That Thing I Told You About.
That Thing I Told You About (TYA) is a WLCM Joy Labs project — meaning we’re creating it for ourselves, for the challenge, and simply because we think it’s a great idea. TYA gives users a place to make and share lists of favorite things, and to discover and receive recommendations from friends and like-minded people.
- Product concept
- UX/UI design
- Mobile development
- Project management
- Quality assurance
Great products don’t happen by chance.
A WLCM Joy Labs project, TYA serves as a hub for all those things your friends say you’ve just gotta try, watch, read, or listen to. It lives or dies by the network effect. Only by offering value will it become habitual to use and attract a community.
Through a simple and easy UX, we intend to create an experience that is so fun, functional and trustworthy that its audience grows itself — so that we don’t need to sell ads, data, or subscriptions to monetize it.
It’s too soon to tell. The TYA app is still in beta, so watch this space! In the meantime, we’d love your input — request an invite.
Inspired by the lists we exchanged while expecting children (what you need, what you don’t), TYA also reflects the group texts we rely on for gift ideas, beauty finds, or travel tips — and all the recs we want to save and come back to.
That Thing I Told You About (TYA) is a WLCM Joy Labs project — meaning we’re creating it for ourselves, for the challenge, and simply because we think it’s a great idea.
TYA gives users a place to make and share lists of favorite things and to receive and discover recommendations from friends and people like you. The app was inspired by the lists our friends shared with each other when we were expecting children (what you need, what you don’t, what’s worth the money), the conversations we’re always having on group text when we’re in the market (for a gift, mascara, denim), and all the recs we want to save (travel lists, best podcasts, the necessities we’re always refilling). With matchmaking, we’re supercharging the process by introducing users to friends they haven’t met yet; we want to make great discoveries happen.
With TYA, we’re creating a place to do the things we’re already doing more easily and better — this is, we believe, the best recipe for success in the app world.
Building trust through truly relevant recommendations
For TYA to become the go-to app for sharing and discovering what people love, it must excel at showing users content that feels deeply personal and relevant. That means surfacing lists and recommendations not just from close friends, but also from people who share similar tastes, shopping habits, and values. At the same time, it must filter out irrelevant or low-quality content — because one off-base suggestion can break the sense of trust.
Unlike traditional feeds or recommendation engines, TYA isn’t about popularity — it’s about alignment. The better we can understand what makes someone them, the more accurate and useful their discovery experience becomes. Precision and personalization are key to making TYA feel like a curated, intimate space, not just another noisy platform.
A trusted, personal feed people actually want to check
To make TYA a daily habit, we had to build a feed that felt as familiar and valuable as a text from your best friend. That meant showing users trusted recommendations — items shared by real people they know or those who match their tastes through a simple, friendly questionnaire.
From there, every interaction had to feel natural: users can tap into shared items, save favorites to their own lists, and invite their inner circle to join. Whether it’s a mascara your sister swears by or a podcast someone like you loves, TYA needed to feel instantly personal. The real challenge was creating a space where delight comes from relevance, simplicity, and that satisfying feeling of “Yes, this is exactly what I needed.”
