Showoff Saturday: Get Honest Feedback On Your Project
Ready to share your project? Showoff Saturday is your chance to get honest, constructive feedback. Learn how to present your work and grow with our community.
David Carter
Community builder and indie hacker passionate about collaborative creation and constructive feedback.
You’ve been staring at the screen for hours, maybe days. The code is compiling, the pixels are in place, and the thing you’ve poured your heart into is finally… working. It’s a beautiful, terrifying moment. You’re proud, but a nagging question whispers in the back of your mind: "Is it any good? Or am I just stuck in my own echo chamber?"
We’ve all been there. Creating in a vacuum is tough. Friends and family will tell you it’s “great!” but you need more. You need the kind of honest, constructive feedback that can only come from fellow creators, makers, and builders. You need fresh eyes that can spot a confusing workflow, a brilliant-but-hidden feature, or a typo on your landing page that you’ve become blind to.
Enter Showoff Saturday. It’s our weekly ritual, a community cornerstone, and your single best opportunity to put your project in the spotlight and get the feedback you crave.
More Than Just Showing Off
Don't let the name fool you. While we love celebrating wins, Showoff Saturday isn’t just a digital vanity fair. It's a structured, supportive space designed for growth. Think of it as a friendly, informal peer review for the internet age. It’s where developers, designers, writers, and entrepreneurs come together to share their work-in-progress, no matter how polished or nascent.
The core principle is reciprocity. You share your project, and in return, you get valuable insights from people who understand the struggle. They’ve wrestled with buggy code, agonized over button colors, and rewritten headlines a dozen times. They get it. The goal isn't to tear anyone down; it's to build each other up with actionable advice.
Why You Should Brave the Spotlight
Stepping out and saying, “Here’s my thing, what do you think?” can be daunting. But the potential rewards are immense. Here’s why you should take the plunge.
Break Out of the Echo Chamber
When you're the sole creator, you're the lead designer, head of marketing, and chief engineer all at once. This proximity makes it incredibly difficult to see your project as a new user would. You know how it’s supposed to work, so you unconsciously skip over confusing steps. Showoff Saturday provides the external perspective needed to identify those blind spots. Someone might point out that your onboarding flow is missing a crucial step, or that your “obvious” next action is actually hidden three clicks deep.
Uncover "Aha!" Moments and Validate Ideas
Feedback is data. Is your value proposition clear? Is your pricing confusing? Do people understand what your product even does? A few comments can quickly reveal patterns. If three different people say they don’t understand your pricing page, you don’t have three confused users—you have a confusing pricing page. This is validation (or invalidation) in its purest form, and it’s a gift that can save you weeks of building in the wrong direction.
Build Your Network and Confidence
Sharing your work connects you with other passionate builders. You'll meet potential collaborators, future customers, and maybe even a mentor. And let’s be honest, getting positive reinforcement from your peers is a powerful motivator. Seeing someone say, “Wow, this is a great idea, I’d use this!” can be the fuel you need to push through the inevitable tough spots of any project.
How to Craft the Perfect "Showoff" Post
To get great feedback, you need to set the stage. A little effort in your post goes a long way. Here’s how to maximize your chances of getting helpful responses.
Start with a Clear Elevator Pitch
Don't make people guess. Start with a single, powerful sentence that explains what your project is, who it's for, and what problem it solves. For example: "I'm building 'TaskFlow,' a minimalist project management app for freelancers who are tired of overly complex tools."
Provide Context, Not a Novel
Give a little background. What's the tech stack (if relevant)? What's the story behind the idea? What have you built so far? Use bullet points to highlight key features or progress. Keep it scannable and to the point.
- Project: TaskFlow
- What it is: A simple to-do list app for freelance projects.
- Key Features: Drag-and-drop tasks, time tracking per project, simple client invoicing.
- Link: https://your-project-link.com
The All-Important "Ask"
This is the most critical part. Tell people what kind of feedback you're looking for. Being specific helps focus the responses and ensures you get the insights you actually need. Vague questions get vague answers.
- Don't say: “Let me know what you think!”
- Do say: “I'm specifically looking for feedback on the new user onboarding flow. Is it clear how to create your first project?”
- Do say: “How does the landing page feel on mobile? Is the main call-to-action visible without scrolling?”
Make it Easy to Engage
Reduce friction! Provide a direct, clickable link. If your app requires a login, consider setting up a demo account with pre-filled data or, even better, record a short 1-2 minute video walkthrough using a tool like Loom. The easier you make it for someone to test your project, the more feedback you'll receive.
The Art of Giving Great Feedback
Showoff Saturday is a two-way street. To keep the community vibrant, it's just as important to give good feedback as it is to receive it. When you're commenting on someone else's project, keep these principles in mind.
Be Specific and Actionable
The best feedback gives the creator a clear path forward. Instead of saying something is “bad,” explain why it didn't work for you and offer a potential direction.
Frame It as Your Experience
Instead of making prescriptive demands (“You must change the font”), describe your personal reaction (“As a user, I found the script font a bit difficult to read on the buttons”). This feels less like a command and more like a helpful observation, which is much easier to digest.
Here’s a quick comparison of lame vs. legendary feedback:
| Lame Feedback | Legendary Feedback |
|---|---|
| "Your site is slow." | "The page took about 5 seconds to load for me. According to my browser's tools, the large 2MB hero image seems to be the main culprit." |
| "I don't get it." | "I landed on the page and wasn't sure what the next step was. Maybe a more prominent call-to-action button above the fold would help guide new users?" |
| "Looks cool." | "I love the clean design and the color palette! The way the cards animate on hover is a really nice touch that makes the experience feel polished and professional." |
Your Turn to Shine
Showoff Saturday is more than an event; it’s a mindset. It’s about embracing iteration, seeking out diverse perspectives, and contributing to a community that grows together. It’s about being brave enough to share your creation, flaws and all, in the pursuit of making it better.
So, what are you working on? That project sitting in a private GitHub repo? That landing page draft in Figma? That half-written blog post? It’s ready for the next step. You’re ready.
We’ll see you this Saturday.