Life Visualized - A Tool For Personal Reflection

Inspired by Tim Urban's thought-provoking "Wait But Why" articles "Your Life in Weeks" and "The Tail End," this web application offers a tangible, visual perspective on your estimated lifespan. It aims to encourage reflection on time, highlight the present moment, and provide a unique sense of scale for the journey ahead.

(Note: A screenshot or GIF of the application in action would be beneficial here.)

Purpose

Many people have difficulty grasping the finite nature of their time, myself included! By visualizing the past, present, and (estimated) future in a grid format based on statistical averages, it aims to be a thought-provoking tool for self-reflection.

To be extra clear: This tool is NOT a predictive tool. It uses actuarial data from US CDC 2021 Period Life Table to estimate your lifespan.

Project Journey & AI Assistance

"Life Visualized" explored the capabilities and limitations of LLM AI coding assistants. As the sole developer, and new to JavaScript at the project's outset, a key goal was to leverage Google Gemini Code Assist within Visual Studio Code to accelerate learning and development.

AI assistance was used to:

• Rapidly prototype HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Explain core concepts and library usage (e.g., date-fns).
• Generate boilerplate code and suggest refinements.
• Troubleshoot and aid in initial documentation, including this README.
• Simulate a team environment by interacting with defined developer, product, and UX personas to inform decisions throughout the development process.

This collaborative approach enabled the creation of this MVP, serving as both a functional application and a valuable learning experience in modern AI-assisted software development.

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Features

• Input: Accepts user's Date of Birth (DOB) and Sex.
• Calculation:
  • Calculates current age.
  • Estimates remaining and total lifespan based on provided actuarial data.
  • Displays key results clearly.
• Visualization & Grid:
  • Renders lifespan as a responsive grid of blocks.
  • Multiple Views:
    • Weeks (arranged by Age Year)
    • Weeks (arranged by Calendar Year - handles 52/53 week variations)
    • Months (arranged by Age Year)
    • Years (arranged by Decade)
  • Axis Labels: Dynamically populated top and left axis labels (e.g., Week Number/Month Name/Decade for the top axis, Age Year/Calendar Year for the left axis) provide clear context for each grid view.
  • Color-Coding: Blocks are colored to distinguish past, present, future, and general life stages.
• User Interface:
  • Simple and focused input form.
  • Progressive Reveal: Results and visualization appear only after calculation.
  • Integrated Controls & Guide:
    • View switcher buttons are integrated within a sticky header directly above the grid, remaining visible during scroll.
    • A collapsible "How to Read This Visualization" section, including the color key, is also located above the grid.
  • Accessibility:
    • ARIA tablist for view switcher controls, ensuring proper keyboard navigation.
    • Unified focus styles for interactive elements.
    • Focusable grid container with descriptive ARIA labels for screen reader compatibility.
  • Responsive design for desktop, tablet, and mobile.
  • Clear disclaimer about the nature of the estimates.
  • "Start Over" functionality to reset the application.

MVP Status

• MVP Launched: The Minimum Viable Product is complete and includes all core features and critical UX refinements.
• Key Features Implemented for MVP:
  • User input for birth date and sex.
  • Lifespan calculation based on US CDC 2021 data.
  • Multiple grid visualization views (Weeks by Age, Weeks by Calendar, Months, Years).
  • Dynamic axis labels for grid clarity.
  • Color-coding for past, present, future, and life stages.
  • Progressive reveal of results and visualization.
  • Integrated and collapsible "How to Read" guide and color key.
  • ARIA tablist for accessible view switching.
  • Responsive design.
  • "Start Over" functionality.
  • Refined introductory text, disclaimers, and overall UI/UX for clarity and sensitivity.
• Known Minor Issue for MVP:
  • Safari Tabbing: Minor inconsistencies in tabbing behavior for dynamically enabled/visible buttons in Safari. Core functionality remains accessible.

Technology Stack

• Frontend: HTML5, CSS3 (including Flexbox, CSS Variables, calc(), aspect-ratio), Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+ Modules)
• Core Dependency: date-fns v4.1.0 (loaded via CDN) for reliable date calculations (UTC-based). This library is used under the MIT License.
• Development: Requires a simple local HTTP server (due to ES Modules). No build process currently.

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/jordanhom/life-visualized.git
   cd life-visualized

2. Serve the files: Since the project uses ES Modules, you need to serve the files via a local HTTP server. Examples:

   • Using Python 3: python -m http.server
   • Using Node.js (requires npm install -g live-server): live-server
   • Using VS Code Live Server extension.

3. Open in browser: Navigate to the local server address (e.g., http://localhost:8000 or http://127.0.0.1:5500).

4. Use the application:

   • Enter your Date of Birth.
   • Select your Sex.
   • Click "Calculate & Visualize".
   • View the results and the generated grid.
   • Use the buttons above the grid to switch between different views (Weeks, Months, Years).
   • Expand the "How to Read This Visualization" section for details and the color key.

Developer Setup & CI (quick)

• Minimal files to commit:

  • package.json
  • package-lock.json
  • .github/workflows/ci.yml

• Do NOT commit node_modules. Add it to .gitignore so installs remain reproducible and the repo stays small.

• Install dependencies (reproducible):

  • Locally: npm ci
  • (Optional) project provides an npm "install" script which calls npm ci: npm run install

• Run tests:

  • Interactive: npm test
  • Non-interactive / CI: npm test -- --run or npm run test:run

• CI notes:

  • CI is configured to use npm ci and caches npm for speed; this ensures reproducible installs and avoids committing dependency trees.
  • The workflow lives at .github/workflows/ci.yml.

These instructions are intentionally minimal so you only check in the manifest and CI config; contributors and CI will fetch dependencies via npm ci.

Potential Future Enhancements

The following are ideas considered out of scope for the MVP but could be explored in future iterations:

• Fetching real-time or alternative actuarial datasets.
• More sophisticated life stage calculations/coloring.
• Saving/loading user data or preferences.
• Advanced UI features (tooltips on blocks, zooming, etc.).
• Internationalization (i18n).
• Implementing a build process/bundling.
• Further accessibility enhancements (e.g., advanced color contrast adjustments, visual aids for complex views).

Contributing

This is a personal project. Contributions are not being sought at this time.