There's a specific kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep.

It's the kind where you open your laptop, stare at the thing you've been building for months, and think... what even is this? Not in a "I'm quitting" way. More of a "I genuinely can’t tell if this thing is even cool anymore".

That’s me this week.

Work has been a lot. Life has been a lot. And Uplyft, the app I built specifically to help people stay motivated, encouraged, and show up for the people they love, was sitting there on my screen making me feel like I needed a nap and a therapist.

The irony of building a motivational app and not using it for myself is crazy talk.

Nobody gave me feedback. Like, nobody.

I posted the app. I shared the newsletter. I got removed from Reddit twice in one afternoon (just a new user trying to share). I dropped links in comment threads and product forums and threw it at the internet like a glitter bomb.

Crickets.

I know that's part of it. I know early stage means you're basically talking to yourself for a while. I know this. And yet knowing something and feeling it are two completely different things, especially at 10pm when you're trying to QA your own app after a full day of everything else.

Which brings me to the QA session that had me shook a bit.

I opened Uplyft like I'd never seen it before.

I tried to pretend I was a parent picking it up for the first time. No context, no background. Just someone who downloaded an app and wanted to send their kid an encouraging message before Saturday's game.

I got lost.

Not catastrophically lost. But lost enough.

So I went deeper and tried to add an iCal URL for my kid's sports schedule. Simple enough, right? Add the link, see the games, send messages automatically on game days. That's the goal. That's the whole point of the calendar feature….and most of the app.

Except after I added it, I had no idea if it worked. Was it connected to my kid specifically? Which kid? Where does the schedule actually show up? I built this feature and I couldn't find it. I stood there in my own app like a guy who built a house and couldn’t find the bathroom. I think it’s a combo of the app proto not working properly and me not having thought out the user flow enough.

That's a UX problem. And I'm a UX designer. So that one hurt a little.

Here's what the experience should actually feel like.

I have two kids who play sports. The whole idea is simple. Connect their game calendars, let Uplyft automatically send them the right message on game day, and get out of the way. No manual scheduling, no remembering, no opening the app at 6am half asleep trying to type something meaningful before coffee.

It just happens. That's the magic.

But right now, the user flow to get there is disconnected. Which calendar belongs to which kid? What happens when a kid is also part of a group? Does the automatic schedule override the group message or do both messages go out? What does the parent actually see so they know it's working?

Yeah, I need more success notices.

These are not small questions. These are the questions that determine whether someone uses the app every day (and pays for it) or deletes it after twenty minutes.

So that's the next thing to fix. Not the idea. The execution of the idea.

The features aren't the problem. The reveal is.

Here's what I know for certain. I don't want to remove anything. The messaging, the AI generation, the daily motivational and health content for the user, the streaks, the family groups, the calendar scheduling. All of it belongs. That's the product. That's what makes Uplyft more than just a group text with better vibes.

But there's a difference between a feature existing and a feature being discovered at the right moment.

Think about how you learned your phone. You didn't read the manual. You used it, got comfortable, and then one day accidentally discovered something you didn't know existed and felt like a genius. That's not an accident. That's called progressive disclosure. A real UX concept where complexity reveals itself over time, as the user is ready for it. Beginners get clean and simple. Power users find the depth naturally.

Notion does it. Duolingo does it. Your iPhone settings menu absolutely does it, and I bet that you still haven't found half of what's in there.

Uplyft needs that. Not fewer features. Smarter ones. Features that introduce themselves at the right moment instead of all waving at you from the lobby at once, overwhelming the user.

So that's the next move?

Rethink the onboarding. Clarify the calendar flow so parents can connect their kid's schedule in under two minutes and actually see it confirmed. Make the first experience so obvious that a tired parent at 7am before a softball game can open it, do the one thing they came to do, and feel good about it.

Sometimes it’s hard to see things when you’re in the trenches with it. I just had to change my approach and perspective to see what was missing. I’m sure I’ll find more missing items or misunderstood user flows as I go. That’s cool, because it means I get to improve the app, which will (at some point) improve people’s lives.

I’m still building. Still going and slightly less tired than I was five minutes ago….and even a little motivated now that I talked about things.

That's enough for today.

Brad

*Product Hunt launch date is incorrect because I can only schedule 1 month in advance.*