2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
#MAKEANDDO #SHOWMEYOURGAME
Alexandra Mathieu www.alexandramathieu.com
2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
LAST YEAR I challenged myself to make & do one project every week.
That meant 52 projects in one year.
2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
SO. WHY 52 PROJECTS?
1.
TURN TIME INTO MOMENTS
When routine takes over, time flies. Weeks blend into each other, and next thing you know, years have gone by but you're not sure what you were up to. Doing something different every week slows down time, makes every week distinct. You start saying 'Oh, yeah! That was the week I did XYZ project.'
2.
EXPLORE & LEARN MORE
I don't know about you but I am so curious about.
everything I don't know about you but I am so curious about everything. An aspiring polymath, I constantly need and want to learn something new, to take a peek at a particular activity or topic and try it out. T r y i n g o u t o r c r e a t i n g new things or just doing them differently is like the intellectual version of traveling. Yes to more I've built, launched and exited a startup in the trips! past. It's hard. Smaller projects are more doable,
3.
KEEP IT FUN & DOABLE
manageable, and they mean that if something doesn't work out, you move on, and nobody gets hurt! You didn't lose a ton of time, money, or get emotionally drained from working on it. Many small projects means keeping it fun, playful, and super doable, even if you have a lot going on.
MY FAV' PROJECT EXAMPLES THESE ARE PROJECTS THAT CAME OUT OF MY PERSONAL ' GAME OF 52' CHALLENGE LAST YEAR
TECH
'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE' THE DUMBEST MOST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO YOUR INDECISIVENESS
MY PERSONAL BOT A PERSONAL BOT PEOPLE COULD TEXT TO GET TO KNOW ME
FRIENDS FAV PLACES PULL YOUR FRIENDS OR PEOPLE YOU FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAMS' FAV PLACES (BASEED ON IG CHECKINS)
CUL TURE ART
'SEE NO ALEPPO' A SARCASTIC CHROME EXTENSION THAT REPLACED THE WORD 'ALEPPO' WITH 'DENIAL'
AIRDROPPING LOVE AIRDROPPED MESSAGES OF LOVE & KINDNESS TO THOSE DISCOVERABLE NEARBY
MODERN DAISIES A FEMINIST & POP CULTURE MIXED MEDIA SERIES INSPIRED BY 1960'S CZECH FILM 'DAISIES'
DEAR SOMETHING WROTE & DISTRIBUTED LETTERS TO OBJECTS IN THE STREETS
A CLOSER LOOK
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'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE'Â
A CLOSER LOOK
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'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE'
project tagline T HE DUMBE ST MOST E F F E CT IV E SOLUT ION T O AN E PIDE MIC OF INDE CISIV E NE SS
project description A WE B APP T HAT LE T S PE OPLE INPUT T HINGS T HE Y AR E UNDE CIDE D ABOUT AND SE R V E S UP A R ANDOMIZE D DE CISION.
what I got from this project Up-vot ed t o #2 on Pr oduc t Hunt Connec t ed w/ t wo of m y fa vor it e people Piet er Levels & R ya n Hoover - via T wit t er T r a c t ion w 100K+ user s, 10K in fir st 6 hr s A boost of c onfidenc e to keep pr ojec t ' ing
notes Ins ight : Pe op le s u b c on s c iou s ly kn ow wh at t h e y wan t , b u t n e e d t o b e s e rve d u p t h e righ t or wron g an s we r t o u s e t h e ir re ac t ion as c on firmat ion . Pot e nt ia l a p p lica t ions : Con n e c t w/ A PI's ( e g. food ) .
other projects in progress: Kic k off ' HE LP ME F UCKING DE CIDE ' - t he next level to t his web a pp t ha t a llows people t o c r owdsour c e t heir dec is ions t o t heir indec isiveness t o t he public or t r us t ed people
A CLOSER LOOK
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'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE'
I decided the fact that I wasn' t the only one suffer ing fr om clinical indecisiveness made this gener ational condition wor thy of a pr oject. My insight was simple: we alr eady know what we want. We just need to see the r ight or wr ong option chosen for us to be able to r eact to itthat r eaction - satisfaction or fr ustr ation, r espectively, uncover s the decision we alr eady (on some level) knew we wanted!
The simplest web app ever
Step 1: Wireframe! Create some simple wireframes. This is where you really lay out the look & functionality of an idea. It's also where you get carried away with all these cool possibilities & features - in my case, a crowdsourced version you could share, one with API's to food services etc. However, I remembered my first startups #1 lesson learnt: SIMPLIFY and kill all features (for the 1st round at least!)
My goal was to cr eate the simplest web app ever to solve an epidemic of indecisiveness.
Step 2: Make it! An idea stays an idea unless you make it! In my case, I partnered with my own own dev & idea shop - Los Lore - with my friend Nithish, to help build this idea, quickly and cost efficiently. If you can't code - that's okay! Reach out to us or any affordable websites like UpWork or another. OR ask around! You'd be surprised at all the creatives around you wanting to collab!
A CLOSER LOOK
3
'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE'
Step 3: Brand it a little I Can't Fucking Decide was initially called 'This or That.' But I realized that I kept on saying 'I Can't Fucking Decide.' The 'fucking' isn't about cursing - it's about the frustration we feel about being indecisive. And after doing some research online (Twitter being my favorite place to get consumer insights) I realized I wasn't the only one. People were literally saying 'I Can't Fucking Decide.' The name was born.
Step 3: Launch it
My 1st launch on Product Hunt got featured, up-voted to#2 with ~600 up-votes and a lot of conversation, both + & -.
Social media obsession.
This can be the most intimidating part of the process if you're on the shy/introverted side - I still struggled with sharing my work. But you kind of have to & should. Launching depends on the project. In the case of a web app, Product Hunt is basically he #1 place to be (and coincidentally one of my favorite websites). Also push it on other relevant places, in this case that included Life Hacker. And of course social media! Share it on your channels, but don't just link out. If you can, make a couple of gifs to show different use cases, keep it dynamic and work on your copy! And link out of course!
A CLOSER LOOK
3
'I CANT FUCKING DECIDE'
Step 4: Track it You don't have to go as far as to call this 'analytics,' but it's important and rewarding to track the performance of a product. Sometimes, performance shoot up during launch, other times you forget about a project for a while and all of a sudden it has traction. Either way, keep an eye out on Google Analytics (remember to put in an analytics code to your website before publishing!), & conversation both on where you launched it & your own channels.
10K sessions & users in < 24 hours & not a dime spent
My first trolls! & supporters !
Step 5: Enjoy Seriously. Don't skip this part. It's the most important. Whether you get results or not, enjoy the fact that you made & did something! & if you do get results, even if it's 10 users in one week, that's AH-MAZING. Screenshot some awesome tweets, and celebrate your trolls (yes - trolls are like a badge of honor) & supporters.
HOW THIS CHALLENGE WORKS 1. COMMIT.
I, COMMIT TO MAKING & DOING ONE PROJECT EVERY WEEK FOR THE NEXT YEAR STARTING . 2. MAKE & DO. KEEP CHURNING PROJECTS. THE ONE PROJECT A WEEK CONSTRAINT CREATES AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE, MAKE, MAKE, DO, DO, DO. Write down ideas of things you'd like to make & do. Even silly ones. & Get making & doing. It's as simple as that.
3. SHARE - LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO. YOU'LL BE SURPRISED BY THE SUPPORT, AND MAY EVEN STUMBLE INTO COLLABORATIONS. AND ALWAYS CELEBRATE. IF YOU'RE MAKING & DOING, EVERYTHING IS A WIN, EVEN THE FAILURES.. Always celebrate your wins, however small. And even your failures! You learn more from them. No matter what, you're making & doing!
GOF52 FAQ'S DO I HAVE TO START AT A SPECIFIC TIME DURING THE YEAR, SAY, NEW YEAR? NO. START WHENEVER YOU WANT. HELL, START HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR IF YOU WANT. OR TOMORROW. WHY WOULD YOU WAIT TILL THE NEW YEAR TO START MAKING & DOING?
I"M NOT REALLY CREATIVE. CAN I STILL DO THIS CHALLENGE? 1. EVERYONE IS CREATIVE. 2. YES. EVEN IF YOU STILL INSIST YOU'RE NOT CREATIVE, YOU CAN MAKE & DO THINGS THAT AREN'T VERY CREATIVE - IT STILL COUNTS, AND YOU'LL TRAIN YOUR CREATIVITY MUSCLES.
WHAT IF I CAN'T HANDLE 52(!) PROJECTS, WHAT WITH LIFE HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME. THAT'S THE THING WITH THESE 52 PROJECTS. THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE COMPLICATED. THEY SHOULD BE SIMPLE & EASY TO DO. IT'S ABOUT MAKING & DOING OFTEN, VS. WORKING SUPER HARD ON ONE PROJECT EVERY 10 YEARS.
2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
EVERY PROJECT YOU'VE MADE & DONE! 1
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EVERY PROJECT YOU'VE MADE & DONE! 25
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EVERY PROJECT YOU'VE MADE & DONE! 49
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2020 ANNUAL REPORT NIKITA STUDIOS
1 project tagline & description
accomplishments
lessons & skills learned
notes
1 project tagline & description
accomplishments
lessons & skills learned
notes
1 project tagline & description
accomplishments
lessons & skills learned
notes