Remembering a birthday is useful.

Remembering it at the right time is better.

A simple birthday reminder can tell you that someone’s birthday is today.

But that may already be too late if you wanted to:

buy a gift

make a reservation

send something by post

plan a visit

organize a group message

That is why I think birthday apps should do more than store dates.

The date is only the final deadline

A birthday is a fixed date.

Planning around it is not.

Different people need different amounts of preparation.

For one person, a reminder on the same morning may be enough.

For another, you may need:

one week to order a gift

several days to arrange travel

time to coordinate with family

time to prepare something personal

A useful birthday planner should support that difference.

One reminder is rarely enough

A single notification creates a binary experience:

either you saw it or you did not.

A better approach can use multiple reminder points.

For example:

one month before

one week before

one…