Solo dev builds AI-powered 'Tinder for cafes' PWA after mapping 150 Denver spots, but feature creep turns it into a 1000-city polish fest before any users care

A remote worker spent a year building a progressive web app, Caferoamer.com, to track over 150 cafe workspaces in Denver, aiming to solve the issue of unreliable Google Maps reviews. The developer utilized an AI coding assistant to create a "Tinder-like" discovery mode, but spent three days polishing the feature, which may not be as useful as initially thought. The AI also helped with building a custom backend, including a firewall and email server, but sometimes suggested solutions that required unnecessary libraries. The developer found that AI was beneficial for data transformation, but led to feature creep, resulting in a solution for a large-scale platform before gaining significant user traction. The project is now seeking 500 beta users to validate its usefulness, particularly the "vibe" metrics collected, such as lighting and food variety, to determine the app's effectiveness in the evolving remote worker ecosystem, which is expected to grow significantly over the next 10 years.