On watching, not nagging

Once you give software the ability to watch, the temptation is to make it speak. Most attentive products fail here: they confuse attention with interruption, and so they buzz, badge, and nudge until you turn them off.

We are trying for the opposite. A watcher that holds its tongue is more useful than one that reports. The measure of Numa's attention is not how often it tells you something — it is how often it correctly decides you did not need to be told. Used well, it should feel like someone minding the work in the next room. Used badly, it would feel like being watched. The difference is the whole job.