:) I had to pick a number and 90 seconds just felt about right. Time varies of course per Bite. Each Bite includes a moment for reflection that stretches the time, otherwise it would be faster. The comparison to Readwise is a huge compliment. Honestly, if I can reach that level of daily utility and retention, I'll be more than happy.
I've been building software for over 20 years, mostly for clients. Trailward started as a tool to manage my own habit of "constant learning," but it evolved into something I wanted to ship.
The Problem:
I wanted to solve two things:
1. Sustained Exploration: How to learn effectively over a long timeframe, avoiding the "one-night research binge" that fades away.
2. Discovery: How to find meaningful learning goals when creativity is limited. Users often struggle to see beyond their immediate bubble.
The Approach:
1. Meaningful Goals (Ikigai): Ambitious transformations (like career shifts) require huge commitment. I use an LLM to help users connect their passions to "World Needs" and "Monetization"-mapping personal interests to viable career paths.
2. Two Learning Modes:
- Topics: For quick exploration based on personalized interest suggestions.
- Plans: Comprehensive, multi-month curriculums with interactive tasks, detailed explanations, and practical examples. The goal is to provide a structured, approachable path to real mastery, including certificate proposals to prepare for professional transitions.
3. Daily Habit (Bites): To make execution possible, I built "Bites" 90-second sessions designed to lower the barrier to entry so much that 'starting' becomes the path of least resistance.
Technical Stack: React Native (Expo), Next.js, FastAPI, PostgreSQL. Retention is handled by a modified SM-2 spaced repetition algorithm.
Building things for myself, not just clients and thinking about who it's for from the start.
20+ years as a freelancer. I got good at solving other people's problems. Along the way I started 4 or 5 side projects with others. We'd build something solid, then wonder why nobody showed up. The pattern was always the same: build first, figure out marketing later.
Wish I'd understood earlier that reaching people isn't a phase after the product, it shapes the product.
Built it to guide another career-related transformation. I'm a self-taught software dev with 20+ years of experience. It started with structured learning plans, but friends said they felt too rigid. So I added "Topics" for free exploration. Shortly after, I implemented a feature called "Bites", which are those 90-second micro-learning sessions that extract the most important facts from topics and learning plans into a bite-sized format.
Interesting for curious and gradient-loving people ;)