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Building a minimalist goal tracker that rewards top users with cash & visibility

Hey 👋

I’m working on a simple productivity tool that tracks your daily goals — but with a twist. Instead of just helping people stay on track, I wanted to make things fun, rewarding, and maybe a little competitive.

The idea:
Users set 3 goals every day

The app tracks how quickly and genuinely those goals get completed

An ML-based scoring algorithm ranks everyone monthly

The top 3 users win $30 / $20 / $10

The top 20 get featured on an achievement board

Users who build or finish something noteworthy also get a chance to be showcased on the homepage

All of this is being built with zero fluff — no dashboards full of widgets or overly complex productivity systems. The design goal is to keep it dead simple and focused on effort, consistency, and impact.

Why I’m building it:
I've always found productivity apps overwhelming. Most of them feel more like a place to procrastinate. But when I set only 3 clear goals per day and had a reason to complete them (even small rewards or recognition), I was way more productive — like 10x more. The psychology of limitation + competition really works.

A few notes:
It’s inspired by 3goals.today, but I'm building in more automation, fairness, and community elements

It's going to be open-source

I'm not trying to build a classic SaaS — no $20/mo pricing. I just want to cover basic server costs and prize pool, so I’m asking for $1/mo support from users

I can personally fund rewards for the first ~3 months, but beyond that I’ll need the community’s help to keep it running sustainably

Demo:
Here’s a short video preview of what I’ve built so far:
https://vimeo.com/1084539874?share=copy

What I’m looking for:
Feedback on how minimal the UI should stay (I’m tempted to keep it super lean, but curious what others think)

Suggestions on anti-cheat mechanisms that aren’t too intrusive

Someone with math/ML experience to help refine the scoring algorithm a bit

Anyone who’s tried similar ideas or launched productivity tools — I’d love to learn from your experience

Let me know what you think! Would this kind of system keep you motivated? What would make it more useful for you?

Thanks for reading — appreciate any thoughts or critiques 🙏

on May 15, 2025