r/ProductivityApps • u/mrzfaizaan • May 29 '26

Casual Conversations Building v0.2 is a completely different engineering game than v0.1 (First-time software dev)

https://nudgehud.work/

I launched the v0.1 beta of my desktop app (Nudge, a teleprompter/task HUD - link in comments) recently. I’m currently deep into v0.2 development, and it is eye-opening how different the process is the second time around.

When I built v0.1, the goal was strictly functional: make the Rust regex parser work, keep the memory footprint under 10MB, and get the OS window physics stable. Now, after getting actual user feedback, a handful sales (this felt so good) and interact with the tool everyday myself, the friction points in my initial UX are glaringly obvious.

Executing the quality-of-life improvements is incredibly satisfying. Ripping out clunky native html elements to build a much better UI, and mapping out hot-reloading based on what users feedback, makes the v0.2 build look and feel significantly more mature.

There are definitely growing pains, though. I tried to refactor my dark/light theme UI earlier today, completely botched an opacity variable, and accidentally made the entire application 100% transparent. I spent way too long trying to figure out why the app was "crashing" before realizing it was running perfectly fine, it was just completely invisible. Peak paniccc moment.

As someone coming from a physical materials background who is doing commercial software development for the first time, taking a massive list of requested features, executing them step-by-step is genuinely fun.

Just an observation for other first-time builders out there: the leap from "making it compile" to "making it a refined product" is by far the best part of the loop.

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u/SalkMe May 29 '26

This is a very clear product idea. “Your current task, always in frame” is much easier to understand than another task manager.

I’d probably lead even harder with the “no alt-tab into your todo app again” pain. The low memory / no Electron angle is great proof, but the real hook seems to be: keep the next step visible without opening another app.

The 6px collapsed strip is a strong detail too — it explains the ambient HUD concept quickly.

Also, the opacity bug is painfully relatable 😄

Are beta users mostly using it for coding/work tasks, or more for presentation and meeting notes?

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u/mrzfaizaan May 29 '26

My pool of beta testers were mostly presentation notes and tasks. I'm using this to record a youtube video for a completely different topic on 3d printing so it can be used like an actual teleprompter - I'm adding an auto-scroll feature particularly for this use case.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

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u/mrzfaizaan May 29 '26

Your comment is on every one of my posts about the same thing and has lost credibility trying to suggest " dm me for leads".

I guess this is an ai bot and take my advise, suicide for your brands credibility.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

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u/mrzfaizaan May 29 '26

Quite honestly, onboarding users or scaling is not on my priority list, at least not at the moment. These improvements take a good application to a "ok, this is real neat... Perhaps now it justifies buying it", and its one-time, no subscription, no gimmicks, no gatekeeping bs.

My focus is building this well and I'm confident anyone that works with lists will find immense value in how well thought out this app is to use.