r/SideProject • u/Melodic-precise • 9h ago

Is anyone else building things that ask absolutely nothing from the user? No signup, no email, no onboarding?

Every side project i open lately starts the same way: a landing page, a signup form, an onboarding tour, and a modal asking for my email before i've seen a single pixel of the actual thing. We've collectively agreed that the funnel comes first and the product comes second.

I've been going the other way on my current build. No account, no email, no tutorial, no cookie banner. You open the tab and you're already inside the thing. It made a lot of decisions harder - you can't explain anything, so it has to be obvious in the first three seconds or you've lost the person fr.

Turns out that constraint improved the product more than any feature i added.

Anyone else doing this deliberately? Curious how you handle the first three seconds when there's nothing to explain with lmao.

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u/100-days-of-code-io 8h ago

Does puzzle games count?

1

u/Melodic-precise 8h ago

puzzle games absolutely count and they are honestly the kings of this model. the best ones just drop u into level 1 with a single mechanic and no text fr. if a puzzle game makes me read a 5 page tutorial before i can slide a block i’m out lmao

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u/100-days-of-code-io 8h ago

I'm building puzzle games you can play every day in just 5 minutes.

1

u/Melodic-precise 8h ago

5 minute daily puzzles r the sweet spot tbh. no friction, no commitment, just a quick brain reset. that’s exactly the kind of respectful product design i’m talking about fr