Background story
However, I did not persist in going through the tutorials in 2019 because I was completely unfamiliar with the iOS platform and Swift language. I downloaded the tutorials provided on the official Swift programming language website and slowly picked at them in MarginNote, without any plan or goal.
Time jumped to the second half of 2020, WWDC 20 had already taken place, the second version of SwiftUI had also been released, and my full-time job suddenly became leisurely. With a strong sense of crisis, I began to reassess my career plan. I considered:
Finding a challenging job related to Web
Taking advantage of my free time to learn some low-level algorithms and system-level programming, such as C++ or Rust
Using my free time to learn iOS development and gradually transition to being an independent developer
I even wrote a long article to thoroughly argue and compare each of these routes, ultimately choosing the path of being an independent iOS developer because I really wanted to make my own products and I also have a fondness for Apple products.
Yet, none of this was enough to prompt me to take action until I suddenly thought of the OKR that the company had been promoting recently. Although the OKR was only being practiced at the management level at that time and I was not involved, through chatting with participating colleagues and some information I found on Google, I realized that the OKR methodology might help me transition to becoming an independent iOS developer.
What truly motivated me to take action was the inspiration I got from a conversation with my former colleague Gwen on National Day in 2020. At that time, she was a middle manager participating in the second batch of OKR in the company, and she had some profound insights into OKR and actively discussed it with me during that period. It also led to my first OKR cycle in life, which concluded in October 2020, where I planned to launch my first MVP (Minimum Viable Product) iOS app on the App Store, which is Vision 1.0.
Fortunately, in mid-November last year, although I was delayed by a few days due to app review issues by the deadline set in OKR, I ultimately received a score of 69%.
Vis 1.0
When I was doing version 1.0, it was clear that my goal was to launch the first app, focusing on the development of iOS applications rather than the product itself.
I never even thought that my first app for learning iOS development could reach 2.0 and generate revenue in September of this year (2021), nor did I expect to start working full-time as an independent developer so soon. All of this would not have been possible without the help of friends and the users who gave me 5🌟 reviews in the App Store, whom I had never met.
Vis 2.0
On June 28, 2021, after more than half a year of turmoil, Vision 2.0 has been launched.
2.0 has abandoned SwiftUI, which I used to start learning iOS development, and switched to UIKit. This is because I wanted a more native and pure iOS style. UIKit is also slightly harder to get started with compared to SwiftUI, so it took me a long time to learn. During these six months, I also changed to a full-time job, working at a startup founded by a former colleague, which allowed me to start working on iOS projects in the company. During this period, I learned many iOS development techniques and skills, researched code architecture, and eventually applied them all in Vision 2.0.
However, after the launch of 2.0, I was troubled by the conflict between my full-time job and the development of Vision, which took a toll on my personal time and energy—I was completely consumed by Vision, and in a moment of impulse, I resigned.
What I was thinking at that time was to work full-time for two months, and if it didn't go well, I would just find a web job again. (Because the iOS development market in China has high demands for Objective-C and compatibility with lower versions of iOS, and since I was only familiar with Swift and new technologies above iOS 14, it was nearly impossible to find an iOS development job).
The two months from my resignation to the launch of the paid version of Vision 2.3 might have been the most agonizing time of my life, and I even experienced some psychological issues. Fortunately, the feedback after the launch of 2.3 exceeded my expectations, gradually showing me real hope.
Vis's vision
Vis's original meaning is Vision. It is the guiding philosophy of OKR, the beacon of OKR, and the main task in life to reach.
What Vis aims to do is to help users find and manage their own vision, and step by step get closer to it by setting OKRs.
Vis is not just another task/project management tool or a To Do app; Vis focuses more on managing macro goals rather than micro tasks.
For explanations of OKR and how to use Vis, please continue reading our documentation.