Hi!
First off, if you're a user I want to thank you for using Otto. And if you're a customer, I want to thank you for your support. It just hit me that there's no way for you to know what upcoming features are going to be available on Otto. So I thought I'd write a post and explain my plans.
Right now, I think there's a lot of potential for improving and making Otto better. I've been tackling the challenge for the past few months. Little by little changing things and trying to turn it into how I envision it. There are traces of it all over the site, but there's more to come.
I'm a team of one on this project, I handle the product design, engineering, and marketing. I enjoy it all but I also have to admit that I can't do all of it at once. It is also very time-consuming, so I take it one step at a time.
I think of this project as my love letter, it wouldn't be my last but just one of them. So I have set very high but reasonable goals for my self. The main one is to make the best mindful focus timer on the web. This is more of a personal goal of mine.
The other is more product-oriented. I want to make Otto more reactive.
What does this mean you ask?
Well, I want Otto to react to your behavior, actually engage with you, and become a true companion that you end up building a bond with. It's quite an ambitious goal but not an impossible one.
My approach to building Otto is iterative, I don't like releasing features all at once, but instead, I like breaking them down into chunks. That way I can see what's working and what's not.
So here's what I have in mind (only major features)
Better Analytics: Right now, this is a major feature that I want to add. This has been lacking and I think this would be very useful. Analytics would give you a break down of your focus, breaks and tasks and also show you a map of how you work through out yout day.
Improved Gamification: The game aspect of Otto feels a bit disjointed at the moment. It basically has taken a backseat for a while. I want to change that and turn it into an important aspect that ties into everything.
Streaks: I've avoided adding this before but now when I think about it, streaks are really good at holding you accountable.
Reactivity: Nothing to say about this yet. But stay tuned!
If you're curious about what new features have been released you can always look at the Changelog. If you don't see any recent updates then that means I'm working on other important bits for Otto or life got very busy unexpectedly.
If you'd like to request features and give your feedback I'm always open to listening and working on them.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
- J. Benjamin D'souza
