I gamified my planning routine with a virtual Shiba Inu—here’s what I learned about productivity
Hey Product Hunt community!
I’ve always struggled with traditional planners. They felt like a chore, and when I missed a deadline, the only "consequence" was a mounting sense of guilt. I wanted to turn my weekly to-do list into something that felt more like a quest.
I built Shiba Scheduler, a gamified weekly planner where you look after a virtual Shiba Inu companion.
The Mechanics of Fun Productivity
I wanted to experiment with "Loss Aversion" and "Social Accountability" to see if they actually help people stick to their goals. Here is how it works:
The Reward: Completing tasks earns you XP and bones to buy skins/accessories.
The Risk: If you miss deadlines, Bosses appear to steal your rewards.
Social: You can go on "Pack Raids" with friends to tackle big projects together.
The "No Friction" Experiment
One thing I’ve noticed with productivity tools is that the signup process often kills the momentum. For this project, I decided to make it completely free with no signup required just to see how that affects user retention.
I’d love to get the community's thoughts on a few things:
Does "punishment" in an app (like a boss stealing rewards) actually motivate you, or does it make you want to close the app?
For those who use gamified tools (like Habitica or Duolingo), what is the one feature that keeps your streak alive?
Are there any specific Shiba skins or "Bosses" you think would be hilarious to add?
If you want to try it out and give me some brutal feedback, you can check it out here: shibdule.site
Looking forward to hearing your perspectives!
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