Learn the things you’ve been meaning to.
Make consistent progress with short, effective daily activities grounded in how we learn.
Picture a model trained only to predict the next word. It’s handed the start of a sentence about a researcher who doesn’t exist:
“Dr. Elena Marsh’s 2011 study of sleep found that…”
And grow as a learner as you do.
AI can help connect us with new knowledge and ways to approach it. But we should stay in control of — and can keep getting better at — what and how we learn.
How it works
- 1
Add an interest, or a few
Anything you’ve been meaning to learn — a skill, a language, a subject you keep circling back to.
- 2
thinkering sketches a direction
A path of goals that’s pedagogically sound for that kind of learning — and it evolves as you go, not a fixed syllabus.
Get to know your paints, brushes, and paper
strengthened
Control water and pigment in flat washes
introduced
Mix clean colors from a limited palette
introduced
Paint simple forms with light and shadow
not started
Compose and finish a small landscape
not started
- 3
Make progress every day
Short, interactive activities built from the science of learning — not another feed to scroll.
- 4
Build your own routine
Balance new ground, reinforcement, and real-world use — and figure out what actually helps you learn.
Next
One new step on your path
Strengthen
Revisit what you’ve met, so it sticks
Go further
Put it to use in your own life
Why it works
Learning happens when it’s active
It’s easy to feel like we’re learning when we consume content. Interacting with ideas — and using them in different ways — is what makes them stick and grow.
Motivation is more than gamification
Genuine progress, the right amount of challenge, relevance to your life, reflecting on your learning, and real consideration of your preferences and learning so far — no XP required.
The science of learning has found a lot
Research says a great deal about how people learn across domains. thinkering draws on a library of science-of-learning activities and applies them where they help.
Learning is not linear
You shouldn’t be stuck in a path that isn’t working, or doesn’t match what you need right now. Your learning app should adjust to your needs and allow you to go off-path and explore.
Principles
User control and choice
Suggestions for ease and inspiration, but you decide what and how you learn.
Built on the science of learning
Research shapes the content and the interactions. We’re continuing to figure out how to build it in accurate, engaging, and effective ways.
Privacy-centered
Your learning data stays on your device by default.
Intentional, transparent AI
AI that grows your capabilities instead of replacing them.
The project
thinkering is early and actively in development. I’d love to hear what you’re looking for in your personal learning and work together to ensure it’s accurate, effective, and enjoyable.
Or say hello: hello at thinkering dot app
- Built by Rebecca Hao, learning designer and software developer
- With the support of Assembly Code, a non-profit incubator and studio
- Free to use. Your data is private — local to your device by default.
- Open source on GitHub under AGPL