I watched users break my app and rebuilt it

👟 Topic: I watched users break my app and rebuilt it

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Last week I announced SayMail was ready to use.

This week I learned how messy the MVP was.

Don't get me wrong, the core product works. But when you get other people to use it, you start discovering hidden bugs you never thought existed.

Plus, getting people to actually use your app is a whole different game.

Here's what happened when real users got their hands on SayMail for the first time and the results I got from last week.

I reached out in a few ways: a survey I'd been collecting responses from, and people who'd already made test accounts through various links I'd shared.

From the survey alone, 21 people signed up to test the app.

Sounds promising, right?

12 of them dropped off after searching for contacts. They never even made it to the email generation, the whole point of the tool.

Not the best numbers.

So I did what any obsessive builder would do: I watched them.

I'm using PostHog to track user flows, and one of its best features is session recordings. I could literally watch people use (and abandon) SayMail in real time.

What I saw surprised me.

A lot of users were hitting errors. Searches just weren't working. I jumped in, investigated, and fixed those bugs immediately.

But others? They'd get results, stare at them, and just… leave.

Something about the experience wasn't clicking.

I needed to dig deeper, so I started doing interviews.

I hopped on a few calls with early testers, and they changed how I think about SayMail.

Some feedback I expected:

All good ideas. But the biggest insight?

Users didn't know who to search for.

One person told me: "I'm not sure what companies are even in my space or what roles exist."

Another said: "I usually wait until I see a job posting before I start networking."

SayMail's search looked simple, but it assumed users already knew exactly who they wanted to reach. Most don't.

Since the interviews, I’ve rebuilt and added a lot to the app. Here’s a few of those features:

Now you can explore companies in our database by industry. Find a company, learn about them if you're unfamiliar, and get suggested roles to reach out to.

No more guessing. Just explore.

If you're actively applying and see a job you want, just paste the URL into SayMail.

It'll extract the details and surface the recruiters and hiring managers most likely involved with that role.

Other updates from user feedback:

After this sprint of building, I'm forcing myself to stop.

It's tempting to keep adding features hoping the next one will be the shiny thing that gets more users. But that's apparently a common trap.

Instead, I'm going back to basics:

Paul Graham calls this "doing things that don't scale." It's the unsexy work that doesn't grow your audience long-term but is essential when you're just starting out.

So if you're reading this and you've been curious about SayMail, I might be sliding into your inbox soon. 👀

Or skip the wait:

Try SayMail free →

That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this post, share it with a friend!

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See you next Tuesday 🤝

-Michael Ly

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