Don't ask what they collect.
Ask what they'd save.
We drop the category picker. Onboarding is adding the first item, and every answer the user gives lands in that item. The story question fills the first log entry. The type is inferred, not asked. If the type hasn't shipped yet, the user becomes a tester for it.
WELCOME TO CLCTN
Show us something you love.
Just one thing, the one with a story. Hold it up.
Just look around first
01 · ONE QUESTION
The camera is already open. No categories, no account. The question is personal, so people answer with their best piece, and that makes for a good first item.
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That's itNot quite
How did it come to you?
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Put it on the shelf
02 · RECOGNISE, THEN ASK WHY
The type is inferred and shown as a guess to confirm with one tap. Then comes the emotional question: one chip, with an optional line of text. It becomes the first log entry, so it gets used.
MECHANICAL WATCH · SAVED AS A THING
Omega Seamaster, 1968
IN THE WORKSHOP
Watches aren't a full type yet.
It's saved safely as a Thing. Want to help shape the watch type? When it's ready, testers get it first, and their pieces upgrade automatically.
Put it on the shelf
02B · TYPE NOT SHIPPED YET
This answers your staged launch. Nobody gets turned away, because the item is saved as a Thing. Each unsupported type recruits its own testers, from the people who actually own those objects.
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LOG
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Fields, value and condition fill in as you go. Nothing is required.
03 · THE PAYOFF
After 20 seconds, the first item is already telling them something they didn't know. That's the thesis ("a catalogue that tells you when to act") shown before we ever explain it. Their story sits right under it.
YOUR SHELF · 1 PIECE
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Snap the whole shelf
One photo of the spines. We'll split it into pieces, and you just confirm.
One at a time
Same camera, same two taps.
That's enough for today
04 · MOMENTUM, NOT A TOUR
The empty slots pull the next add, and the prompt comes from the first piece. Batch capture helps someone who owns 200 things. The "that's enough for today" exit is guilt-free; the clock notification brings them back.