I’m James — a designer who builds
I live in Charlotte, NC, and I’m currently building the “Amazon of truck parts” at Daimler. Before that I designed developer tools at Xbox. On the side I make iOS apps: 
Ahead, 
Loops and 
Poddington.
Ahead 2.0 · what matters, three times a day
my apps
Calm, private apps that do less.
I make these by myself, for my own iPhone first. Each one does a small job and stays out of the way.
- free
- no account
- no tracking
- made by one person
Ahead
What matters, three times a day. Your calendar, reminders and sleep, put together.
Loops
A notebook for problems you have to think through yourself. No AI, no reminders.
Poddington
Just your shows, in order. Each one plays from episode 1, or the season you pick.
Everything I make falls under work or writing.
Shipped and exploratory workentries
- DaimlerSep 2026conceptShop by clicking your truckA concept for Excelerator: pick your truck, get a 3D model of it, and shop by clicking the part. No part numbers and no catalog tree.
- Solo2026 — ongoingshippedinteractiveAhead for iOSWhat matters, three times a day: your calendar, your reminders and how you slept, put together on your iPhone. Version 2.0 is out now. It's free, has no account, and nothing leaves your phone.
- Solo2026 — ongoingshippedLoops for iOSA notebook for problems you need to think through. No AI, no reminders, no streaks. On the App Store.
- DaimlerDec 2025 — ongoingshippedEasier truck fleet managementMy Garage went from 5% of customers to 100% overnight, and it was never designed for the other 95%.
DaimlerOct 2026prototypeinteractiveSign-up that doesn’t give away who has an accountA user story asked Excelerator’s sign-up to stop revealing which emails have accounts. I prototyped it with Claude before sprint planning to find where it still leaked, starting with the cart.
DaimlerSep 2026prototypeinteractivePassword rules you can see yourself passingA security review asked for stricter password rules. My work was what the review didn't cover: which error shows when, what to do about short names, and staying compatible with other connected Daimler sites.
DaimlerAug 2026prototypeinteractiveA new space for managing notificationsDealer admins were frustrated managing notifications one location at a time. We gave them the power to do more.- DaimlerOct 2025 — Feb 2026shippedinteractivePurchase coverage for a truck fleetFleet customers were buying coverage one truck at a time. They already had a list of their trucks, so I built the flow around the list.
- DaimlerFeb 2026Designing the design processWe were losing time to design changes late in projects. The fix was knowing who signs off on what, not a better design.
- XboxMay 2025shippedSimplifying remote development with Xbox PC Remote ToolsGame developers need to test on real hardware. They shouldn't have to sit next to it.
Working on a hard problem?
I do my best work with real constraints: old systems, complicated industries, and fifty locations that all want something different.