Soulshine

Dates:
June 2026 —
Present

Role:
Product Builder

Scope:
Product strategy
Design
Development

Soulshine is an app for people with addictions who work a 12-step programme day to day. When someone close to me faced addiction, I wanted to help not only them but as many people as possible in a similar situation. I’m developing the product in stages: the MVP for daily practices is already in closed beta, and the next stages are in progress.

Where I startedThrough my loved one, I gained access to the audience, so I started by talking to people. It turned out that everything they need for daily practices and step work is scattered across as many as ten different places: books, printouts, notes, saved images, Telegram chats and voice messages. This fragmentation wears people down, and many give up the programme. I designed the business model and tested its assumptions in in-depth interviews with three customer segments. I split development into several stages. The first is the MVP, which brings prayer, planning, daily reflection, sobriety tracking and other habits into one place.

How I built itThis is my first project as a product builder. I’m building it solo, from the idea, research and financial model to design, architecture, frontend and backend development with AI agents. I was building the product while learning this way of developing software. The first half of the features took me three months; the second half took two weeks. Along the way, I established how the agents worked together and organised the design system components.

Where it is nowThe first participants in the closed beta were the people I interviewed and their acquaintances. I’m now developing the next stage: working through the steps with a sponsor, someone who helps another participant work the programme. I continue to share the development process and my decisions on my blog, Designer–Builder.