The calendar as a bedside clock
A phone on its side, charging, is a different device: read from a distance, never touched, and looked at first thing in the morning.
What most people assume
That StandBy is a screensaver.
Distance changes the design
At arm's length you read shapes, not sentences. The first thing tomorrow, the time it starts, and whether it is raining is about all that survives the distance.
It is also the first calendar information most people receive in a day, which makes it worth getting right.
What to leave off
Detail. Anything you would need to pick the phone up to read has already failed at the one job of this mode.
If tomorrow is empty, showing that plainly is more useful than filling the space.
What it looks like
What to do
- Use the largest, plainest layout available — you are reading it from two feet away.
- Show tomorrow rather than today after the evening.
- Pair it with the weather so the first glance of the day answers both questions.