How designing a physical product is the hardest thing I've ever done.

A thread

Last January, I had the idea for Workshop Tactics - a curated deck of product team workshops.

So naturally, I spent weeks pissing about designing a logo and 3D mockups.

Yes, the first concept looked like a pack of cigarettes. 1/

After I realised I was procrastinating, I knew I had to suck it up and do the hard work if I wanted this to happen.

I wanted to make something I was proud of that really helps people.

So I did what I had learned to do as a UX designer.

Test the idea. 2/

After rejigging the brand, I launched a landing page with email capture and ran some ads to LinkedIn.

I had never done this for myself before, it felt different and unnerving.

A couple hundred quid later, the results were in. 3/

20% of visitors registered their interest!

I thought this was a pretty good number. Though I wasn't quite sure what to do next. My gut told me to learn more, so I did.

I sent out a basic survey and spoke to as many people as I could. 4/

Creating a landing page was a powerful thing to do. It helped me clarify what I value it would bring to others.

Then actually talking to those people helped my clarify it even further.

Next, I made a prototype and sent it out to the early subscribers for free. 5/

While the feedback loop was long and slow (as is the case with 'hardware') - the insight I gained was invaluable.

Now the came ultimate test, would people buy it? I listed the beta product on Shopify and wrote an email to my followers.

I crossed my fingers and hit send. 6/

The next 10 minutes was silent.

No sales.

This was it, no one actually wanted it.

7/

Then my phone went off with the distinctive 'cha-ching' notification from Shopify.

Then again, and again.

That evening I made 10 sales, and over the next week, I sold 45 beta decks that didn't exist yet. I couldn't believe it.

This is was a pivotal moment. 8/

Those first sales gave me a lot of confidence and motivation to keep going.

After a few more months, I sent out 60 beta decks.

Little did I know that the hard work hadn't even begun.

Developing a physical product is the hardest thing I've ever done. 9/

The long periods of silence from beta customers (not everyone runs a workshop every day!) was tormenting.

Hours and hours finding the right manufacturer I could trust for the 'big' order.

Going in circles with the brand proposition and nailing down who it was really for.

10/

I had severe bouts of self-doubt wondering whether the whole project was even worth it.

Constant worry that the brand I was developing was too childish.

Tension from spending too much time staring at InDesign, and not spending time with my pregnant wife.

11/

Wondering how I was going to distribute it in the long-term (was a trip to the Post Office going to be my life?)

Wrestling with my ego. It's an entirely different feeling when you design for yourself. At times I succumbed to the "The IKEA effect".

12/

A cognitive bias where you place a disproportionately high value on products you create. There were some tough pills to swallow. Navigating all the feedback was hard.

The thing that sucked the most, above all else was the hours and hours of copy editing and proofreading.

13/

Having to spend an entire weekend reading something you've read a thousand times before, instead of spending time with family was very hard.

Even that wasn't enough. It was proof read dozens of times by @JacobTWelby @DiamondCopy @rubyspeechley @joelstein 14/

The Pareto principle was in full effect. 20% of the work took 80% of the effort.

Trying to iron out every last detail in the box's design nearly killed me.

It was expensive going back and forth with production samples, only to discover another bug that needed tweaking. 15/

The initial feeling of excitement had changed.

The cha-ching sound of Shopify was once a novelty. Now it was a welcome reminder - people are still interested, so keep going.

Then COVID hit. 16/

Why would people still want a deck of cards if they can't share it with their team in the office?

How would word-of-mouth work if there was no one to see it being used?

Every sale I got, I was sure would be my last. 17/

I thought I would reach 'The End' and that would be it.

Until I made another sale.

To my pre-order customers, you have no idea how much it means to me that you are a part of this! 18/

Now I'm here, a few weeks away from the real deal.

Yesterday I hit a milestone of 200 pre-orders (thank you @timformation !).

That's 200 people who have taken a chance on me, and a little idea that I had while working with @han_pass and @amycoen at the Co-op Bank. 19/

If you had told me last year that I would've designed a product and generated £11k in revenue

(and break even on the production costs!)

- without Kickstarter... I wouldn't have believed you. 20/

The people I've connected with on this journey. The things I've learned. The mistakes I've made have been truly humbling and eye-opening.

I've learnt a great deal from @jackbutcher's @visualizevalue community, @harrydry, @craigburgess, @brianball.

22/

Finding and befriending those in the design and facilitation community like @fehler, @willsh, @myriamHadnes @amrancz, @toolbox_toolbox, + dozens of others

A special thanks to @davecunningham and of course the illustrator who makes it what it is, @ImCalledDave. (i love daves) 23/

But most of all, to everyone that has pre-ordered a deck.

I really truly couldn't have done it without you. I can't wait to hear how you all get on with the cards.

Here's to the next chapter!

For now, that's helping people get the most out of http://WorkshopTactics.com  :)