Description

An concept for an app for guiding people in bettering their lives by way of learning, habits, and facilitating reflection.

This is primarily a massive collection of ideas for now and in no way resembles an MVP. More of an exploration of what's possible.

Problems Being Solved

providing a clear path to understanding or learning something when starting out and avoiding information overload (analysis paralysis) with the internet
building a clear accountability process with planning, check-ins, retrospectives which works for skills and habits regardless of where they came from or how you're learning them
using our digital devices to their full capability with reminders, notifications (lack of other notifications), integration across services, fitness tracking, etc

Questions, comments, feedback?

Reach me at jonathan@borichevskiy.com or find me at jborichevskiy.com.

Components

These components are separate entities but integrate with each other allowing for the use of just one or the other, or ideally both:

Learning Module a digestible and actionable tree-based or linear progression of skills building on each other - each with a clear goal or end result.
Plan is how the goal in each module is achieved. Daily and weekly tasks, milestones, reminders, etc.

Modules

Modules are the core - highly actionable, rich guides for skills, habits, and knowledge.

They could be created by an interested third party, say Nike for running - the app would give them a framework to fit into with exposure to people and the app would receive content in return. This is also the cleanest revenue stream I can imagine right now.

What differentiates a module from a self-help book, an article, or even an in-person class?

It can be 2D - think of a classic RPG character progression skill tree
It can react to the user's real world
- Calendar integration optimizes what to focus on given your schedule - large open blocks = focused, intesive work; short, scattered blocks = lighter reading, flashcard-like review
- Missed check-ins could alter plan to include easier low-hanging fruit for increased habit formation
It keeps track of progress and can dynamically calculate how much is left, how much is completed
They are inhertiable, connectable, and recursive
- Assuming these skill trees can be mapped* in relation to one another, it would make it easier to understand where certain information fits in relative to other information *this might be very hard
- They could reference pieces of each other - interconnecting. Instead of just, "algebra is a pre-requisite", it is technically possibe to reference only the needed topics/concepts. This is not a good idea for something like algebra, but in the case that only a particular concept needs learning, it can far lower the barrier to entry or understanding something
- Learning a math concept generally follows the same pattern: see new material > follow along with example probems > try guided/assisted problems > practice on your own > show mastery. Generalized - this framework could generally be applied to all math "concept" blocks
Progression data could be aggregated on a large scale to identify common trip-ups and the plan be re-worked to avoid them

Open Questions

Community-created modules for skills that don't have a clear authority
- May be good for niche topics and hobbies
- /r/fitness wiki as an example, and wikipedia in general
- Maybe take Google’s Maps approach where there’s a screened/invite-only community for expanding the dataset (building these modules) with some non-exploitable reward system
Some sort of user feedback on modules? A rating/scoring system?
A social system in general? Publicly displaying completed skills, work-in-progress skills.

Possible Modules

Some of these are more on the guide side while others are more on the framework side. Further division will be necessary.

Fitness
- /r/fitness wiki for example
- Weekly workout targets
Diet/Weight loss
- Meal prep?
- Cooking
Health
- Connecting to health monitoring

Financial

Reading
Sleep
Digital Hygeine
- Security

General Reading, Video, Inspiration

How Your Phone Can Help You Set Better Habits

A decent explanation of the concepts, loops, and factors involved but little mention of any specific apps.

Brilliant | Math and science done right

A very promising approach to online learning of complex STEM topics. Am personally trying it out now.

Learning is Earning - a concept video by Institute for the Future.

Current Offerings

A small sampling of what's out there now.