don't get a contact card.

The list

Search by name or company at the top. You can also ask a question, such as “investors, quiet since January” – I'll show how I read it under ✦ Understood as:. “at Siemens” shows whom you know there and who could introduce you.

Below that you filter by view (All, News, Cooling off, Address book only) and by source: LinkedIn and Apple Contacts. Once you've added products under Goals & products, tags like “Fits …” appear as well. All filters can be combined.

Circles

Every contact sits in one of four circles: Core (at most 15 people), Important (at most 50), Network (at most 150) and Acquaintances. I work them out from the amount, recency and mutuality of your exchange. VIPs you're in touch with are always in the core. If a circle looks wrong, pick another one on the contact card – your choice wins. Automatic hands the decision back to me.

Warmth and history

Each card carries a state with a reason, never a bare number: “warm”, “cooling off”, “dormant”, “writes to you”, “you write” or “loose”. Two are worth telling apart:

“checking” – I'm still searching your mailboxes for shared emails. This mostly affects new address book or LinkedIn contacts.
“no exchange yet” – I've looked and found no emails in any mailbox.

On the contact card I load the history live from your mailbox: emails and meetings.

Significance, signals, rhythm

Below the state I describe in words what makes this relationship, such as “you usually reply the same day”, “both sides start conversations” or “involved in a file”. These signals raise a contact's significance and with it their circle.

Then there's rhythm: if you usually write about once a week and it's now been much quieter, I say so – something like “Usually about weekly – last contact 5 weeks ago, nothing since.”

The contact card

Buttons to write and, depending on the known number, WhatsApp, call, FaceTime and Signal.
News such as a new role, with e.g. Send congratulations.
At a glance: what you last discussed, what you owe and what's open on their side – one tap turns it into a task.
Notes and “What do I know about …?”: all facts with their source. You can delete facts, stop watching the contact (Stop watching) or forget them (Forget contact).

If something's wrong

Wrong circle: change it on the card. A wrong fact: delete it under “What do I know about …?”. Two addresses for the same person: One person, several addresses.

LinkedIn and Apple Contacts · One person, several addresses · VIPs · Network