Designing new products or brands in four days
As a new project, I’m designing a new product or brand in four day sprints.
Why? To focus and develop my skills in an ever changing world whilst discovering new opportunities for new businesses or revenue.
Inspired by Pieter Levels' "12 startups in 12 months" project and deeply influenced by Cal Newport's "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and "Deep Work" philosophies, I believe focusing on skills and becoming the best at our craft is where we find flow, meaning, and joy. That flow and dedication to craft are how we become valued in the world, which is increasingly important as AI replaces many tasks. So, for fun, flow, creativity, and up-skilling against AI, I'm creating a new product or brand every four days.
Challenge One: AI and Designer Skills
AI is reshaping and will transform how we design, build, and launch new products. Unlike Pieter, my focus isn't on the building and launching phases—likely to be overtaken by AI—but on defining problems, crafting solutions, and generating ready-to-test prototypes and UI designs. The future of design may well involve crafting compelling prompts for AI to deliver stunning visual outputs or ready-coded products.
This journey can also explore how we'll interact with AI in the future (e.g., products and interfaces beyond a chatbot) and how designers and startups can leverage AI in their design process.
Challenge Two: Routine, Structure, and Feedback Loops
I'm doing this for a mixture of fun and maintaining skills against AI, not for clients. There needs to be some form of routine or commitment. I want to avoid each exciting new idea expanding infinitely. Therefore, I've set a timeframe of four days for the design process.
I can refine my process every four days, aiming for better quality and more impactful designs.
Challenge Three: Work-Life Balance and Revenue
Since I'm not building or launching these products as startups, I need to be available for work. The goal is to share my work, spark interest, and assess its value, potentially leading to collaborations or promotional opportunities. The four-day rule is flexible and not consecutive, ensuring work-life balance and leaving room for consulting and design projects. And, if something sparks particular interesting, building it out further and launching a new product.
Problems to solve
Disconnecting from the tech world, I’ve been influenced by Douglas Rushkoff in connecting human to human and avoiding technology only for billionaires and progressing VC funds. Therefore, projects will be on topics that interest me (e.g. health and fitness or interfaces for AI beyond chatbots), encourage human connection, are small and don’t need VC backing.
Deeper Dive
I’m being as public as possible, you can see my product ideas, process, notes and feedback on Notion. This is also influenced by Pieter Level’s blogging and building in the open.
Progress report:
1. Healthy meal planner, customisable by AI
I designed a healthy meal planner based on my own experience with AI. A fully customisable and continuously updatable interface with the power of a ChatGPT as an input, with a useful visual tool and application as an output. Read more…
2. What’s next?
Follow my public notion to see what I’m doing and progress report live. Or, keep subscribed on Substack for the next launch.
