mempal

I just released the public beta of mempal. It started as a tool that I wanted to use for myself but in general everybody interested in life long learning could benefit from it. Since there is nothing like it out there (I don't count flashcard apps used for cramming for exams as competition) it was/is hard to create a good UX. I know that it is clunky so if anyone has ideas and suggestions on how to make it even easier to use I'd be all ears.

The tool is free and I intend to keep it that way.

I used fiverr to create a short explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0gR4ccQRHg

I have been using fiverr.com for all kinds of small tasks and it helped me again for mempal.

The little brain logo was done by a fiverr person. Since fiverr is not super expensive (though not five dollars anymore) I usually give the same task to multiple people and pick the best.

Another fiverr person also helped me make a short explainer video for about $40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0gR4ccQRHg

I started reading a book on memorization in summer of 2018 and was fascinated by mental athletes. I picked up several books to learn more about mnemonics and how these techniques could be applied by "normal" people that don't want to become world champions in reciting pi.

By the same time, I found Highbrow courses online that teach you little lessons in 10 email episodes. One thing I learned from the memory books is that when you teach something, you'll be better at remembering it yourself. I asked the Highbrow admins whether they'd be interested in me writing a course and after sending a sample they agreed. The course came out a couple weeks later and I'm happy to say that it is rather popular (https://gohighbrow.com/portfolio/how-to-improve-your-memory/).

Having written that course I felt that I still haven't found the answer to how memorization can be integrated in our daily lives. I started creating a simple web tool that lets you enter facts you learned that you have to actively recall later in order to remember it for good. That's how the first simple version of mempal started.