What “Building in Public” Actually Means — and Why I’m Doing It with rescAIle

“Building in public” is one of those phrases that gets used a lot in the startup world — often without much explanation.

So let’s start there.

Building in Public is all about creating a community that ensures that the app functionality is what it needs to be.

At its simplest, building in public means sharing the process, not just the polished result. If only it were that easy ... Building in the open means talking openly about what you’re learning, what you’re testing, what’s unclear, and what’s still being figured out, all before everything is wrapped up in a neat launch.

Many businesses build in public because it:

• helps them learn faster

• reduces the risk of building the wrong thing

• builds trust early

• creates a community, not just an audience

  
  

Instead of disappearing for months and hoping the final product lands, you invite people into the thinking as you go. That’s the general idea. But for rescAIle, it’s not just a strategy — it’s essential.

Why building in public matters for rescAIle

rescAIle is being built to support women with the mental load — the invisible work of anticipating, planning, remembering, and emotionally holding family life together. And here’s the thing: the mental load is deeply contextual.

It looks different depending on:

• family structure

• work patterns

• caring responsibilities

• cultural expectations

• personality and neurodiversity

  
  

There is no single “right” solution — and there’s a real risk that tech designed with the best of intentions to support women ends up quietly adding more to manage.

I don’t want rescAIle to be another well-meaning app that assumes what women need. In one of my early interviews, someone referred to it quite helpfully as wanting to avoid 'another thing that beeps at me'. I want rescAIle to meet women in their real lives, understanding what matters to them.

That’s why building in public is important to me. The idea is that it allows me to:

• test ideas before they turn into features

• sense-check what feels supportive vs. patronising

• understand where AI genuinely helps — and where it shouldn’t be involved at all

• make sure rescAIle reduces cognitive load, rather than rearranging it

But that only works with your help!

What building in public looks like in practice

For rescAIle, building in public means:

• sharing research insights as they emerge

• talking honestly about tensions and trade-offs

• explaining why certain ideas are being explored — or dropped

• inviting feedback early, not as an afterthought

  
  

It also means being clear about what rescAIle isn’t: It’s not about optimisation for its own sake. It's not a productivity app because the point is not about doing more. And it’s definitely not about turning family life into a 'production' system.

Where you come in

I’m about to start a full feasibility study to test the core ideas behind rescAIle — before anything is fixed or scaled.

It’s short, thoughtful, and designed to genuinely influence what gets built.

If you’ve ever felt like the invisible work of family life sits disproportionately in your head, your perspective really matters here.

👉 Send me an email or join the community newsletter to express your interest in the feasibility study. Building in public only works if the “public” is part of the build, so thank you for being part of the gang.