Doodle’s AI history: What Meekan taught us about smarter scheduling

Meekan shut down on September 30, 2019.

Doodle is more than just a scheduling tool, it’s the result of years of innovation and experimentation. One of our boldest chapters was Meekan, a smart AI scheduling assistant.

Meekan was a chatbot integrated into Slack, HipChat, and Microsoft Teams. You could simply ask it to schedule a meeting, and it would instantly compare calendars across participants and suggest the best time. No back-and-forth. No manual checking. Just results.

Though Meekan is no longer available, it laid the groundwork for smarter scheduling experiences and helped us explore new platforms and ways of working.

Bringing AI scheduling to everyday tools

During Meekan’s development, we built several prototypes that extended its capabilities to other platforms:

• Chrome extension for Google Calendar: Meekan became a helpful scheduling companion directly in your browser, allowing you to find the best time to meet with just a few clicks.

• Mac OS app: You could access Meekan straight from your desktop, without needing to open your calendar or email. It brought speed and simplicity to meeting planning on Mac.

• Android prototype: A mobile version brought the same smart scheduling experience to your pocket, making it easy to coordinate meetings on the go.

These prototypes allowed us to experiment with AI scheduling across devices and environments and we learned a lot from what worked, what users loved, and how we could make planning even more effortless.

The future of smart scheduling at Doodle

While Meekan has since been retired, its influence lives on in how we think about user experience, automation, and simplicity. Today, tools like Booking Page and Doodle 1:1 offer powerful ways to eliminate back-and-forth, reduce admin work, and give users full control of their availability — no assistant needed.

As we continue building the future of scheduling, Meekan reminds us of what’s possible when human-friendly design meets intelligent technology.