Context
As an audio enthusiast, I've watched friends struggle through the same headphone research rabbit hole I once navigated. Hours spent on Reddit, YouTube reviews, and headphone forums trying to decode which $300 pair actually sounds good. The secondhand market offers incredible value, but most recommendation tools only point to new gear on Amazon.
I gave myself two weeks and a Claude Max subscription to see if I could build something better.
HiFinder is the result - a work in progress.
The Questions
What if finding great headphones took minutes, not hours of research?
Could we cut through the noise of conflicting reviews and marketing hype to surface what actually matters?
Could buying secondhand be as easy as buying new?
Most recommendation engines push Amazon affiliate links. What if we made the secondhand market the default path?
How does complexity unfold as users go deeper?
Headphones are just the start. DACs, amps, cables - each layer adds new decisions. Can we reveal that complexity progressively rather than overwhelm newcomers?
Approach
Start with the smallest viable surface area
Rather than building a full HiFi system configurator, I focused on desktop headphones first. Clear use case, manageable product catalog, well-defined user journey.
Build in public, learn from communities
I immersed myself in r/headphones and other audio communities to understand how people actually make decisions. What questions do they ask? What confuses them? What excites them?
Technical foundation
- Next.js 15 with App Router
- Supabase for database and auth
- Tailwind CSS for styling
- Vercel deployment
Current features:
- Recommendation engine with vetted choices from $50 to $10,000
- 550+ product database of desktop headphones & IEMs
- Secondhand marketplace
- User dashboard (alerts, gear library, wishlist)
What I'm Learning
Domain knowledge compounds. Years of personal interest in audio equipment gave me enough context to move quickly. I was able to short circuit some research because I already know what matters to headphone buyers like me.
Technical skill gaps reveal themselves through building. Working with Claude Code exposed me to modern development workflows, deployment challenges, and the gap between prototype and production.
Product scope is everything. Every feature I scope out is actually progress. The temptation to build "the whole thing" is the enemy of shipping something useful.
Status
This is a live project. The site exists, the basic recommendation flow works, but I'm still working to expand its functionality:
- Expand product database
- Refine recommendation algorithm based on user feedback
- Refine secondhand marketplace integration
- Add user reviews and community features
I'm documenting the journey and learning in public. The goal isn't perfection - it's building something people actually want to use.
Note: This project demonstrates technical capability and product thinking, but it's still early. The case studies that follow show completed, scaled programs with measurable impact.