The SaaS Intentionality Manifesto
Version 2024.Q2.0 · published from Austin

Move beyond clinical utility. Encode soul into the SaaS development lifecycle.

Most SaaS feels like a terminal in a tab. Useful. Cold. Forgettable. We think software should feel like it was made by someone who has met a human before. This is how we build it — and how every Service Ghost agent ships work.

Apply this to my productor read the PDF →
§
I
Friction reduction

The Cognitive Layer

01
Progressive disclosure

Components default to Simple View. Advanced settings stay hidden until the user asks for them. No analysis paralysis.

02
Contextual scaffolding

Empty states act as mini-tutorials. We ship "Action Starters," never "No Data" screens.

03
Undo > Confirm

Optimistic UI with an undo stack — not blocking modals. Respect the flow.

II
Micro-delight

The Emotional Layer

01
Micro-animations

Spring physics on button presses and list transitions. Motion should feel physical, not digital.

02
Skeleton states

Layout-shimmer effects during fetches reduce wait-anxiety and show the user what's coming.

03
Human-centric copy

No system-speak. A messages.ts file where errors are empathetic and successes are celebrated.

III
Time-aware experience

The Temporal & Circadian Layer

01
Time-aware UI

Softer contrast in the evening. Crisper edges in the morning. The interface adapts to the user's local time.

02
Perceived performance

If a process takes <200ms, make it instant. If >1s, narrate the work being done.

03
The "Workday" End

A Soft-Close state summarizes progress so the user can disconnect with a sense of completion.

IV
Opinionated design

The Philosophical Layer

01
Point of view

Never a blank slate. Suggest the best-practice workflow through defaults.

02
Benevolent friction

Intentional pauses for destructive actions. Force a stop-and-think moment.

03
Radical transparency

Proactively communicate system status and data usage in plain English.

V
Master matrix

The “Soul” matrix.

Four moments where a soulless SaaS reveals itself — and what we ship instead.

Element
Soulless (utility)
Soulful (intentional)
Error
Invalid Input (Code 404)
Oops, that link wandered off.
Loading
Generic spinning circle
Skeleton screen + progress tip
Onboarding
10-step forced tour
Conversation-led discovery
Updates
Bug fixes and improvements
Narrative release notes on why
VI
For every agent we ship

The Agent Implementation Checklist.

Every PR closes against these four questions. If we can't answer all four, the work doesn't ship.

01
Read the tone
Does the UI copy sound like a human or a terminal?
02
Audit friction
Can the user reach the "Aha!" moment in <3 clicks?
03
Check physics
Do elements teleport (bad) or move (good)?
04
Evaluate silence
Is the app being too loud with notifications?
Sign & share

Co-signed by 412 builders so far.

If this is how you want your team to build, add your name. We'll send the framed print to your office.

M. Davies
S. Okafor
W. Halevi
D. Ramos
I. Chen
Y. Patel
A. Kowalski
L. Cho
N. Reyes
T. Bauer
K. Adeyemi
J. Tran
R. Goldfarb
E. Park
S. Idrisov
+ you
M. Wallace
C. Iyer
B. Petrov
O. Nakamura
F. Aslan
H. Kapoor
P. Mehri
D. Otieno