3 weeks into building BuddyFinder

It has been 9 days since I last posted on August 6th 2021. Over this week or so, I've gained 100 new member signups, mostly in the Bay Area. The most obvious challenge is getting more people during this period where COVID cases are on the rise. I feel a sense of responsibility not to push people to play too much, especially since badminton is an indoor sport.

I will also start expanding to more cities once I feel the experience is ready. In the meantime, I will continue to make enhancements and adjustments - like these ones:

(1) Messaging - Now, players can exchange messages directly on the Game Details page. Each game will have its own public thread. This will make it easier for them to coordinate and provide key information to those still deciding to join.

I am definitely going to build more messaging capabilities, particularly 1:1 messaging and threads that can help players find and exchange information. However, the more I build, the more I feel a need to invest in native app development such that notifications (push and badging) get delivered. Right now, any message being sent can only be serviced via SMS (which costs a lot of money) and Email (which can go into their junk folder).

(2) Rematch! - If players had fun with a particular group of players, they can now with a single click create another game with the same group of players. You can find this button (called "Schedule to Play Again") on the Game Details page. This is my favorite feature of this week :)

(3) Invite to Game - If someone hosts a game, he/she can directly invite more players to his/her game as long as they posted an availability that matches your game. After your invite, they will receive an SMS message prompting them to accept, making hosted games fill up quickly.

(4) Bring Guests - Many players already have 1 or 2 friends you've arranged off-platform. This is perfectly fine and we make it easy for players to coordinate with guests now! Even if their friends changed their minds or wanted to bring more, there is the option to edit the # of guests they are bringing.

(5) I've added some basic email and SMS capabilities to remind players and hosts of what is happening. If a new game is created, someone joined your game, or you've been invited, you will receive notifications accordingly. I am trying to add a GYMBII (Games you may be interested in) but this may take some time to design (frequency, relevance, preference settings, etc.) and build.

I think the biggest challenge right now is getting people to host games and the right person to discover and join these games. I find hosting a game has a lot of friction because many feel shy or unwilling to go it. I've tried using an admin account to create games where I feel have lots of interests. However, the participation is still somewhat questionable, since no one is actively sharing the game in their circle.

At this point in time, I think the priority for next week is definitely going to be around GYMBII, Message threads, and minimizing friction for hosting (like Replicate Last Hosted Game).