Live prototype
My Buddy
A private, local-first journal, discernment workspace, and report builder. The user controls what leaves the record.
The private front door
Start with My Buddy.
My Buddy gives a person a private place to put down what happened before they have to decide what it means. Voice, text, screenshots, documents, memories, notes, and source material can be organized into a record the user controls.
The goal is not to manufacture certainty. It is to make it easier to see what is known, what came from a source, what is interpretation, what remains uncertain, what does not fit, and what may be worth preparing next.
Live prototype
Private journal + discernment + report preparation
Preserve the original record. Add context without rewriting it. Look again with Buddy. Prepare only what you choose to share.
Current prototype note: My Buddy stores records in the browser on the device being used.
It does not yet provide encryption or backup. Private browsing/incognito storage is temporary.
One architecture · different lenses
Meet the Buddies
Each Buddy applies the same core discipline in a different context: preserve the record, separate what is known from what is inferred, keep uncertainty visible, and support clearer next steps.
Clarity demo
Bully Buddy
A lens for bullying, intimidation, conflict, and difficult interactions that keeps observation, source, interpretation, and uncertainty from silently blending together.
Field tested
Safety Buddy
A safety and accessibility lens connecting practical sensory support, environmental awareness, and real-world Sensory Safe Zone deployments.
Active platform
Neuro Buddy
A neuro-affirming lens for making needs, supports, accommodations, processing differences, and educational context easier to understand and communicate.
Community pilot
Equity Buddy
A privacy-conscious, bilingual community lens for sharing experiences, identifying broader patterns responsibly, connecting people with resources, and reducing barriers to being heard.
Public link coming soon
A calmer way to look
Put the pieces down.
The technology is designed to slow the jump from experience to conclusion.
Put it down
Start with messy human thought, not a form.
Preserve the original
Keep the user’s original record distinct from later additions.
Add context
Source, uncertainty, questions, interpretation, and evidence remain distinguishable.
Look again
Consider patterns, alternatives, counterexamples, and what still does not fit.
Prepare what you choose
Review before creating a brief, timeline, evidence record, or report.
Field work
Tested in real communities.
Architecture of Understanding has been shaped not only on screens, but through public events, community pilots, sensory spaces, youth-centered work, and live feedback in Minnesota and New York.
Northfield Pride · Sensory Safe Zone
Safety Buddy’s physical Sensory Safe Zone model was piloted in a public Pride setting with practical calming supports and a low-pressure space for people experiencing sensory overload.
Defeat of Jesse James Days
A public-event Safety Buddy and Sensory Safe Zone deployment tested how people actually used calming space, sensory tools, environmental support, and the digital layer in a crowded community setting.
25anonymous logs in the completed website case study
8Safe Zone transitions recorded
12logs from people seeking calm
4reported finding relief
Hispanic Heritage Community Pilot
A bilingual community deployment combined accessible activities, sensory support, family participation, resource connection, and privacy-conscious community feedback.
8anonymous logs recorded in the event report
7Safe Zone transitions recorded
Equity Buddy’s public-facing link is intentionally not published here until the correct production route is confirmed.
Schenectady youth & community outreach
Bully Buddy was introduced in Schenectady through community and youth relationships connected to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady and the Disc Golf Mental Health & Wellness Day. The work was later featured in media coverage connected to the Boys & Girls Club community and the event.
Tools · research · resources
More ways to understand the work.
The ecosystem includes practical resources, independent academic evaluation, and the larger mission behind the technology.
Workbook
The End of Danger
A personal workbook/resource by Jess Toft exploring patterns, perception, behavior, and the process of looking at what we carry differently.
Mission & architecture
Architecture of Understanding
The broader framework behind the Buddy ecosystem: dignity, accessibility, transparency, accountability, privacy, de-escalation, and the discipline of understanding before judgment.
In the media
From the field and in conversation.
Outside coverage helps show how the work has moved beyond an idea and into real community conversations.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady · New York
Disc Golf Mental Health & Wellness Day
Media coverage connected to the Schenectady Boys & Girls Club community and the event where Jess Toft introduced the early Bully Buddy work in New York.
People & organizations helping move the work forward
Selected collaborators & supporters
Different relationships have played different roles — technology, strategy, humanitarian support, media, introductions, field access, professional guidance, and community connection.
GLEE LabsTechnology & innovation
GGAFHumanitarian & community support
The World’s MayorMedia, strategy & global connection
Genius-Level TalentBrand exposure & media support
Marine FoundationGlobal relationship & future growth
Rodd M. SantomauroStrategic advisor & supporter
Boys & Girls Clubs of SchenectadyYouth & community connection
Relationships vary and may reflect collaboration, field work, introductions, strategic support, community connection, or professional guidance.
Research · civic context · field validation
Built with evidence. Tested in community.
Academic evaluation, civic involvement, community access, and field testing each contribute something different to the work.
Independent academic evaluation
PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen
A Master’s thesis by Tatevik Khachatryan evaluated BullyBuddy V1 and V2 using Self-Determination Theory-informed scenario analysis and a 72-row heuristic matrix, producing practical UX and safety guidelines.
Research PDF link being addedCivic context & field collaboration
City of Northfield · Human Rights Commission
Northfield has been an important civic context for community pilots and accessibility work. Jess Toft also serves on the City of Northfield Human Rights Commission. Formal city partnership paperwork is not implied here.
View the City HRCFounder ecosystem
Built alongside Think N Grow Big.
Think N Grow Big is Jess Toft’s education and immersive-learning venture and part of the broader founder ecosystem surrounding Architecture of Understanding.
Affiliated venture
Think N Grow Big
A virtual-reality educational networking and learning initiative focused on immersive, inclusive education.
Visit Think N Grow BigWays to engage
Pilot · Partner · Support · Invest
Choose the path that fits how you want to help move the Architecture of Understanding from prototype to broader implementation.
Launch a pilot
Explore a school, workplace, library, event, community, or accessibility-focused pilot.
Partner
Contribute expertise, evaluation, strategic guidance, pilot access, introductions, or institutional support.
Support
Help fund product development, accessibility work, community pilots, supplies, and mission growth.
Invest
Start a conversation about the current company strategy, growth vision, pilot pathway, and investment opportunity.
A place to put the pieces down
So you can walk lighter.
We do not have to see everything. We just have to remember that what we see is not everything.
