Call: Tony Alex Megan Ciaran Call - call notes logged separately
Update: Karlo available to start next Wednesday. Still needs to confirm contract but provisionally pencilled in
Update: Tony & Megan both posted into internal channel - snippets:
Megan: Shared the spec of backend sims
Tony: Priorities are:
Jen - pick up and finish Jason's ticket plz. After that plz start to look at the chrome extension ticket
Joey - let us know (roughly) how long you have left in your backend ticket
Lastly, I think we should do a call to disseminate all the context Megan & myself have gathered on the backend sims product, which is quite technical. Any chance tomorrow would suit people any time from 5:30 to 7pm Manila?
Components live at design.solidroad.com (no login required)
Two-way sync between Figma and dev not fully implemented
Code Connect feature paid for but only partially set up
Missing documentation and storybook stories for many components
Some components don’t match designs (e.g., button loading state is static image)
Process gaps: no formal design review/sign-off workflow established
Documentation needed for each component:
Developer docs (technical implementation details)
PM/usage docs (when to use menu vs select, etc.)
Code Connect integration for LLM context
Complete storybook stories
Single master documentation file recommended for LLM tool selection
Ciaran to write usage guidelines, engineers to handle technical docs
All components must match Figma designs exactly
116 navigable pages identified via Patrick’s analytics script
Pages ranked by traffic volume for prioritization
Three categories of work:
High-traffic pages need full UX redesign (top 5-10)
Mid-tier pages use design system with minor updates
Low-traffic pages get basic design system application
Megan managing project tracking in Asana, engineering tickets in Linear
Some pages already redesigned (quality section, some settings)
Chrome extension records DOM interactions, saves to backend
Reliability issues: ~50% failure rate for recording/playback
Current designs not source of truth - live implementation is
Two-iframe architecture creates constraints vs original Figma designs
Hotspots system working but needs polish and Ciaran’s design review
Recording: Chrome extension captures DOM events during screen recording
Playback: Uses RRWeb for full recording, snapshots for step-by-step interaction
Security model: No same-origin + scripts to prevent malicious code execution
Hotspots: Draggable/droppable system accommodates iframe positioning constraints
Input validation: New hotspot type for form field checking (in development)
Priority areas identified:
Chrome extension reliability fixes
Editor UI polish and Ciaran design approval
UX for adding flows to simulations
UX for showing flows within simulations
UX for standalone flow assignments
Current add-to-simulation flow described as “criminal” - needs complete rework
Weekly 20-30 minute check-ins recommended initially
Patrick may be unavailable during Series A fundraise (January)
Alex to handle day-to-day communication when Patrick unavailable
Megan stewarding overall project organization in Asana
Engineering handoffs remain in Linear
Design system: Highest priority for LLM integration
App redesign: Systematic approach through page rankings
Backend Sims: Focus on reliability first, then UX flows
Patrick available until Series A fundraise begins
Team capacity planning needed for sustained progress
Chat with meeting transcript: https://notes.granola.ai/t/b3bca906-eb3d-450e-8b03-d03aa07db7c2
Nov 10 - Patrick Alex & Tony did a call - Takeaways were broadly under 3 headings
Engineering velocity isn't where we'd like it to be. Jason isn't at the races. Joey seems oddly slow too. Jen is doing well.
Engineering staffing - We'd like to take Jason off and also find someone at the level of Jen or Joey to come in, potentially more than one.
Product Acceleration - we'd like to explore how Tonic can help to take one or more product streams and organize it, primarily to increase throughput but also to give more visibility on timelines and to be able to have high level planning conversations understanding where everything is.
Fixing Engineering Velocity
I know that Joey's a superstar & had a hunch the metrics were off in some way. I had a chat with her, told her about the metrics, and asked Jen to get more deeply involved in distributing tickets. I think Joey had just been undertaking what was fed to her, which was potentially not high impact work, and weave grades on impact. As of Dec 1 these measures seem to have worked and the problem seems solved, but we should keep an eye on it too.
Accelerating the PM track
We explored a few options - I had 3 sessions with an external consultant (Ahuva) before deciding to just draft Megan in as she had some capacity. I had thought this would be reasonably lightweight but after our sessions today & yesterday I'm not so sure. We'll need to monitor Megan's capacity closely here to make sure it remains viable.
Staffing
I let Jason go & he finished up on Nov 28.
Karlo (superstar I worked with back in First Circle days) coincidentally reached out and the timing was right for him to join. As of right now it's looking like he will start next Wednesday Dec 10, which will be exactly a month from our initial conversation in line with our 30 day replacement period.
Separately, Earle fired up the recruiting machine and began interviewing, and has gone through several candidates, a few of whom are promising. We'll keep interviewing but for now it seems surplus to requirements given that Karlo is in.