#5 - Focus
Like mad scientists tinkering in the lab, we built SpaceTime with wild enthusiasm. We took an assortment of concepts (tasks, notes, maps, calendars) and fused them into an intriguing app: a new way to visualize tasks and notes in space and time (with emojis!).
We launched it to the world and collected feedback. The name drew people in. They enjoyed the design and simplicity. Some even used it to plan their day. But a trend emerged:
“I like the map, but I don’t really use it”
“I don’t get the map”
“Oh, you can tap on the map?”
And it became clear we created something dissonant. Describing SpaceTime required a large helping of words. Use cases diverged. Customers never found important features. The experiment stumbled carrying the weight of disparate ambitions.
We see it now. SpaceTime lacked focus. A great product solves a single, acute problem. When you have a runny nose, you reach for a Kleenex. Hungry? Grab a Snickers…
We’re doubling down on focus, and we mean that quite literally. In the coming weeks, we’ll split SpaceTime into two:
A task management app
A location journal, which will retain the SpaceTime name (see last week’s newsletter for details)
Much work to do in February, but we’re excited for the ramifications of this decision. It means we’ll be able to create a task management app with its own personality. And it means the SpaceTime location journal can finally emerge.
Metrics
Weekly Active Users: 18
Up from 12 last week. We shared last week’s newsletter more broadly and this drove a number of new “evaluators” to the app.
Created records/day (a record is either a task, check-in, or event): 11
(The previous day was 24)
Highlights
Making this decision to split SpaceTime was hard, but we consider it necessary. Since making it, we’ve felt energized by each product’s clarity. That energy boost has been a big highlight.
Lowlights
This week, I (Phil) spent some time exploring some features in the Web version of our task management app (which we previously referred to as SpaceTime Web). I like how some editors implement `inline code` and ```code block``` features. So I tried to implement that.
However, without coming up with a workable engineering design, the final result was hacky and too buggy to use. If we ever want to pursue these features again, I’ll have some more insight regarding the right engineering design, but overall, this was a failed exploration.
Miscellaneous
🗺 The other week, we found a hilarious article featuring a simulated traffic jam. The author acquired 99 second-hand phones, fired up Google Maps, pulled them around town in a toy wagon, and disrupted traffic. Truly, disruption at its finest
A Google Maps traffic jam
If you haven’t tried SpaceTime yet, here’s a quick link to check us out on the App Store!