Status of Sagas iOS
The Sagas app started as a weekend hackathon-style project for me and my partner to create a to-do list app with a UI concept I hadn't seen before. After some trial and error, I had designed a unique interface that laid out the foundation of the Sagas app — a menu-less modular design with a focus on ease of use. In an abstract sense, the different modules and pages of the app can freely shift and flow to help the user view the exact information that they want to see. Within those first two days, we had developed a functional to-do list with a structural hierarchy (Sagas -> Arcs -> Tasks), adjustable properties for each tasks (priority, due date, etc), and a reliable implementation of our modular design. But we quickly realized that the Sagas concept had much more potential, and that we would need much longer than two days. Now it has been two months of on-and-off work and the project is nearly complete.
We've added the ability to collaborate on shared Sagas, and the ability to view others' actions in the Activity page. We've also created Flows — our most powerful feature. A Flow is an empty canvas, similar to a white board, but with optional widgets, embeds, and formatting to allow a user to setup their own workflow. Currently, a user can have a variety of countdown timers, pomodoro timer, and embed tasks and links within a Flow. When used correctly, we believe Flows can help people stay on track and change their workflow for the better.
Status of Sagas Web
We are in the earliest stages of development on Sagas Web. We are aiming to have a functional and deployed first iteration within a few short weeks. Likely to be developed using a ReactJS frontend and a Flask backend, interacting with Firebase.
Below is the earliest mockup I can provide, created in Canva. The design focus of Sagas Web is to retain the unique UI of the iOS app but provide exponentially more information. We foresee Sagas Web being an equally important product to Sagas iOS, in both user quantity and in the creation of a true software suite.
Project management and motivation
I have a small amount of experience as a project manager for a 3-month project from my junior year in college, but other than that I have no real experience in a leadership position. For both Caliber and the Sagas Suite, I'm in the position to be the primary decision maker, project manager, and developer.
At this point, I've developed two apps, Harold and Kusuri, and dozens of websites entirely on my own. For years, my development style has been defined by my own deadlines, schedule, and my own progress. But now with Caliber, my team has grown to two, and with Sagas it will soon grow to three. While bringing on another developer to help complete Sagas Web will likely pay off in the development process, it has been a difficult pill for me to swallow nonetheless. That is one more person I have to oversee and manage, and more importantly… one more person I have to explain my ideas to before I can hunker down for a 8-hour coding session to implement.
For coding, I've been hyper independent and it has been one of my favorite parts of indie development. It's made me confident of myself and my judgement, and that has made me a better developer and a better creative. The upcoming weeks will be an active effort to find a balance where I can lead comfortably and continue in a position direction with my development journey.
Goodbye Sagas V1
Below is the first iteration of Sagas iOS, a decidedly dated design. Sagas V1 features the same unique modular design that we set out to create but crowds the screen with a plethora of colors and shapes. But the true dealbreaker for Sagas V1 was the severely limited amount of information on the home screen — a mere 4 tasks could be seen at a time, which is substantially less information then the 6-8 tasks visible at a time in Sagas V2.
Sagas V2 also stripped down the design of V1 by squaring off many of the corners, reducing the use of colors, shrinking text sizes, and lowering font weights. We also moved away from a pure black #000000 background to a dark subdued grey, which creates a more modern and legible design.
Branding and app identity
I have yet to create a strong brand identity that will help Sagas find the audience of power-users who will use the product to its fullest extent. Sagas should be presented as a powerful piece of software with an interface unlike any other — the UI should truly be the selling point with the extensive set of features to justify it all.
Follow @sagas.app for updates
