Yes, it is true, Palm Pilot was known for its UX targeted at corporate executives btw.

The designer, a chief product engineer named Jeff Hawkins used low fidelity mockup scratched onto a wooden block to test his idea. Very interesting reads.

Here are the references I found:

- [Palm provides a case study in user experience strategy][1]
- [The Palm Pilot Story][2]
- [\[PDF\] The Making of the Palm Pilot –
Reflections on a Minimal Information Appliance][3]


  [1]: https://www.mobileuserexperience.com/palm-provides-a-case-study-in-user-experience-strategy/593/#:~:text=chief%20product%20designer%20Jeff%20Hawkins%20spent%20his%20days%20trying%20to%20understand%20what%20his%20target%20market%20of%20company%20executives%20would%20really%20want%20from%20a%20mobile%20device.
  [2]: https://albertosavoia.medium.com/the-palm-pilot-story-1a3424d2ffe4
  [3]: https://webhome.cs.uvic.ca/~gtzan/seng310Spring2005/palm_pilot.pdf