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The Zero Campaign

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

NZA

New Contributor
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
oiwghH0.png

hello. this is my first project.

What?
digital product. part game part social media, for a specific niche.
idea persisted for a long time now.
very engaging imo, can see myself and friends with the same interest using it often.

Process?
I - Build initial version of the application (by July 27 / update: apparently not).
1 / choose technology. done
2 / write initial version of backend. done.

update: rewriting before moving further.
2.5 / rewrite the backend. 50%
3 / draft a gui. done
4 / build a client side interface.
5 / decide on whether to build the mobile parts, or focusing on the web app first.
 
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NZA

New Contributor
User Power
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
chose the technology + service provider after reading blogs + writing ideas on notepad.
the approach i decided on is different than anything i have done before. the way i'm structuring the system should be portable to different providers if need be.
this in itself is has good potential as a business idea: you could be using different services from different providers on a pay per use basis, and the whole thing would be working seamlessly. the service would optimize costs, automate the distribution of system parts, ....
also drafted the overall data architecture. moving in.
 

NZA

New Contributor
User Power
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
lots of trial and error with the technology i chose. steep learning curve. worth it.
 

NZA

New Contributor
User Power
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
(finally) been able to implement the hardest part. realtime events work fine and are synchronized.
now it's a matter of implementing the rest of the functions. easy but takes a lot of time to coordinate things.
i might have to use different services once things scale up (Lord willing). we'll see.
one thing at a time. the important task for now is to build a first version that works.

lessons (notes to self) so far:

  • when programming with a new language or using a new service, spend half the time reading the documentation top to bottom, and the other half "plowing through" (which forces you to read at multiple places from the documentation in parallel) instead of circling around before picking what functionality to start with.
  • i chose the technology+service provider from 2 main options, spend two days learning and using option A, figured out by trial that it would be faster to write using the alternative, switched to option B. sometimes, regardless of how much you read before diving (which is important), the only way to find out is to find out.
 
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NZA

New Contributor
User Power
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
visuals drafting is done. the most enjoyable part of any project (until it is live). easy to get carried away while doing it. now back to implementation.
 

NZA

New Contributor
User Power
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
lots of progress on the backend functions. one more focused session (or 2, max) before the first version is complete and ready for concurrent users :)
 

NZA

New Contributor
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
done writing the initial version. it works right but realtime features would take a hit in real life scenarios, so serverless is not well fitting here. instead of writing an update later, i'd rather rewrite everything.
lessons:

  • what i wrote above about finding out by trial. what i learned will be useful a for another project but not this one.
  • the logic of the initial version still holds, so it's not all "wasted time".
  • this is how you build 'instinct' about what to use in what scenario (in this case, software architecture). no way around it.
now starting to write a second version with a different approach. more learning and docs reading.
 
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NZA

New Contributor
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88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
looks like i'll miss the july 27 deadline. still working almost nonstop on it.
 

happiness2go

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
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109%
Jul 21, 2018
86
94
Germany
Have you validated any need for this? (i.e. have you found people who are willing to pay for it?)

For example - have you run a pre-sales campaign on a landing page asking people to buy?

From what I've seen so far, you seem to be exclusively focused on product development/the technical side of things. Could potentially be very dangerous.
 

The Abundant Man

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
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Jul 3, 2018
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Could potentially be very dangerous.
Is somebody going to die?

But, yes, I do agree. You should be doing surveys first or asking people. It's like sending an Army into the battlefield without doing any recon/intelligence first.
 
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happiness2go

Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Speedway Pass
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Jul 21, 2018
86
94
Germany
Is somebody going to die?

Haha, point taken.

Well... in a way you could say that. You are wasting your time tinkering away on a product that nobody wants. And then another product. And then another one. Before you know it, you are so old that you are going to die soon.

You've wasted your lifetime all the way until death.
 

smark

Bronze Contributor
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Oct 25, 2017
95
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I like all the progress you've made so far. It seems that you're dedicating quite a bit of time to this.

The only thing I would advise you to keep in the back of your mind is how you're going to launch/promote this web/mobile app of yours once it's ready. This will take quite a bit of learning from you if you're planning to do this alone (think copywriting, internet sales and social media marketing) but getting help from others is always advised.

If this is not possible though, then modeling what similar web/mobile apps have done in the past and adapting their methods to your situation should also work extremely well.

Also, "validating" your idea is something that should had already been done at this point; although I am not a big believer of this as many original ideas are impossible to validate and may in fact produce negative feedback in the beginning (think the first computer companies trying to convince people that tech is useful).

And don't forget to keep posting! This is something that benefits both you and the rest forum users.
 

Late Bloomer

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
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Apr 17, 2018
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visuals drafting is done. the most enjoyable part of any project (until it is live). easy to get carried away while doing it. now back to implementation.

This is a good point. In many projects there is something that is easy, fun, appealing,natural to want to do more... and that we have to stop doing, when it's good enough already.
 

smark

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
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225%
Oct 25, 2017
95
214
I have no idea at all what that means.
I assumed it's some sort of online multiplayer game where players can also heavily interact with each other (and possibly post content??), thus doubling down as both a game and a "social media network."

Could you please clarify this for us @NZA.
 

NZA

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
thank you guys for the feedback.
after a week of coding pretty much every waking hour (except for yesterday when i only worked for ~4 hours), the backend is done. i ended up refactoring the second version after finishing it, and adapting everything so that it is able to scale. so third backend version is done.
in case the product doesnt work well, i got a lot of experience in learning skills that apply for any sort of public software project. still willing to learn more, i like this stuff.

I assumed it's some sort of online multiplayer game where players can also heavily interact with each other (and possibly post content??), thus doubling down as both a game and a "social media network."

Could you please clarify this for us @NZA.
exactly what it is.

i haven't made landing page or anything of the sort. i have a pretty clear idea of people and communities to target at first. we'll see eventually.

now let's make the front interface.

lesson:

  1. be grateful for the useful content that is made available to you online. i signaled a bug+potential fix in an open source project i used here, and took the time to register an account to thank a guy for a tutorial he wrote. i will probably do this more often and contribute to open source software when my skills get better.
 
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Last edited:

smark

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
Oct 25, 2017
95
214
be grateful for the useful content that is made available to you online
This is one of the most important things to keep in mind in our modern world where (almost) everything is well within our reach; be it music, videos, books or even digital connections with actual people.
 

NZA

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 20, 2017
16
14
MA
i had a set of life problems to handle and did not work much on the application since my last post.
i am back at developping it today.
 

smark

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
Oct 25, 2017
95
214
i had a set of life problems to handle and did not work much on the application since my last post.
i am back at developping it today.
Good job for being honest regarding your recent progress and for not abandoning this thread.
I've been in a similar position as you lately, but it's important to note that it's the long term that counts, so any short-term setbacks that come along the way should not deter you from your eventual goals.

Good Luck!
 
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