The Proofing Room Issue #05

Why Taking Breaks Actually Accelerates Product Development

Hey there,

Week three of our 30-day Virtue build started with something radical: we took Monday off.

Colin went on a guys trip (Bacon Weekend - don't ask), Alan spent time with family, and David ate his bodyweight in salchipapa.

Sometimes the best product decisions happen when you're not actively making product decisions.

How to Go From Design to Working Code in Under 2 Hours

The real breakthrough happened today when David and I vibe-coded Virtue's landing page together using a workflow we've been perfecting.

David quickly mocked up the design in Figma, then we used Replit's Figma plugin to export React components directly into code. Within minutes, we had a functional landing page that matched the design exactly.

The plugin essentially turns Figma designs into working React components without starting from scratch. We could do this in Cursor, but as a visual learner, I find the ability to refine designs in Figma on the fly invaluable.

Replit is only as good as your prompting skills, but when combined with solid design foundations from Figma, it's incredibly powerful for rapid prototyping.

We'll release the landing page later this week - the entire process from concept to deployable code took us under two hours.

What We Learned About Social Growth From Studying the Best

We've been studying social growth tactics, particularly inspired by Social Growth Engineers and similar creators. Their approach to user-generated content and social proof is exactly what we need for Virtue.

The insight: people don't share progress screenshots. They share transformation moments.

We're confident in the direction, but we're still experimenting with making the process uniquely "ours" rather than copying existing playbooks. More details on this as we nail down the experimentation process.

When Finding Competitors Validates Your Product Strategy

We discovered HabitHero - an app that includes social components and IRL rewards, things that were already on our roadmap for post launch.

Good news: validation that social habit tracking has demand.

Better news: their approach feels gamified rather than character-focused.

We're staying true to our "quiet scoreboard" philosophy while adding strategic sharing moments. The difference between performative habit tracking and authentic character building.

The Real Competition Isn't Other Apps (It's Human Psychology)

Here's what three days of not obsessing over Virtue taught us:

The app isn't competing with other habit trackers. It's competing with the voice in your head that says "I'll start tomorrow."

That voice doesn't care about beautiful interfaces or philosophical frameworks. It needs simple, immediate actions that build momentum before doubt creeps in.

Everything we're building serves that moment of decision.

What's Next: Two Weeks to Launch

Between now and Friday, we'll be:

1. Launching the landing page and driving traffic

2. Implementing social sharing within the app

3. Testing the complete user journey from signup to first habit completion

4. Preparing for our final two-week sprint to launch (we're targeting the Monday after week 4)

Try Virtue for iOS

We're in the final stretch! Reply to this email if you want to test the experience before we launch to the world.

This is your chance to influence the product before it goes live.

Help Us Build in Public

Finding this valuable? Forward it to someone who appreciates honest takes on building products. Fresh perspectives always spark new ideas.

Talk to you all on Friday for our pre-final-sprint update,

— Colin, Alan & The Torta Studios Team

P.S. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop trying to solve it for a few days. What breakthrough have you had while not actively working on something?