I was trying to build this product over weekend.I know a little bit of Ruby on Rails ( really small ) have to search for almost everything on internet. The main mistake I did was with Ruby on Rails I started with lots of plugin twitter bootstrap , haml , devise , cancan ]. Now after 12 hours I analysed where am I, I didn't find it quite encourage.I thought its better to stick with tech, you...
About design * Give feedback button is really hidden, I think in general call for action button should be clearly visible, they very mixed with other buttons in your design. Give to some stranger and see how he sees your site, the first thing he will try to find something to do and if he doesn't find the right place to click the only person at loss is you.
* The light color over white is really bad combination until you want to hide that thing.The text "Map your life experiences and rediscover your past!" is invisible. Can you good contrast ratio over here.
* Can you put a register button at top also, will be good boost not to find the register everywhere else in page, or simply make it first thing visible on page.
* The color pattern ( the transistion from blue to white where you have orange slowly fading ) doesn't look good. ( Personal Opinion )
Would a stranger using it will recommend it for gift giving to their friends.
On holiday season, people are looking for great gifting ideas, can you provide them with good ideas by providing a simple choice form ( no more than 3-4 objective questions).
Can you advertise in local bill board and ask your friends in other cities to get the print out and stick on bill board they can?
When I don't know what are my goals and dreams, I help others to accomplish there dreams and goals, that's really a great starting point. Go help some startup use your skills to further their goals and nourish your skills.
Solution: The main point here is taking back the control, when you are doing something and your mind tells that you are missing, or I have this another great idea. Ask him objectively what is the great idea or what I am missing, if he can answer your question, write it down in your notebook and politely say to him that I know you are trying to help me, I have duly noted down your suggestion / idea will work on it once I am done with the current stuff I am doing.
About books , blog , videos etc, I know I can find the something useful if I go find the dustbin again. The idea here is pick some gem, pick your books / blogs very acutely. Now trust that the book you are reading is sufficient and good and if you need to know anything other than this one, you will bumped by difficultly when you will be needed to know. I think the whole problem arise when we try to use books as Textbooks not as helpbooks, when we try to find the exact method in books not direction where to go from current situation.
You can see it everywhere, we always want to jump and skip to solution, skip the process and get to result, skip the learning and get the work done in most cases its a very bad idea.
See in personal life, we were always trying to make ourselves better but, where does it goes nowhere, you don't know what you are trying to become better at.
I think we need to relearn the basic problem solving, we have forgotten with so much noise and fast moving world. 1. Understand the problem 2. Define the problem. 3. What are various approaches and solution to the problem. Understanding them pros and cons. 4. Applying and finding the optimal solution. Refine the solution over time.
Cause of Problem ( Let me know in comment if this doesn't apply to you ) We get depressed because of lots of hopes and expectation, the main we are looking is getting to end as fast as possible, without enjoying the process in itself.We are looking for goals ignoring the values and process it takes. I tell you process and value is more important than the end goal. The main function of goal is what you become.
The simplest advice is keep grounded in action. Start small , do small action and build upon the small steps to bigger ladder.
You are feeling depressed because all the while you have said to yourself you are great hacker and when you start something you are not able to complete it, hence the spiral of de-motivation. Focus on action and work, eveything else is secondary.
You have a awesome idea, how do you take it to the prototype.What steps you employ from being mere Idea to Product.You check for market feasibility , You refine your idea, you write your use cases, you find your users, you draw your wireframes, you decide upon technology, you contact few early stage alpha customers, you refine based upon the feedback, you open to the product for general...
We all have ton's of ideas, techcrunch can be newspaper like, mashable can be magazine like, its all your execution with little bit pinch of idea.
Remember the more egoistic you are , more you double your chances of failure. Just a advice , take on its face value.