Misdeed

Inspiration

Misdeed was born out of the most relatable modern dilemma: being too embarrassed to ask for help with life's weirdest problems. We realized that people need help with things like assembling IKEA furniture but feel too mortified to post that on job boards. That's when we recognized that everyone has these wonderfully weird, slightly desperate requests that don't fit anywhere. We wanted to flip the script on traditional job platforms: if Indeed can handle "Senior Software Engineer" posts, why shouldn't there be a place for hiring someone to stand in for you on Zoom calls or provide platonic hugs? We created Misdeed because sometimes your most absurd problems deserve absurdly professional solutions.

What it does

Misdeed is a satirical job board where users can browse and apply for life's most absurd gig opportunities - from Zoom meeting stand-ins to professional huggers to IKEA furniture assemblers. The platform features comprehensive search and filtering capabilities, allowing job seekers to find opportunities using traditional filters alongside satirical ones like "stealth level," "awkwardness rating," and "weirdness budget." Users can view detailed two-panel job listings that display both brief job cards and expanded descriptions with full requirements, application instructions, and employer contact information.

Employers can create detailed job postings through an intuitive form interface, specifying everything from job titles and salaries to full descriptions and contact details, with posts appearing immediately on the live job board. The platform includes an employer review system where users can rate their "weird gig experiences" and browse employer profiles with specialties like "Covert Date Paparazzi" or "The Meeting Ghost." Job seekers can apply directly via email links, bookmark interesting opportunities, and share listings, while the platform automatically saves user-posted jobs

How we built Misdeed

We built Misdeed using Next.js 14, React 18, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS for a responsive, satirical job board interface. We leveraged v0.dev for rapid UI prototyping and bolt.new for quick development iterations to translate the absurd concept into a polished platform. The frontend uses Shadcn/ui component library for professional-looking cards and forms that make even the weirdest job postings appear legitimate. We implemented React hooks with localStorage for persistent job posting and real-time search filtering, along with custom satirical filters like "stealth level" and "awkwardness rating." The platform features a custom SVG logo with PNG fallback, integrated Biome for linting and TypeScript for type safety, and is deployed on Netlify with custom domain through Entri.

Challenges we ran into

Building with bolt.new presented unexpected difficulties, particularly with maintaining consistent code quality and managing complex TypeScript configurations across rapid iterations. We encountered persistent build errors, including TypeScript strict mode rejecting any types in our job posting system, which required creating proper interface definitions for job objects. The most frustrating issue was a JSX parsing error where the compiler couldn't recognize basic

elements due to an incorrect jsxImportSource configuration that bolt.new had set to a non-standard library. We also struggled with React best practices enforcement through Biome linting, which flagged issues like using array indices as keys, non-self-closing empty elements, and useEffect dependency warnings that required careful consideration of intentional behavior versus actual problems. The logo component initially used unsafe DOM manipulation for fallback handling, which we had to refactor into proper React state management.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're incredibly proud of building a fully functional, satirical job board from concept to deployment in just 2 hours using bolt.new. Despite the tight timeline, we successfully created a polished platform that parodies Indeed while maintaining genuine usability - complete with job posting, search functionality, and professional UI components. Successfully deploying a TypeScript-compliant application with proper React best practices in such a short development window using bolt.new showed us both the power of modern development tools and efficient creative execution. Most importantly, we created something that makes people laugh while actually addressing the real need for platforms that handle unconventional job requests.

What we learned

We discovered early that effective prompt engineering with bolt.new requires balancing speed with specificity - clear feature descriptions and component requirements let us iterate faster, but we learned the hard way that bolt.new can introduce subtle configuration issues that require manual cleanup. Working through persistent TypeScript build errors taught us to implement proper interface definitions and strict type checking from the start, as fixing any types and JSX parsing issues later consumed valuable development time. We also learned that rapid prototyping demands disciplined code quality practices - using proper React patterns, avoiding array index keys, and implementing clean component architecture prevents technical debt that can derail tight timelines.

What's next for Misdeed

We're planning a Twitter release and working with content creators on both Instagram and Twitter, especially tech influencers who appreciate absurd but well-executed products. The platform feels naturally suited for social media - job postings for "Senior Zoom Background Coordinator" that look completely legitimate until you read the details. We want to expand job categories based on user feedback and add features like user authentication, employer profiles, and rating systems.

The goal is building a community around those wonderfully weird problems we're all too embarrassed to solve publicly. Whether Misdeed stays pure parody or evolves into something that bridges absurd and actual unconventional work depends on how people respond to the concept. For now, we're focused on making people laugh while secretly wondering if they actually need a professional hugger.