Not just design nerds, but coffee nerds too

At Sommerseth Design, we've built our own coffee app. Mr BeanBag is an espresso log for home baristas: you log every shot, and the app suggests what to change on the next one, until the bag is dialed in.

Why a coffee app?

Making coffee at home is a lot of trial and error. A little finer on the grinder, a bit more coffee, a few more seconds. The problem was that we never remembered what we did the last time it actually tasted good.

So we made a place to write it down. You log grind, dose, time and taste, whether it came out sour, balanced or bitter, and Mr BeanBag suggests what to change on your next shot. The app also works for filter, French press, moka pot and fully automatic machines.

Everything lives on your phone. No account, no cloud. If you want a backup, you save it yourself to a folder of your choice.

A stopwatch with eyes

The mascot and the icon are a stopwatch with eyes. On the website it blinks, squints and glances to the side. That's about all the decoration we allowed ourselves.

The icon: the stopwatch with eyes.

The rest of the look is tight and editorial: the Archivo typeface, clean lines and a single signal colour. The warm red-orange is only used where it matters, on the hand of the stopwatch and on whatever you've selected. On the website, dark and light mode are called “Dark roast” and “Light roast”.

Every screen was drawn before it was built, and the app has been tested through real use at home over a cup of coffee. Tap targets are large and the text is clear, so you can use it with one hand while the grinder is running.

From first line of code to Google Play

The first line of code was written on 28 September. The redesign started on 11 October, the website mrbeanbag.app went live on 15 October, and on 26 October version 1.0 was on Google Play.

The app is built in React Native (Expo), so the same app runs on Android and iPhone. It's also adapted for tablets and foldable phones. We've worked in a tight rhythm between design and code, with small releases, often: from 1.0 to 1.5.3 in three days, with dark mode arriving along the way in 1.4.

What's next?

The iPhone version is coming soon to the App Store. Meanwhile, we're sketching and planning the stopwatch for Apple Watch and Wear OS.

Mr BeanBag is free with three active bags and one setup. The full version is a one-time purchase of NOK 59 in Norway, with more bags, more setups, custom fields, Nerd mode and CSV export. No subscription.

Read more at mrbeanbag.app, or download it from Google Play.