In my previous post, I wrote about writers’ vs readers’ needs on 200wad platform, and made lists of each user group’s needs. Today, I thought it’ll be interesting to map out how each of the current features addresses the user needs. I’ll focus on writers’ needs as that seems to be the priority at least for now: 

As a writer, I need/want to:

✍️ Write regularly so that I can get better at it. (Need for mastery)

     - Streak count and daily countdown clock encourages the user to write every day to not break the chain
     - Reading content of others help me learn to be a better writer and motivate me to write regularly
     - Tools tab have some useful resources to help us write regularly and better

✍️ Get feedback/reviews from other writers so that I can get better at it. (Need for mastery)

     - Comments thread allows other users to comment and review, though most of the time, people are just commenting, not exactly reviewing/critiquing the writing
     - Collections, Fellowship page, personal profile pages, Following tab, canonical URLs, daily newsletters, Twitter posts, hashtags help others discover my content more easily, and thus potentially channel more feedback. These are features for readers too.
     - Private posts (Patron feature) prevent this though, because it won’t appear in the public feed ?

✍️ Get timely reminders to write so that I don’t forget to. (Need for salience)

- No dedicated feature at this point
     - The daily newsletters and Twitter posts can act as some sort of daily prompt, but might get lost in the inbox/feed
     - Sometimes you get ad-hoc reminders from other writers, as @basilesamel had done for many of us, but not sustainable 

✍️ Sustain motivation to write through public accountability (Extrinsic need)

     - No feature to declare one’s intentions/goals and to track it

✍️ Have fun using this platform, so that I enjoy using it and continue writing. (Need for play/fun)

- Streak count, total posts, total words and streak calendar view (on profile page) can be fun if you enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes with seeing such data

✍️ Get affirmation from other writers so that I feel a sense of recognition. (Self-esteem needs)

     - Comments (and related notifications) from other writers feel good
     - Private posts (Patron feature) prevent this though, because it won’t appear in the public feed ?

✍️ Socialise (through comments and sharing) with other writers/readers in order to feel a sense of belonging. (Social need)

     - Slack channel and comments (and related notifications) for socialising
     - Fellowship page and personal profile pages let me browse who’s who in the community
     - The transparency from #openstartup metrics is interesting data for indie makers, who make up much of the community 
     - Public roadmap brings the community together to co-build the platform, and journey together, i.e. the “IKEA effect”

What’s surprising from the mapping:

     1. Habit formation requires a cue-routine-reward loop. Perhaps having dedicated cues to remind people to write daily would help folks develop the habit
     2. Private posts, while useful when you don’t really want to broadcast it publicly, seems to runs counter (or at least, does not contribute) to some of the needs, like getting feedback and affirmation
     3. Much of the basis of a streak works on public accountability, so perhaps a dedicated feature would help  

What did I miss from the mapping above? Any current features not mentioned or mapped? Anything surprising you saw, or patterns that emerged?

? Day 34 of the #200wad challenge.