A few days ago, I got laid off.
Not exactly how I expected July to go.
For the first couple of days, I wasn't in the mood to build anything. I opened my laptop a few times, stared at my editor for a minute, then closed it again.
Eventually, I went back to a side project I started in June.
It's called StudyTree.
How It Started
When I started it, the idea was simple.
I wanted a place to record what I learned each day.
At the time, my learning notes were all over the place—course notes, documentation links, ChatGPT conversations, browser bookmarks, random files, and unfinished todos.
I didn't really need more information.
I needed a better way to look back and understand what I had actually learned.
Then It Started Growing
The project didn't become complicated overnight.
It happened little by little.
- A learning goal feature made sense.
- Then came tasks.
- Then AI reviews.
- Then progress tracking.
- Then skill profiles.
Each idea felt reasonable on its own.
None of them felt obviously wrong.
But together, they made the project harder to explain.
This week, I looked at StudyTreeOnline again and realized I couldn't describe it clearly in one sentence.
That bothered me more than any unfinished feature.
Cutting Features Instead of Adding Them
So instead of adding more, I'm doing the less exciting work first.
- Rewriting the documentation
- Cutting features from the first version
- Making the product simple enough that I can explain it without a diagram
Right now, the workflow I want to keep is:
Learn something
↓
Write a learning record
↓
Get AI feedback
↓
Find weak spots
↓
Decide what to learn next
↓
Review progress later
Everything else can wait.
- No course marketplace
- No community
- No giant dashboard
- No complicated gamification
At least not for the first version.
The Real Question
I'm not trying to build another all-in-one learning platform.
I'm trying to answer a much smaller question.
After I study something today, how do I know whether I actually made progress?
Honestly, I don't know if this is a good product yet.
I might be completely wrong.
Maybe people don't want another thing to update after studying.
Maybe they just want to watch the next tutorial and move on.
Maybe AI feedback sounds useful until people actually try it.
But I'd rather test one small idea than keep building a big learning app that tries to do everything.
What's Next
For now, the plan is simple.
- Rewrite the docs.
- Cut the scope.
- Rebuild the core workflow.
- Let a few people try it.
- See what breaks.
I'll keep sharing what I learn along the way.
If you're teaching yourself programming, AI, or any other technical skill, I'm curious.
Do you keep track of what you learn?
If you do, what actually works for you?
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