I saw a note on nostr about their roadmap. I was interested to read about this because the first things I saw about this wallet back in November (#1274933) had really fun-looking style and branding.
Sadly, the roadmap looks like it is entirely slop (something Christoph acknowledges in the nostr note).
But what really bothers me is that there is precious little info in it.
Under Where we are now it says they are "learning, not shipping" and that they are using the Bitcoin Design Guide.
Then the roadmap says they are going to do a beta, then a launch on mainnet, and then build a community around the product.
The words no shit, Sherlock come to mind.
I think this is a case where using AI to maximize output really harms the project. It's clear that the project leaned heavily on AI in their design and branding, but I didn't mind that. It was kinda fun. But when they post a roadmap, I want some actual details...and this feels little like jerking potential users around. I would have put up with the slop if they had actually included actual details about the project and where it is going.
Basically, I learn that it's gonna be Bitcoin only and iOS only and that they don't really have a prototype yet. If they don't have much more detail than that, perhaps consider waiting to post a roadmap.
An iOS Ark wallet is a really cool idea, and if they make it feel cool and slick as their branding, I'm sure users would be attracted to it. Users want to feel cool and if they deliver on their look, Arké's users probably will feel cool. But dumping a slop roadmap like this doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
I have such roadmaps too, though a lot larger. They're responses to "plan this 20 pager of specs into work packages" prompts. Then per work package I trigger "plan this in detail", which I then review and edit. And when satisfied I send the whole package over: "execute this". And then I have massive review pressure until I am mm away from burn out at 5am in the morning. Then I take a day off and carry on. It's easy. Anyone can do this. If you want to. And know when to stop. And have an idea about how to do development.
The big difference though: I don't publish Claude's code.
Publishing this roadmap is what surprises me. I don't care much how they get to the stated goal, but I would think the goal of a roadmap on a website like this is to inform your users of your plans. There doesn't seem to be much information here.
Hmm I think in this case the goal of the roadmap is a search for validation (or recognition, lol, but let's stick with the sunny case.) This can be done but why would anyone want to read it? No one is going to invest in something that can be coded on a $20 plan either. Let's just hope someone reads it and asks some "why" for free and then everyone can move on.