Best In Beta: Hippo
Aging? Too much going on all the time? Recent parenthood? I don’t have a firm handle on the reasons yet, but I know this: I’ve struggled lately to give people I care about the attention they deserve. This happens to all of us from time to time. What’s really scared me of late, though, is that I’ve felt longstanding relationships begin to fray because of the strain.
Overdue phone calls, events missed without offering a word, names forgotten. Sound familiar? Despite the wealth of social networking tools available online, it’s still tough to give individuals the personal attention that is the lifeblood of solid relationships.
You may have birthday alerts coming from from one calendar, news about important life events appearing on another feed – but the bombardment of details coming from all directions makes it difficult to keep pace with responses. An avalanche of impersonal information buries what should truly matter.
Hippo is an app that helps us put people first. It’s a personal relationship manager. You feed Hippo everything worth knowing about everyone, and it keeps it collected for you. Messages, notes, contact info, random thoughts, important dates – add details to Hippo, and you can find them easily with a quick search. You’ll also receive nudges to help you to show your interest.
The example they give is of Grace leaving for Italy on March 3rd. With a nudge, you could wish your friend a good trip. Sounds simple, almost silly, right? Small actions matter. Fail too many times to drop a line, and even best friendships will suffer. Or worse, wish your friend a good trip after they’ve returned. For shame.
Maybe I’m racing out ahead of Hippo, but I love the concept of an app that grows smarter about your relationships as you supply more info. An extra pair of eyes and ears to catch details we let slip.
If you want help remembering the perfect gifts, sending congratulations when connections achieve milestones, and maintaining your friendships, join the waitlist for the iOS app at usehippo.com.
