Rotji Gonsum's journey building MicroHabit AI, an AI-powered habit tracker, solo on a phone in Nigeria. Day 15 of 30-day build-in-public challenge.
Day 15/30: Building MicroHabit AI - How I Broke My Notification System 3 Times in 6 Hours
*By Rotji Gonsum (Treaz), Solo Founder of MicroHabit AI
*
I'm Rotji Gonsum, a solo developer building MicroHabit AI an AI-powered habit tracker that predicts which habits you'll fail before it happens. I'm building this entirely on my phone in Nigeria as part of a 30-day build-in-public challenge.
This is Day 15. Here's what happened when I spent 6 hours (11pm to 5am) building a notification system that kept breaking.
About MicroHabit AI
Before I dive into the Day 15 chaos, let me tell you what MicroHabit AI actually does.
MicroHabit AI is not another habit tracker. It's an AI-powered predictive coaching system that analyzes YOUR specific patterns and tells you which habits you're about to fail - before you actually fail them.
Unlike apps like Habitica or Streaks that just track what you did, MicroHabit AI uses AI to predict what you WON'T do, then coaches you through it.
I'm Rotji Gonsum (also known as Treaz online), and I'm building MicroHabit AI solo on my phone in Jos, Nigeria. Why my phone? Because that's what I have. No fancy MacBook. Just an Infinix phone, borrowed data, and determination.
You can try MicroHabit AI here: https://microhabitai.github.io/MicroHabit-AI/
*The Day 15 Mission: Build Notification System
*
Based on feedback from Angela (a UX expert who replied to my LinkedIn InMail), I learned that the biggest problem with habit trackers isn't the features, it's that people forget to open them.
So Day 15's goal was simple: Build a notification system for MicroHabit AI that reminds users to check their habits.
Not just generic "check your habits!" reminders. But personality-driven notifications based on how users WANT to be motivated.
I designed 4 personality styles:
- 💪The Motivator Encouraging and positive -** 📊 The Realist** - Data-driven and analytical
- 💀 The Savage - Brutally honest but caring
- 🎯 The Challenger - Competitive and bold
Smart idea, right?
*The 6-Hour Debugging Marathon
*
Here's the timeline of my all nighter building the MicroHabit AI notification system:
11:00 PM - Started Coding
Fresh night data plan. Full of optimism. Started building the personality-driven banner system for MicroHabit AI.
11:30 PM - First Version Complete
Built 4 different notification personalities. Each with 3 variations (morning, afternoon, evening). That's 12 unique messages for MicroHabit AI users.
Code looks clean. Testing locally works perfectly.
1:00 AM - Integrated Into Onboarding
I thought: "Let users choose their personality style during onboarding! They'll love customizing MicroHabit AI to match their preferences!"
Added a personality picker to the onboarding modal. Users had to choose before using the app.
Seemed logical.
1:30 AM - First Bug
Opened MicroHabit AI on my phone to test.
The personality picker appeared. But it wouldn't go away.
Even worse - it blocked the entire landing page. New visitors couldn't even SEE what MicroHabit AI does. They just saw this popup asking them to choose a motivation style for an app they haven't even tried yet.
Terrible UX.
2:00 AM - Fixed Auth Logic
Added authentication checks. The personality picker should only show for logged-in users, not random visitors to MicroHabit AI's landing page.
Tested. Worked!
Or so I thought.
2:30 AM - Second Bug
Logged into MicroHabit AI as an existing user.
The personality picker appeared. Again.
Clicked through, selected "Savage" style. Modal closed.
Refreshed the page.
It appeared AGAIN.
The notification system in MicroHabit AI was showing the personality picker EVERY SINGLE TIME users opened the app. Even after they'd already chosen.
3:00 AM - Fixed localStorage Logic
Added localStorage tracking. Mark when user has chosen their personality style. Don't show picker again.
Should work now, right?
4:00 AM - Testing on Web Browser
Opened MicroHabit AI in Chrome.
Still broken.
The personality picker showed every time. Even with the localStorage fix.
4:30 AM - User Report
Got a message: "The notification thing shows up every time I open the app. Even on the installed version."
Now it's affecting both web AND PWA versions of MicroHabit AI.
Made it worse.
5:00 AM - The Nuclear Option
Data expires at 6 AM. I'm tired. The feature is broken in three different ways.
I opened the code for MicroHabit AI and did something drastic:
I deleted 60 lines of code.
Removed the personality picker from onboarding entirely.
But first, I checked how successful apps handle this.
*What Duolingo, Headspace, and Habitica Taught Me
*
At 5am, exhausted and frustrated with MicroHabit AI's broken notification system, I checked how the pros do it:
Duolingo: No customization in onboarding. Uses sensible defaults. Lets users customize later in Settings.
Headspace: Simple onboarding. Default notification style. Settings for preferences.
Habitica: Just works out of the box. Customization is optional, not forced.
Notion: Sensible defaults first. Advanced settings for power users.
Pattern spotted: Nobody puts preference choices in onboarding.
They all use smart defaults and let users customize LATER if they want.
The Fix for MicroHabit AI
I simplified the MicroHabit AI notification system:
- Removed personality picker from onboarding
- Auto-set default to "Motivator" (positive, works for everyone)
- Moved customization to Settings tab
- Kept all 4 personality styles available
Result:
- ✅ Clean onboarding
- ✅ No bugs
- ✅ Works immediately
- ✅ Can still customize in MicroHabit AI Settings
Tested at 5:30 AM. Worked perfectly.
The notification system for MicroHabit AI was finally live.
*Testing the MicroHabit AI Notification System
*
This morning (10 AM), I opened the installed PWA version of MicroHabit AI.
A banner slid in from the top:
"🎯 Challenge! Complete at least 3 habits today. Prove you can do it!"
The Challenger personality style. Because I changed it in Settings to test.
It worked. The MicroHabit AI notification system was alive.
What I Learned Building MicroHabit AI (Day 15)
**
**Lesson 1: Sometimes the best code is deleted code.
60 lines removed from MicroHabit AI made it better than 60 lines added.
Lesson 2: Copy what works.
Duolingo, Headspace, and Habitica spent millions figuring out onboarding. I can learn from them instead of reinventing the wheel for MicroHabit AI.
**Lesson 3: **Defaults matter more than options.
Most MicroHabit AI users will never change the default Motivator style. And that's okay. It works for 90% of people.
Lesson 4: Don't force users to configure things.
The best features in MicroHabit AI are the ones that just work.
*Current Status of MicroHabit AI
*
Day 15 of 30 complete.
- Users: Still 16 (stuck for a week)
- Features shipped: Notification system with 4 personality styles
- Lines of code deleted: 60
- Hours of sleep: 2
- Days until Product Hunt launch: 16
MicroHabit AI now has:
- ✅ AI-powered habit predictions
- ✅ Weekly roasts (savage but supportive feedback)
- ✅ Streak tracking with fire emojis
- ✅ Personality-driven notifications (NEW!)
- ✅ One-tap habit logging
Still building solo. Still on my phone. Still in Nigeria.
Try MicroHabit AI
Want to see the notification system in action?
Try MicroHabit AI: https://microhabitai.github.io/MicroHabit-AI/
Free version: 3 habits, 10 AI predictions per day
Premium: Unlimited everything
Built by Rotji Gonsum (Treaz) in Jos, Nigeria.
Follow my build-in-public journey:
- Dev.to: @Rotji Gonsum
- LinkedIn: Fancy Treaz
- Twitter/X: @MicroHabitAI
The Question
*What's a feature you spent hours building only to realize simpler was better?
*
Have you ever deleted code and made your product better?
Let me know in the comments. I'm learning as I build MicroHabit AI, and I'd love to hear your stories.
This is Day 15 of my 30-day challenge building MicroHabit AI in public. Follow along to see a solo founder build an AI-powered habit tracker from scratch on a phone in Nigeria.
About the Author:
Rotji Gonsum (Treaz) is a solo developer building MicroHabit AI - an AI-powered habit tracker that predicts habit failures before they happen. Building entirely on a phone in Jos, Nigeria. Day 15 of 30-day build-in-public challenge leading to Product Hunt launch.
Try MicroHabit AI:
MicroHabit AI
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