The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #185
Going viral on TikTok (and other social media platforms) again, dealing with performance issues, and delivering my final conference talk (for now). 👀
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #184
Contingency time for (self-imposed) deadlines, an upgrade nightmare, a video podcast interview, and some design sneak peeks. 👀
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #183
Reflecting on how there's not long left in 2024, building for what's working instead of your original vision, and an ambitious variety of focal points for the next couple of weeks.
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #182
Apple UK's Black History Month campaign, immense excitement over a proposed feature, and an upcoming workcation! 👩🏾💻
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #181
Exploring Miami with my mum, celebrating Abbie's five years at StoryGraph, and tackling performance bugs!
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #180
Hello from Buttondown, the launch of supporter subscriptions, more disappointing downtime, and a West Coast US trip! ☀️
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #179
Getting some extra help, deciding on a new email platform, and an impending database migration!
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #178
The soft launch of our newest monthly template, considering a newsletter platform change, and comic reading!
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #177
Greetings from Mexico, results from my time management experiment, monthly wrap-up template highs and lows, and praise for the our Marketing team! 😁
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #176
Delusion as a superpower, life admin distractions, a work schedule experiment, a new stat, and a buddy read with my sister.
The One-Woman Dev Team Diaries #175
A new style of newsletter, exciting monthly cover collages, a speaking tour, an awards nomination, what I'm working on next, and what I'm reading.
#174 - Newsletter Changes
Taking this newsletter back to its roots, an impending architecture migration, and what's on deck next.
#173 - When Users Show The Way...
Two cases where user polling lead to new ideas, some performance improvements, and getting ready for new infrastructure.
#172 - Morning Walk Thoughts
On a new addition to my morning routine, lil' improvements to readalongs, upcoming performance work, and a tight reading schedule! 😅
#171 - Talk Preparation to Journey Reflection
Preparing for an upcoming keynote, reflecting on the journey so far, and coding in between!
#170 - There's not really much community...
On showcasing our community features, the V1 Book Clubs launch, and ongoing performance improvements!
#169 - Super Soft Launch
The super soft launch of book clubs! Hard launch impending! 📚
#168 - Performance As A Priority
A change in the 2024 Roadmap, a Book Clubs sneak peek, and an old recommendation and some fun throwbacks! 😁
#167 - It was definitely March...
...not February when the work on Plus was complete! But it's done, and there's a load of new features in the free plan to go with the change! 😎
#166 - It Will Be February Somewhere....
...for the re-launch of our Plus plan. Also, updates on book clubs, readalongs, and the current Plus-only Personalized Preview feature.
#165 - 2024's Roadmap
The plans for the product this year, the launch of two new types of reading challenges, and a realisation about our upcoming book club feature. 😅
#164 - If you enjoy using the app...
On 1-star reviews and a lil' teaser of upcoming new features! 👀
#163 - Disappointing Downtime
Two weeks of downtime and slow performance, big infrastructure changes, and minimal coding! 😩
#162 - A Good Feeling
Feeling good about what 2024 has in store for StoryGraph, three exciting releases in the last two weeks, and what I'm working on for the next two!
#161 - T Minus Two Weeks
Reflections on there being two weeks left to do "everything", another user sign-up milestone, mini feature updates, and my 1000+ page current read. 😅
#160 - Realising the Mission
A review that reminded me of a four-year-old piece of paper, readalongs are finally live, and the three focal points for the next two weeks! 📚 💬
#159 - The StoryGraph Redefinition
Redefining social reading terms via product development and coding side quests! 👩🏾💻
#158 - Reading Between The (Negative) Lines
My internal thought process around negative feedback, a readalongs sneak peek, and an upgrade deadline!
#157 - Inspiring Negative Comments
When critical comments have an unexpected effect, new and improved social reading features, and an exciting beta test! 🤩
#156 - Another Ambitious Quarter...
Ambitious goals for Q4 2023, sneak peeks of upcoming features, and the next instalment of our Instagram Book Club. 📚
#155 - Birthday Break
On site stability and birthday breaks, buddy read improvements, a variety of anniversaries, and an upcoming beta test!
#154 - Book Clubs For All
My customer research approach to book clubs, buddy read comment improvements, and an exciting new AI-powered feature coming soon... 👀
#153 - Thinking Time
On how a lot of my "tech" work is "thinking time", the new Plus stats option, giveaway platform improvements, and upcoming customer research.
#152 - Bug Day
A day each week dedicated to fixing bugs and improving the product, slow progress and a teaser on an upcoming Plus feature, and new giveaway features!
#151 - The H2 2023 Community Roadmap
Highlights from the Community roadmap, an oft-requested feature that's finally live, and upcoming new stats options for Plus users. 📊
#150 - Personal Hackathon
A personal coding marathon weekend, features under the radar, improvements to giveaways, a collaborative short story, and a decades-old book rec.
#149 - 4 Million People!
Some TSG stats, updating screenshots on the landing page, an update on the software upgrades, and a new feature coming to giveaways.
#148 - (User) Actions Speak Louder
On my approach to building out a new Plus feature, upgrade slowdowns, and a fun social media experiment. 😄
#147 - Thank You For Your Trust
On the trust we've built up amongst users, onboarding flow improvements, and upcoming improvements to giveaways!
#146 - Your 2023 StoryGraph Community Features Wishlist
Building out the next phase of our community/social roadmap, more onboarding process improvements, and upcoming work on our recommendations!
#145 - Hit "Reply"
On reading and replying to this newsletter, new Plus stats, and a small, behind-the-scenes onboarding tweak.
#144 - An Excellent Onboarding
Improving our onboarding process, our visit to the London Book Fair, small accessibility improvements, and upcoming stats work for Plus users! 📊
#143 - To The Fair!
Visiting the 2023 London Book Fair, improving the stats dashboard, and making our Giveaways platform more self-service.
#142 - What's Right vs. What's Liked
What to do with our mood pie charts, the new giveaway entries dashboard, and upcoming stats work! 📊
#141 - Usability Testing: It Works!
On the success of our first go at usability testing, the launch of the streak feature, the upcoming giveaways dashboard, and our Instagram Book Club!
#140 - Is 30 Days Too Long?
On the duration of our Plus free trial, a lil' sneak peek of our upcoming streak feature, and the priorities for next week!
#139 - (A Bit) More Social!
Prioritising Community features (for those that want it!), a new user sign-up milestone, and the upcoming streak feature!
#138 - Phase 1 Complete!
On the reasoning behind our redesign, the launch of our redesign, and the reception to our redesign... 😁
From Light to Dark...Eventually!
On how long it's taken to implement dark mode for the app and website! But, it's coming soon...honest! 😅
#136 - New Year, Old Improvements
Handling high levels of traffic, the launch of January Pages 2023 and the 2022 Reading Wrap-Up, and the upcoming redesign! 🤩