I'd love some feedback on a productivity Chrome extension I've been working on
Hey IH!
I wanted a bit of a break from my main product (Resume Worded) so I spent the last week hacking away at a pretty unrelated side project.
I'm really big into ambient sounds when working (e.g. listening to sounds of cafés / rain / etc) and I find that they help me focus, since they don't distract me as much as music. I typically use a number of sites (e.g. brain.fm, coffitivity) or find a youtube playlist. Though, I thought this experience could be improve upon + I really wanted to learn how to make a Chrome extension, so I made this: Rofocus.
Here's a link to the extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rofocus-increase-your-foc/olomkelphccokjjidpagjpihlnemlpng/
Plus also whipped up a quick landing page that I'm probably going to post on PH next week: https://rofocus.com/
I also implemented a Pomodoro timer as part of the app and I feel it works well with the ambient sounds.
I'd love some feedback on:
- Do you see this being useful?
- Any suggestions on things I can improve?
- If there are any bugs, please let me know! There are probably edge cases I've missed.
This was meant to be a small project to get a bit of a break from my main site and scratch my itch to design/code something, but I ended up getting really into it and can see this growing into something bigger - any ideas on where I could take this would be awesome too! I don't plan to ever charge for this since it's not my focus atm, but always open to ideas.
Thanks a mil,
Rohan
Very nice. I’m an earplugs guy myself, but I appreciate a well-made extension.
A couple suggestions for you to consider: When I work with a Pomodoro timer (which I’ve been doing for years without knowing it had a name until today), I like having it not be visible. I feel like the countdown might distract me. Maybe you could make ‘display countdown’ an option. Also, it might be nice to show a notification when the timer finishes.
Thank you Jesse! Such a nice comment.
Great idea about hiding the countdown and a notification on the timer ending - will work on these two things shortly.
Looks great! Just downloaded it. I think I find the ambient sound feature more useful than the timer right now. For timer focus I really like the Android app Zen Mode by One Plus. That completely locks my phone for x minutes - no distractions. But not really possible on desktop.
I've tried several different services in the past and the one I use the most is Forest because of the whitelist. When you try to open a site that's on the list it gives you a prompt that is enough to deter me and keep me focused every time. With a combination of the ambient sound, whitelist, and Pomodoro, you would be my go-to.
Thanks for the feedback! I totally see myself including a blacklist/whitelist down the road.
Great product, trying it now.
I like the idea and the product, some ideas, and features I would like to have is that when I start the pomodoro it also starts the ambiance sound, and I would like also to have the design like a night mode just to be more relaxed.
Thank you for trying it out and much appreciate the kind words. I agree with you - the Pomodoro & the sounds should be linked - not exactly sure how to do this in terms of ux but I'll have a think.
Thanks again!
Thank you for showing us your method to be more productive.Your extention look great, love the minimal and clean design.
May I ask you why do you chose Chrome over other browser? It's because you are more familiar with it or because of the stats https://gs.statcounter.com ?
Thank you man! I really appreciate the kind words . Re. Chrome - yes, Chrome is my default browser and I've been wanting to learn how to build a Chrome extension for some time now!