my own set of characters and locations
I can see how that would be very useful. After all, this system worked well for me because I was the one who came up with all of these mnemonics using locations/etc that fit in my brain the best. I can see us eventually doing it. The main thing that needs to be figured out is the level of integration that is desired.
The simplest form of this is the ability to add a note/association to each sound. More advanced would be able to see that note/association whenever you hover over it in a mnemonic, or in the little “card” that shows up in the item info on the quiz.
This, combined with the ability to make one’s own mnemonic (again, likely as a “note” field) I think would help here. What do you think?
From that meaning, I can recall a story involving a character and a location that leads me to the pronunciation.
I see what you mean! For example, for 口 kou3, we could split it like so:
- The meaning of this is the same as its component: mouth (component + meaning only).
- Kermit is in the basement of the bakery making a cake that is the shape of a mouth (pronunciation + meaning only).
The one difficulty I foresee here is the scenario of very common pronunciations. Take shi4 for example. Here are five characters with that pronunciation:
- 是 is
- 事 matter
- 示 show
- 士 solider
- 世 generation
If we focus just on this meaning-pronuncuation story, using the same characters/locations approach:
- 是 Shrek writes “is” in goo-y swamp slime on the tile of the bathroom within the house.
- 事 Shrek is depressed in the bathroom of the house. He lies in the bathtub, thinking.- “nothing matters”.
- 示 Someone is showing Shrek the bathroom of the house that he is thinking of buying.
- 士 Shrek is dressed as a solider in the bathroom of the house.
- 世 Shrek is looking at a book of all the previous generations of ogres as he sits on the toilet in the bathroom of the house.
In reality, we have 23 characters in total with the pronunciation “shi4” within our curriculum! 
So we would have 17 more scenarios with Shrek in the bathroom of the house.
Here is what the meaning mnemonics could look like:
Then, expanding to the component-meaning mnemonic:
- 是 The sun uses a pointer to indicate what is.
- 事 Everyone looks at you wondering what is the matter, because you haven’t said anything for a while. The reason? You have a pen and a cross stuck in your mouth!
- 示 You have a cool altar that you want to show everyone. People are sick of you always showing them your altar.
- 士 Same meaning as component: solider.
- 世 The generations on a family tree are represented by branches and leaves.
I’m curious your thoughts on this. Is this more memorable to you than having it all in one? I can see the benefits and disadvantages of this approach. Likewise with @jiminyd1234. Does an approach like this address your concerns?