EtPad
Built a storytelling platform because Google Docs group edits were starting to look like a war crime.
Have you ever seen eight writers fight over a paragraph like it's the last slice of pizza? Same I haven’t but I was told that might be the case. And that’s why this platform exists.
The Prologue: How a Casual Referral Turned Into Building a Full-Blown Publishing Platform for Ethiopian Storytellers (and My Sanity Barely Survived)
Like many “how did I end up here” stories, this one began with a referral chain straight out of a sitcom ... a friend of a friend of someone’s mysterious cousin.
Let’s just call her ‘Ms. Maki’ (not her real name, but it slaps harder than “The Client”).
So she wanted a literature and publishing platform for Ethiopian storytellers: blogs, fiction, collabs ... and the works.
And not just another Google Docs graveyard, no. She wanted something intentional. Seamless. Not emotionally scarring.
The Problem: No Platform, No Blueprint, Just WhatsApp, Google Docs, and Collective Literary Suffering
Plot twist: There was nothing like it.
The Ethiopian writing community had zero digital space dedicated to collaborative storytelling. We weren’t iterating ... we were inventing from scratch. Digital ground zero.
Writers were stitching together projects through WhatsApp threads, chaotic Google Docs, and shared trauma.
And the existing platforms?
Medium: Too polished, not playful.
Wattpad: Teen fanfic fever dream.
Google Docs: Useful, but feels like writing inside a corporate cubicle.
None of them fit. None of them felt like home.
So yeah, no pressure. Just go build the thing that didn’t exist.
The MVP: A Two-Week Solo Sprint Fueled by Panic, Prototypes, and Questionable Life Choices
Solo mission. Tight deadline. Vibes-only kickoff.
To avoid designing in a vacuum of delusion, I kept Ms. Maki in the loop ... constantly.
Think of it as a chaotic feedback cycles, prototype ping-pongs, and two straight weeks of adrenaline-fueled iteration.
Sleep? Optional. Sanity? Hanging by a Figma layer.
The goal? A minimum lovable product; functional, fast, and surprisingly delightful to use.
Even for those chronically overwhelmed writer-types who usually break into hives at the sight of a login screen.
The Plan: Reverse-Engineering Medium, Wattpad, and Docs Like a Designer With a Grudge
Ms. Maki tossed over Medium and Wattpad as reference points, which was basically designer code for “Good luck, have fun.”
So I did what any responsible, mildly sleep-deprived product designer would do:
I dissected them. Mercilessly. Feature by feature. Flow by flow. UX sin by UX sin.
And just to make it spicy, I threw Google Docs into the mix ... because if we were going to fix collaborative writing, we had to study the OG trauma source too.
What followed? A full-blown competitive autopsy. Scalpel in hand. Judgement dialed to max.
Platform
Target Audience
Strengths
Weaknesses
USPs
Medium (Direct)
Bloggers, writers, professionals
Curated content, monetization
Algorithm issues, limited customization
High-quality content, monetization
Wattpad (Direct)
Aspiring authors, fiction lovers
Community-driven storytelling
Discoverability problems
Serial fiction, talent discovery
Google Docs (Indirect)
Students, professionals, teams
Real-time collaboration
Formatting limitations
Seamless collaboration
We took the best of each, ditched the worst, and added just enough flavor to make the product ours.
Collaborative Writing: The Epiphany, the Facepalm, and the Ghost Stakeholders I Was Apparently Designing For ...
Mid-usability test, a user casually suggested:
“Why not just use Google Docs’ collaboration feature?”
Cue dramatic silence. Cue internal scream. Cue the forehead meeting palm. 🤦🏻♂️
Turns out, while I was busy reinventing the collaborative writing wheel, Google Docs already had it spinning ... just wrapped in a spreadsheet’s outfit.
So I did the only logical thing: embraced the obvious.
I refined it. Polished it. Gave it cleaner formatting, intuitive version tracking, and real-time co-editing that didn’t feel like filling out a tax form in Times New Roman.
And just when I was catching my breath, Ms. Maki casually drops a bombshell:
“Oh by the way, there are... other stakeholders.”
Great. So I wasn’t just designing for one person, I was designing for a shadow council. Cool cool cool.
Collaborative Writing
Preview My Mental Breakdown …
Measuring Success (Without a Parade or a Fancy Dashboard)
Ah yes, the million-dollar question. Was there a shiny dashboard? An investor clapping in slow motion? A parade? Not quite. What I did have, were two things:
Usability Tests: Users didn’t rage-quit. Some even smiled. In UX terms, that’s basically a standing ovation.
Stakeholder Feedback (via Ms. Maki™): Plot twist, she wasn’t the only stakeholder. Just the NDA-cloaked messenger. But hey, she was thrilled. I’ll take it.
No KPIs, no vanity metrics. Just real people not hating the thing. Honestly? That’s a win.
What I Learned (Besides Who Not to Trust with Project Info)
Great design doesn’t just solve chaos ... it outlives it.
Clear stakeholders > surprise stakeholders (unless you enjoy mid-project jump scares).
When you're building the ship and trying not to drown, prototypes are your floaties.
Collaborative platforms don’t need to feel like emotional labor. They can actually spark joy. Imagine that.
Crafted with ❤️, fueled by a ton of coffee ☕ and not enough 💤... (Believe me)