A few months ago I posted JotChain here — a work log tool that tried to do too much. The feedback was fair: the value wasn’t obvious.
I rebuilt it with a much narrower focus: performance reviews.
The problem
We recently started doing performance reviews, and I had to review three developers. I remembered some highlights and issues from the past year, but a lot of context was missing — especially small but important things like soft-skill feedback or moments where someone quietly helped unblock the team.
Those things never make it into a 1:1 doc, and by review time they’re gone.
I wanted one place where I could quickly jot things down as they happen, without worrying about structure — and only structure it when it matters.
The approach
Write short notes as work happens (30 seconds, no format)
Add light context (project, teammates)
Pick a date range and generate a clean: self-review, peer/person review, accomplishments summary.
No meeting recordings, no standup bots — just a lightweight log that turns into review-ready output.
It’s early and adoption is slow, so I’m mainly looking for feedback:
- Does this solve a real problem for you?
- How do you handle performance reviews today?
- Is “performance reviews” a strong enough wedge?
A few months ago I posted JotChain here — a work log tool that tried to do too much. The feedback was fair: the value wasn’t obvious.
I rebuilt it with a much narrower focus: performance reviews.
The problem
We recently started doing performance reviews, and I had to review three developers. I remembered some highlights and issues from the past year, but a lot of context was missing — especially small but important things like soft-skill feedback or moments where someone quietly helped unblock the team.
Those things never make it into a 1:1 doc, and by review time they’re gone.
I wanted one place where I could quickly jot things down as they happen, without worrying about structure — and only structure it when it matters.
The approach
Write short notes as work happens (30 seconds, no format)
Add light context (project, teammates)
Pick a date range and generate a clean: self-review, peer/person review, accomplishments summary.
No meeting recordings, no standup bots — just a lightweight log that turns into review-ready output.
It’s early and adoption is slow, so I’m mainly looking for feedback:
- Does this solve a real problem for you? - How do you handle performance reviews today? - Is “performance reviews” a strong enough wedge?
Live here: https://jotchain.com
Happy to answer questions and very open to criticism.