Having real users test my app will be the next big step. Yesterday, I presented it to two teachers. My voice was trembling and my thoughts were racing, but I did it. Now I hope a pilot group will get the chance to use the app and help me discover what works – and what needs to be improved.
Having other people test my app suddenly feels very real. Yesterday, I presented it to two teachers.
I was nervous. Very nervous, actually. My voice was trembling and my thoughts were racing, but I did it anyway.
🇸🇪 Svenska –Testa min app – att våga låta andra prova det jag byggt
🇬🇧 English – you are reading the English version.
They thought the work I had done was good. They could see that there was a clear idea behind the app and that it could offer something valuable to the person using it.
Now the work continues, and if everything falls into place, I will have the opportunity to let a pilot group test the app for a period of time.
This is almost more exciting than my body can handle.
At the same time, it is great fun.
When Someone Else Is Going to Use What I Have Built
There is a difference between selling something that already exists and standing in front of people with something you have thought of and built yourself.
Yesterday wasn’t really about selling the app. I didn’t need to convince anyone to buy anything. I wanted to find people who might be willing to help me test it.
And somehow, that feels even bigger.
Real people are going to use something that, until now, has mostly existed in my head, on my computer and in all the hours I have spent trying to make it work.
The pilot group will receive an app that is ready to use, along with access to the paid version during the testing period. In return, I hope to receive something just as valuable: their experiences.
What works?
What doesn’t?
What do they understand immediately, and what feels unclear?
Is there something that seems completely obvious to me but isn’t obvious at all to someone opening the app for the first time?
Of course, I want to hear what works well. But I also need the critical feedback. It is only when other people start using the app that I can really find out whether what I have imagined actually works in practice.
I Think the App Is Good
Because in my opinion, the app is good.
I actually think it is really good.
But I am also the person who built it. I know the thinking behind every part and why things are where they are. That means I can never be the only person deciding how the app feels to someone encountering it for the first time.
That is why the pilot group is so important.
My idea is that the app should be able to do something that we sometimes find difficult to do for ourselves.
It should help us see the bigger picture.
When life feels chaotic and difficult, it is easy to think:
I’m not doing anything.
I’m getting nowhere.
I’m not managing the things I should be doing.
But what if that isn’t quite true?
Not because an app should fool us into believing that everything is fine. And not because it should pat us on the head and tell us that everything we do is wonderful.
But because it can see more than the single achievement we happen to be measuring ourselves against.
It can see the steps.
The small thing I actually did.
That I tried.
That I stopped for a moment.
That I did something that mattered to me even though it was difficult.
And over time, all those small things can begin to form patterns.
Free Should Also Mean Useful
The app will have both a free version and a paid version.
It is important to me that the free version is genuinely useful. You shouldn’t reach the part that could actually help you only to find it hidden behind a paywall.
Instead, the paid version will contain more of the features that can become valuable over time.
That is where the app can help the user discover patterns and connections that might otherwise be difficult to notice in the middle of everyday life.
At least, that is how I believe it can work.
Now comes the next exciting part.
Finding out whether other people experience it in the same way.
And Then There Was Courage
I was nervous yesterday.
My voice was trembling and my thoughts were racing.
Still, I stood there and talked about something I had created myself.
I did it.
And perhaps that is exactly what courage is.
Not standing there without feeling nervous and being completely confident in yourself.
But feeling nervous, noticing how your body reacts, and still daring to step forward and do something you have never done before.
Yesterday, I took that step.
Now I will see where the next one leads.
Questions for You
Have you ever done something even though your body was telling you that it felt too scary or nerve-racking?
What does courage mean to you – not being afraid, or doing something despite being afraid?
Do you ever feel that you haven’t done enough, even though you have actually taken many small steps during the day?
What might happen if you started counting the steps along the way instead of only the finished result?
And if you had the opportunity to test the Malix app – what would you want it to help you discover about your own everyday life?
Between the Lines
Sometimes we only see what was completed.
We see the achievement, the result and the goal.
But the road towards it consists of so much more. Trying. Doubting. Starting again. Resting. Daring to continue even when your voice trembles.
Perhaps we need to become better at noticing those steps too.
Because sometimes we have come much further than we realise.
Read More
On Malix.se, I write about everyday life, presence, neurodiversity and the small steps that really do count.
You can find more of my writing here:
The blog:
https://malix.se/blogg/
One Thing at a Time – about everyday life, presence and finding what actually works:
https://malix.se/
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“Life happens here and now – in the middle of the ordinary.”
Carina Ikonen Nilsson
Malix.se
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