I'm Alyssa X, I've built and shipped 10+ products. AMA.

@tim_kober I had plans to turn Mapus into a fully fledged product, the main issues I had were the fact that being a real-time collaborative tool it got expensive to run, and that the use cases are pretty niche. It mostly comes down to urban planning, organization for events or protests, helping in rapidly changing situations like emergencies, and things like that. Very few and varied ways to use the product, so there isn’t a very good way for me to market it and position it really, and much less make it cost effective, since I’d need to charge for it to break even. I did see Felt (https://felt.com/) recently launched which does essentially the same thing, and it seems to be pretty solid. Maybe one day I will revisit it!

@izuorah_dubem The way I usually go about it is starting with the code by building a simple prototype. If I am successful with it, then I make a plan in Notion of all the features I want the product to have, and I make some concepts in Figma. I like to have something pretty high fidelity to get started from that point on, so it takes me a few days designing tons of different iterations and screens until I get back to developing. Then it’s just a balance, some things I tend to code without making a design first since it’s faster, others I like to think though beforehand so I don’t have to redo things later.

@alyssaxuu Wow thanks a lot. This will help my planning better

@jamie_sprowl I draw my inspiration from a variety of places. Ideally from personal problems I try to solve, since it’s easier to build in general, but I also come up with ideas in different ways, like by mixing different mechanics / products together, improving an existing product, or just trying to build something completely random. I don’t know if I follow trends much, I’ve considered it but trends come and go quickly, so by the time I would have finished the product it might not be relevant anymore, it’s risky.

@ethantalreja Seems to be a recurring question haha 😛 Like I said in some of my other answers I come up with products by either solving my own problems, mixing different products together, or just finding existing products that I can make better. The way I prioritize them is based on the time it takes to build them, how challenging it would be, and what opportunities if any it would get me. So for example if it’s something that could go viral, or get me more Twitter followers, it’s something I might be more interested in. Or maybe something that can lead to getting more opportunities, contract work, or improve some of my skills. There’s lots of things I take into account and it depends on the idea really, there’s always pros and cons.

@nayamoss Honestly, the way I go about it is pretty simple. I come up with an idea, I make a quick prototype, and then I list all the tasks I will need to do to get an MVP in Notion. I literally just make a heading, and using the todo blocks I write everything down. As I build the projects I tend to add or remove tasks, or even break some down if they’re too big, since it kind of helps me stay motivated every time I check something off, it’s a bit of a rush. I also like to use Figma a lot for planning or inspiration even, I throw everything in there, from products that I like to just writing ideas down. It tends to get very messy but I don’t mind 😛

@juliaenthoven Thanks! So the way I work, I usually do a prototype first without any design just to get an idea of how the product should work, and to see whether I would be able to complete it. If I am successful, I then start wireframing, and making some first high fidelity designs to find the right look for the product. I then sort of go back and forth with it, sometimes I design a feature and then develop it, other times I just develop it right away and see how it looks like. I’m not very strict with it to be honest, besides even when I have the design, after I develop it I realize it would look or work better a completely different way. And ha, well, I am not an expert in AI or video creation specifically. But I’ve seen what’s possible now with tools like DALL-E for creating all sorts of images with prompts. I imagine something like that might be available for videos as well, for specific footage or even animations. Or even things within video editing, having a raw video automatically cut and color graded, getting the best parts, or dividing into sections with automatic lower thirds and title cards. Although I have seen apps which already do a pretty good job, even with being able to edit video through audio transcriptions, it’s all really impressive. Definitely looking forward to what’s to come in that space (I’m sure you’re working on a lot of exciting things yourself over at Kapwing 😊).

@housebinet Oh I’m glad to hear! Thank you 😊 And that’s too bad yeah, sorry about that, these things can be tough. I don’t know if I’ve found a way to manage those things, they still happen to me regularly. I mostly try to eat well, sleep well, and try to pinpoint any of my triggers so I can avoid them or address them. I think it’s important to evaluate whether it’s worth to put yourself in uncomfortable situations, a lot of times it’s not. I’ve had to make drastic changes in my lifestyle recently (such as making the decision to stop making paid products or products dealing with users) just because it was affecting my health too much, and even though I miss out on money I’d much rather be healthy. I do still get sleepless nights on launches due to all the stress but I kind of just live with it, I think it's one of the things where I feel like it might be worthwhile due to how rewarding it feels afterward, and the potential upside (either in terms of revenue, networking, or opportunities in general).

@alyssaxuu Thank you for your response. I'm glad you're looking for ways to get rid of emotional disorders. I don't know if you have considered outdoor sports as an element to improve health😅 By the way, I already have the question I will ask you in the next AMA ... 😉 will be about your hobbies and interests in order to get to know your person better.

@alyssaxuu I hope it doesn't bother you if I suggest some very interesting authors to deal with panic attacks. Claire Weekes is a doctor who pioneered treating them. His method is the most used and successful. One of the people who overcame them thanks to Claire Weekes' method is Drew Linsalata. He runs a website "The Anxious Truth" and works completely selflessly, like you, to help others. With my best wishes!

@mares Wow, a lot of questions haha. Let me try to answer them all the best I can. 1. Top 10, hmm, not sure I can think of so many 😅 I think mainly I’ve learnt to not be too much of a perfectionist, plan things well ahead of time, don’t get stuck on the details, talk to users to know if you’re in the right path when building… 2. The apps I use the most are Figma, Visual Studio Code, Notion, Chrome, and Telegram. As per not very well-known app, hmm, maybe Handbrake for compressing down videos (it does an amazing job), or Rotato which I used for my Later product teaser to create a 3D animated mockup video. 3. I think it would be amazing if that was possible. It would allow people to make their ideas a reality even if they don’t have the skill or technical know-how. I think it could be useful for generic sort of things, or for developing small features quickly (even things like GitHub Copilot which are pretty handy), but for more complex, creative, and advanced things it would likely still need an actual human developer. 4. Nothing I can think of right now. If I knew I would have built it already probably haha. 5. I got into coding pretty early on since I was always super passionate about inventing things, like art, films, games… I started with Visual Basic and Flash, and got into web development a bit later on. 6. Honestly, I don’t think there is a particular person I admire. I’ve never been a fan of idolizing people, I just appreciate their skills and achievements. I think there’s a lot of people I am inspired by, in a variety of ways, but not a single person I look up to as some sort of role model. 7. I kind of wish I was a better developer. It’s funny because people tend to think of me as a developer first and designer second, but it’s actually the other way around. Sometimes it can be a limiting factor for me when working on products, but I usually manage to figure things out (usually in very hacky and unorthodox ways). Developing is tough. 8. Mostly because I enjoy it, it gets me opportunities, helps me grow my audience and network, and I get some passive income along the way. 9. I don’t really get to read a lot to be honest, I work too much. I like to read a lot of fiction, sci-fi horror specifically. I enjoy stories from Stephen King, like The Jaunt, or The Mist. Michael Crichton also has some great books, like The Andromeda Strain or Sphere. Something a bit different I like to read is some of Junji Ito’s horror mangakas, I guess you could say I’m sort of into weird stuff haha. More related to what I do, I enjoyed reading The Accidental Billionaires (and especially the movie The Social Network), and How To Turn Down a Billion Dollars. 10. Haha I’ve been asked a ton of questions, I don’t know if I can think of any myself. Maybe what I do outside of work and making, some of my other interests? I like to watch movies and shows (currently watching Killing Eve, so good!), write sci-fi horror stories of my own, I'm also very into fashion (although I don't necessarily follow trends, but I do enjoy wearing a lot of bold and statement pieces), and I have a pretty thorough skincare routine which takes me a while every day but I think it's totally worth it, my skin looks and feels so good 😛

@alyssaxuu hey, thanks so much for the very thorough and thoughtful response! i relate to 6 and 7 a lot haha, and i think the question you chose to answer for 10 was so great! we don't get to hear much about what people do or enjoy besides work, so thx for sharing about it! gotta copy that skin care routine 💁‍♀️ if u don't mind elaborating, i'm curious about what you'd do/feel if for 3, ai did eliminate the need for human developers?

@aaron_davis1 Ah, tough one! I think design for me is more important, it's what I do for a living, and I think it would still allow me to showcase my product ideas through simple prototypes which is what I find fun. Developing I can find it quite frustrating at points, and without design for me at least it's all pretty lifeless and dull.

@avi_nash_rao I've been asked that a lot, here's one of my replies if curious :)