On Building With Intention

How we think about design, attention, and the places that shape us.

Before a single screen is drawn, before any feature is defined, there's a question we keep returning to at libelo:

What does it mean to design something that genuinely changes how people see the world around them?

Not in the dramatic, world-disrupting sense we've all grown tired of, but in the quieter - and more radical - sense of helping people notice what has always been there.

This is the foundation of everything we're building. The app may still be taking shape, but our principles are not. They're the compass we use while the map is still being drawn.

1. We design for attention, not distraction.

Most digital tools compete for people's focus. We want to protect it.

We believe exploration starts with a clear mind: fewer interruptions, fewer unnecessary decisions, fewer layers between you and the landscape. Technology should guide, not pull. Reveal, not persuade.

Everything we make will be shaped around this idea: supporting awareness, not draining it.

2. We make the complex feel grounded.

Nature is simple; finding your way into it often isn't.

Endless tabs. Conflicting guidance. A sense that you should already know what you're looking for. We think design can do better.
Our aim is to bring clarity to information, coherence to planning, and context to every step - so the experience begins before you even set foot outside.

Good design doesn't add more. It removes what doesn't belong.

3. We care about presence as much as progress.

Most tools measure achievement. Distance, speed, elevation - the external markers of movement.

We're more interested in the internal markers:
awareness, connection, memory, the sense of being rooted somewhere for a moment.

For us, progress isn't about completing a route. It's about returning with a slightly different understanding of the world - and of yourself.

4. We build with respect for the places themselves.

If we're inviting people into natural spaces, then those spaces deserve care.

Our approach starts with responsibility: highlighting quieter paths, elevating local knowledge, encouraging behaviour that protects the environments people explore.

If design can shape habits, then it can shape stewardship too. We take that seriously.

5. We move with intention, not urgency.

We're not racing to release.
We're shaping an experience that needs time - and benefits from it.

The product will grow slowly, deliberately, influenced by behaviour, research, and real environments. We choose clarity over speed, depth over noise.

Building well is an act of respect: for the people who will use the app, and for the places they'll discover through it.

libelo isn't just a tool we're constructing.
It's a perspective we're cultivating - one that values attention, presence, and connection to the living world.

The design will come next.
But the principles are already here.