Staying focused & accountable
The last two weeks have been very productive, thanks to a few factors:
- (Finally) focusing on # of active users as my primary KPI. I've always tracked it of course, but hyper-focusing on how to increase that number has helped me prioritize more strategically
- (Finally) committing to a consistent launch cycle: 15th and 30/31st of every month. Whether it's a new feature, bug fix, or maintenance, knowing that something has to go into production at least twice a month is motivating.
- Getting turned down by the startup I was interviewing with and pausing my job search for dev roles. Prepping for those interviews and doing the take-homes was time and energy intensive, so it feels good to take a little break. I'm currently interviewing for marketing roles. They pay less (meaning less $ for dev contractors), but they're easier to interview prep for and still give me transferrable skills.
Next week's Compass update with be a feature that allows users to make repeat weekly/month events ... without having to specify the exact day. The events will simply show up in their sidebar lists during the relevant week, allowing them to keep up with their routines in a less rigid manner.
Tyler Dane
Compass got a little better last month. Seed data. Every new visitor to app.compasscalendar.com will now see relevant demo tasks and events without needing to sign up first. The descriptions include little jokes and tips on how to use the app. This helps them catch the vibe without pressuring them to hand over their email. The delete CLI command now cleans up your browser data in addition to the database, which can get stale during development. Tasks are saved in indexeddb (previously local...
You can now go from being interested in Compass to using it for real in 3.94 seconds. (Yes, I timed it.) No long onboarding or signup process. Instead, your changes are saved locally. Once you're ready to commit, you can connect your Google account through the command palette. Behind the scenes, we then sync your local changes with your GCal and our cloud servers. Why do this? To make it easier to test out the app To pave the way to offline mode To make french aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...
This time of year comes with optimism, energy, and planning. But the only thing that we can count on is our plans not going according to plan. When that happens, it’s helpful to simply focus on what you can control today. Over the last month, we made it a lot easier to do that with Compass. You can now manage your events from the /day view just like you would on your week or month calendar. This allows you to stay on top of your tasks and events without context-switching. Tasks <> Events...