The product-building notebook
Build100
The ideas, decisions, experiments, and lessons behind the products I make. A place to document the process, not just the finished thing.
The journal
Notes along the way.
NOTE 01Sample entry · THE PROBLEMStart with a small, real problem.
Start with a small, real problem.
This sample follows the moment before a product has a name: noticing a repeated task and asking whether it deserves a better way.
The useful starting point is a clear description of who has the problem, what they do today, and where the friction is. The product comes after that.
NOTE 02Sample entry · THE BUILDMake the smallest useful version.
Make the smallest useful version.
This sample entry is about narrowing a product down to one useful workflow. Enough to try, small enough to change.
A first version doesn’t need to tell the whole story. It needs to help someone complete the task and reveal what the next version should improve.
NOTE 03Sample entry · THE LESSONWrite down what the build taught you.
Write down what the build taught you.
This sample reflection looks beyond the finished screen: the assumptions that changed, the awkward parts, and the decisions worth remembering.
The journal is a place for those details. Not just what shipped, but what happened along the way and what might be worth trying next.
The problem.
What’s worth solving, who it’s for, and why it matters.
The process.
The decisions, experiments, and changes made along the way.
The lesson.
What worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently.