Falling in love with the friction, not the solution
It is tempting for builders to jump straight into database schemas and frontend components the moment an idea sparks.
Yet the products that create lasting value almost always originate from observing an annoying reality. For Wealth Companion, that friction was watching friends get overwhelmed by technical jargon when trying to understand index funds or compounding.
Before writing a single line of backend logic, I spend time conversing with people who face the dilemma daily: What confuses them? What makes them feel anxious? Where do they give up?
The 3 Filter Questions
1. Does this solve a problem someone encounters at least once a week? 2. Can the core value be experienced within 30 seconds of opening the tool? 3. Does it feel calming rather than demanding?
The power of disposable prototypes
The goal of an early prototype is not to be robust; it is to be tested and thrown away if necessary.
Interactive prototypes built in a single weekend often illuminate flaws that weeks of theoretical design documents could never anticipate. When real people touch a prototype, their hesitations tell you more than their polite compliments.
“Clarity is not the absence of complexity; it is complexity resolved with elegance.”
— Product Thinking Journal