Made the reminders into pets that live on the desktop. They wander, keep their distance from each other, and each has a personality. When a reminder is due the pet comes to your cursor, and if you ignore it, it gets harder to ignore.
Case Study / Built in a day, used daily
Pixels
Water and walk reminders are notifications, and notifications get dismissed without being read.
Native Swift: AppKit floating panels with SwiftUI views, GIFs played frame by frame on a run-loop timer, click-through everywhere except the pet itself, and a three-step escalation that ends in a full-screen takeover unless your camera, mic, or a fullscreen app says you are busy.
Five pets, timers that pause while the screen is off or locked, a mouse-shake and ⌃⌥J group jump, and per-pet move or hide options. Starts at login.
Technical highlights
What to inspect.
01
Ignored reminders escalate: due, then 3x and shaking after 5 minutes, then a dimmed full-screen takeover after 10 that only a click can dismiss.
02
The takeover is skipped while the camera or microphone is in use or a fullscreen window is in front.
03
Pets that would collide pick another spot instead, so they never pile up in one corner.