Field notes
Long-form, by choice.
Essays on the body, on family health knowledge, on the design of a product that has to outlive its users. Written by the team.
- Manifesto2026-04-086 min read
Why your body needs a wiki
Every person is a quiet archive of patterns that no ring, watch, or cuff will ever see. Until recently, the only place they lived was the back of your head — or on a slip of paper in a drawer.
- Patterns2026-03-307 min read
Why coffee on an empty stomach makes you go
The gastro-colic reflex is real, personal, and often runs in families. A quick tour through what we know, what we don't, and what your archive can tell you your doctor can't.
- Family2026-03-159 min read
Three generations of knees
What happens when you ask a grandmother, a mother and a daughter to all log the same pattern? Turns out: a lot of quiet confirmation, and one surprise.
- Design2026-02-2212 min read
Notes on an archive that outlives you
How we designed the legacy-transfer system — three locks, not one, and why the default is “keep private forever.”
- Patterns2026-02-015 min read
What your Oura misses
An open letter to our rings and watches: you are brilliant, and also deeply limited. Here is what our sensors can't see.
- Guides2026-01-208 min read
How to talk to your doctor about patterns
You have been logging patterns for months. Now you are sitting in a clinic room with ten minutes and a physician who has never heard of DB.Life. Here is how to make it count.
- Science2026-01-086 min read
The gastro-colic reflex, explained
That urgent need after your first bite of breakfast is not random. It is one of the most commonly logged patterns in DB.Life, and the science behind it is surprisingly elegant.
- Values2025-12-1810 min read
Privacy in health tech: where we draw the line
Every health app promises privacy. Here is what we actually do — the decisions, the trade-offs, and the lines we will not cross, even when it costs us growth.
- Design2025-12-0114 min read
Building a health app that thinks about death
Most health apps assume immortality. They optimize for streaks. We had to build one that works when the user dies. This is the design story behind legacy transfer.
- Comparisons2025-11-1511 min read
Oura vs Apple Watch vs DB.Life: what each one sees
Three tools, three views of the same body. One measures movement, one measures physiology, one measures meaning. They are not competitors — they are layers.