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p/undesk-2Your virtual desk for max productivity
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Yamato Kaneko

Undesk 0.1 - A virtual office for max productivity

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Undesk combines a collaborative virtual office & a private productivity tracker. Try Undesk with your team. They'll come for the office energy. They'll stay for the personal productivity.

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Yamato Kaneko
Maker
📌
Hello Product Hunt👋 I'm Yamato, building Undesk from Tokyo together with @sho_yasuda_undesk. When we launched Undesk Beta 6 months ago, we were nervous. Undesk is being built by just the two of us, and we weren't sure if it was PH-ready. But the community has been amazing and we have learned a lot from your feedback. One of the unexpected reactions from our beta users (this is my favorite part of the product discovery process😎) was the amount of feature requests for our productivity tracker. While they spend all day in the virtual office for ad-hoc voice chats and meetings, they come back to the dashboard several times a day to see their own time usage. Some users continue to use Undesk even when they are alone in the office, just to keep track of their activity. We have found that this feature becomes a strong incentive for teams to come back to the virtual office every day. So today, we are introducing the Productivity Score. It is like Oura Ring for work. Just sit down and do your work as usual. Undesk will automatically track and score your productivity. Rest assured, this data is a personal life log just for you and will not be shared with anyone🔒 We are not building a micromanagement monitoring tool. We're building a collaborative space to help you improve focus quality. We're just scratching the surface of the future of work, but we'd love your support. Dive in, explore your productivity potential, and let us know how we can make Undesk even better. We still have a waiting list, but anyone who signs up via PH today will get access before anyone else. Visit undesk.space and join us as we pioneer the next wave of remote work! P.S. This is what my productivity looks like preparing for this PH launch👇
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sho_yasuda_undesk @mohini_shewale Thank you for your comment! Yes, we will continue to listen to our users and iterate as we always do!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@shruti_sinha6 Thank you for your comment!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sho_yasuda_undesk @oumaima_acharki Thank you for your support! Will do our best!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sho_yasuda_undesk @prof_magician Thanks for your question! Prototyped and tested for 6 months. Kinda decided the direction. Developed for 6 months. Launched Beta. Learned a lot. Developed for 6 months. Launching today!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sho_yasuda_undesk @louisa_gendelle This launch is indeed a great milestone for us! Thank you very much!
André J
Elephant in the room question: Why do our remote-team need this? What is the benefit? We already use linear, slack, GitHub and google meet.
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sentry_co If you're a 100% async remote team, like the famous GitLab, you probably don't need this product. But most teams can't keep up with documentation, are tired of endless slack messages, and overall speed is dropping. And they end up thinking, "Maybe we should go back to the office. We want to change that. We think working remotely can be better and should remain an option for many teams. That is a great question! Thanks for your comment!
André J
@yamatokaneko Remote vs Local is a big conundrum. You get more focus from remote, but your employee may start to drift their attention and god for bid have multiple remote gigs 😅. What are some of the positive effects you see teams get with your products? I assume you have been beta testing this with a few teams over the last year or so?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@sentry_co I see 2 kinds of interesting positive effects. 1. The team basically lives there all day. All internal conversations happen in Undesk. It basically replaces Zoom and Calendar. Short ad hoc conversations instead of 30 minute scheduled meetings. 2. Some teams keep logging in with almost no conversation. They come to surround themselves with other avatars in action to feel like they are working side by side. They come to log their work habits to improve their productivity. Fewer teams are like #2, but they have strong retention. That's why we've revamped the Productivity Tracker features in this release.
Rajiv Ayyangar
Virtual offices are near and dear to my heart, since I previously built Tandem I'm intrigued by the combination of a virtual office that can lower friction to talk with a productivity score...which can create incentives to be in focus mode and not talk. Do you find these are at odds?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@rajiv_ayyangar Wow Rajiv! You are like the father of the virtual office! We got a lot of inspiration from Tandem! Thanks for your comment! And you are so right. We actually debated this internally and were kind of afraid to release it first. But it turned out that adding Productivity Score didn't change user behavior that much. Some people always wear Airpods in the office, no matter what. Some people always say, "Talk to me anytime." With or without the productivity score, they didn't really change (at least not yet). But since we can detect whether a user is in a flow state or not, we can probably show others that "it's not a good time to talk to me." In this way, we could reduce the incentive to go DnD while indicating the best time to talk. Super interested in hearing more of your thoughts 😄
Rajiv Ayyangar
@yamatokaneko that's a really cool thing to learn! Detecting flow state was something we talked about but never seriously prototyped. 🙌
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@rajiv_ayyangar We're still in the very early stages, but it's working really well so far😀
gomitamu
Great idea and product! I see apps like Product Hunt and Notion. Does Undesk detect all the apps I open?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@gomitamu Thanks for your question! Undesk only shares whitelisted apps that are commonly used in the workplace. We have about 80 preset apps. I check my Twitter from time to time, but I don't want to share the Twitter icon with my team. This feature is for mutual motivation, not micromanagement. At the same time, we encourage users to add custom apps. For example, I added Product Hunt because I spent a lot of time on it before the launch and wanted to categorize it as marketing. The more apps you add, the more accurately your productivity will be quantified. Hope it helps!
gomitamu
@yamatokaneko thanks! I'm glad to know the background of introducing the app and the way to filter apps to be listed on Undesk!
Shuntaro Nakajima
Congrats! My team has been using Undesk as a beta user for more than a year now. And this latest update has really taken the experience to the next level. It clearly shows that my productivity drops when I do a lot of context switching. It helps me think about how to stay productive every day. It really works!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@nakashun_t Thank you! I know, right? In my case, it keeps telling me "you're not focusing right after lunch!" Hope it can help you change the work habit and improve the overall quality of focus!
Garen Orchyan
Looks super. Upvoted. Big congratulations on the launch 🦄♥️
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@orchyan Thank you for your support! Looking forward to your upcoming launch too!
May Zhou
Reminds me of discord and I use it to pop in and out of channels to have short and organic conversations with my friends. To make this work the team really needs good culture and trust :)
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@may_zhou Channel-based voice chats (Discord, Slack Huddle, etc.) have a very simple interface and are easy to understand. But in the very beginning of this product discovery, when we first started talking to Discord users, we found that many people struggle to join channels. Like you said, they need a really good culture and trust to do it. Because they can't see what's going on inside the channel, it's a lot harder than it looks to jump in. It's like opening the door to a meeting room without knowing what they're talking about. With Undesk, you can overhear the conversation in the same room, just like in a real office. A lot of ad hoc conversations start and grow this way 😄
May Zhou
@yamatokaneko love this! I’ve wanted something like this for a long time - Can’t wait to try this out. Just submitted beta request :) Congrats on the launch ✨🎉
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@may_zhou Great! Looking forward to your feedback!
Anastasia Chakileva
Hopping onto Undesk feels like finally getting that Dundie Award for "Best Virtual Office Use." Can't wait for my team to join so we can channel our inner Dunder Mifflin vibe, but with way more productivity and less Jell-O pranks.
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@anastasia_chakileva_ Big Office fan here😂 We have to think about adding Jell-O pranks to our backlog🤔
Lin Vert
Hey @yamatokaneko! I have to say, it's pretty genius. It's like having an office in Hogwarts - magically organized and efficient. Keep up the fantastic work!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@online_converter Thank you! Creating a magical experience has always been our goal. Showing what apps you are working on, moving the avatar's hands while you type, automatically organizing your work... all these features are for magical moments you stay in Undesk 🪄
Yurina Deguchi
It looks like a really interesting idea. How do you calculate the productivity score? What makes you go into flow mode?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@yurina_deguchi Thanks for asking! We calculate the score in 3 steps. 1. We first categorize each whitelisted app into Deep work (dev, design, documentation etc) and Shallow work (messaging, calendar, meetings etc). 2. When you actively use Deep work apps for a certain threshold of time, you enter Flow state. 3. When you are in Flow state, you earn Productivity Score more efficiently. There are more specific rules, but these are the basics. We've spent a lot of time dogfooding internally and with beta users. The score we've calculated is pretty close to how we felt about our self-assessed focus quality. But we are just getting started and want to add more factors to make it more accurate. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@yurina_deguchi Yeah can't wait!
Hai Ta
I've never seen a virtual office before. It reminds me of a video game from my childhood. Nice idea that combines productivity and fun. Congratulations, guys!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@hai_ta1 Thank you! Avatars in multi-player games are an extremely powerful way to bring the presence of other players. We are using this technique in our multi-player working setup. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
Chris
Huge congrats on the launch! The blend of a virtual office environment with a personal productivity tracker in Undesk really stands out as we navigate the shift towards full remote work. It's exciting to see a platform that prioritizes maintaining "human" interactions despite the physical distance. This could be a great feature for teams like mine leaning towards a remote setup. I'm especially intrigued by the productivity tracker. It's a fantastic addition for those of us keen to optimize our workdays. A quick question about its capabilities: does it also monitor periods of inactivity? Understanding both active and idle times could offer deeper insights into work habits and productivity cycles.
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@christian_dahdah That’s exactly our next step actually. Currently, we need you to manually make yourself to "Away" mode when you take a break. But we will soon make it possible to detect inactivity when you are not typing or moving a cursor. It will make the productivity score more accurate. Thank you for the great question!
Artyom Shimanski
Congrats on the launch Yamato! It's a great tool to track productivity of remote teams. Will definitely try it out.
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@ashimanski We can't wait for you to try it out. If you have any feedback or suggestions along the way, we'd love to hear them!
Konstantin Ivanov
Hey Yamato! Looks like awesome gamification. It will be really interesting to look at your product in 2026 for example. I mean where evolution will lead this project and what it will look like
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@indiana_jobs Yes, this project actually started as a VR app. But since the market didn't grow as we expected, we pivoted and optimized for the desktop experience. But who knows, one day with the next computing device, the avatar presence will be much more than what it is today. I can't wait to see that!
Matej Cabadaj
this is reaaaaally epic! You just gained a user! I have to test this with my team! It will feel less lonely when we all work from different countries! Congrats on the launch! 🏆
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@matej_cabadaj Undesk can definitely help reduce loneliness and speed things up. We could not prepare for this launch without it! Look forward to your feedback!
Oliver Bahne
I believe to have seen similar products launched during Covid - I at least tried one of them. Generally seem "fun" at first, but struggling to see this become more than just few-time occurrence at most companies.
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@oliverbahne That's exactly what we wanted to solve. Everyone gets excited first. But it doesn't stick. With productivity tracking, we added another layer of incentive to come back to the office. And when more people are there, more communication happens. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Oliver Bahne
@yamatokaneko what is the insensitive to go back and use your app other than your own personal “check-boxing” of having a high productivity for the day. I myself am not a remote worker, so really I am asking to perhaps better understand why this would incentivise remote workers. I do not assume this productivity scoring is shared with e.g. department heads?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@oliverbahne Time tracking is not easy to continue alone. Many people have a hard time keeping up because they easily forget to enter what they've done every 30 minutes or so. With Undesk, all you have to do is sit down. We basically do not ask you for any manual input because we automatically detect apps and categorize. (no extra effort) Plus, you surround yourself with a team that has the same tracking habits. (a common topic leads to a higher level of motivation) In other words, if you use it as a virtual office, you have an additional factor to stick to the time tracker. But even without that, let's say you're just using it as a pure productivity tracker by yourself (we do have solo users!), it's carefully designed so that you can subconsciously continue to use it.
Sergei Zotov
Love the “Oura ring for work” explanation. Good luck with the launch!
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@zot Glad you like the copy! Before Oura Ring, sleep was hard to quantify. Before Undesk, productivity was hard to quantify. That's the vision!
Olive Haus
Undesk looks like a curious and fun way to track personal productivity 🪀 I'm very interested to see how this tool develops, especially for agencies. Congrats on the launch! 🥂
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@olive_haus Agencies tend to have multiple projects going on. The team tends to work on completely different things. As a result, there can be a lack of a sense of side-by-side collaboration. Undesk is carefully designed to improve the experience of working in single player mode. Even when you are quietly focused on your deadline, you can see other avatars in action and active applications changing. It's a completely different experience than just seeing Slack's green dot 🟢
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
@yamatokaneko Congrats on the launch (a little late to the party I know) But it looks like the team crushed it without any support from my side haha! I am checking out the product now. Love the UI and I love the idea behind it as well. Quick question - what size if team do you find this to be most effective with? I presume it would work for all sizes but what would the optimal use case look like?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@dzaitzow Having observed about 100 teams through user testing, I would say 10-30 is the perfect size. With lots of people in action, you can feel the energy of the office as soon as you open the window. But interestingly, there are a lot of solo users who use Undesk just for the productivity tracker. We are just a team of two. But there is no way we could have done this launch without Undesk. So I really want to recommend it to teams of all sizes!
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
@yamatokaneko Love it - I appreciate that answer VS the party line of (It is amazing for teams of all sizes) - of course I presume it WOULD be amazing for teams of all sizes - but it's nice to know where you see it being most effective.
Dice K
Congratulations to the launch team! I really like how Productivity Tracker dynamically shows the quality of focus in the timeline. Just out of curiosity, can you explain why you combined a virtual office and a productivity tracker?
Yamato Kaneko
Maker
@motogram The challenge with virtual office products in general is that users don't stick. They stop coming back because there's not much conversation going on. We wanted to solve this and added productivity tracking as another layer of incentive to come back to the office. So there are 2 layer incentives for your team to keep coming back to Undesk. 1. You come back for your personal life log. 2. Because more people will be there, you come back for communication triggers. Thanks for a great question!