One of the most challenging aspects of working on Shout has been having to reconcile the opposite pulls that occur in building a product destined for other people.

Most everything I have built until Shout was either for myself or as part of some project with directives. Building an open-ended platform meant for users unknown, is a whole new kind of animal.

Taking ownership is the basic and obvious challenge of building any product, and it’s been the part of Shout for which I have to push myself most.

A few things come into play here. First, the nature of the work. Ever since I started coding, I’ve been crazy about the freedom programming gives me to create what I want, with such a short distance between thought and product. Thus, having to put my time where my mouth is, devoting myself entirely to a single project quite clearly dismisses any sort of excuse I had in the past for not building exactly what I wanted… Shout is something I’ve chosen to do, and how well I do it is directly reflective of my abilities as a thinker and programmer. No more excuses.

From there the draw to execute perfectly on my ideas, to spend hours working out some small dynamic in the program, that no one will likely notice. This is after all, the biggest display of myself I’ve ever made public.

And here comes the opposite pull. I have to remind myself that I am building this for others, and that whatever may amuse me personally will likely not define their product experience. A young product probably shouldn’t hide behind a polished surface that leaves no room for users to feel like they have access to the thought that has gone into building this or that feature, or like they have the power to help shape the product. Zach told me this early on, and it has become a credo of sorts: “if you’re entirely happy with what you’ve built, you’re probably releasing late”. And so, I have to focus on obvious essentials and forego my personal preference in product-building.

While I am motivated to produce my absolute best for others, I have to refine my expectations, understand what my best should mean in the real-world and realize that I am not building some ethereal thing that will make its entrance on the world stage when I am good and ready, but rather a tool for people to use, here and now.

I’m not a complete convert to Facebook’s “build fast” philosophy. I still find that I have to balance working on what amuses me and on what I must, but I find this balance in a whole new way now. And this is how I think I have most grown from my work on Shout. When I do work on those details I’ll be the only one to notice, I make sure I am doing it out of pure fun, and not out of some effort to “save face” and give people a polished version of myself, one that is more defensible.

Ultimately, this aspect of product-building: having to put yourself out there with an imperfect execution in order to have your brainchild grow more organically is what gives me the most joy day-to-day while working on Shout. It’s by far the scariest thing I have to come to terms with, but also the most fulfilling. And every now and then, when it feels like there is too much to do, and I should relax by working on a single feature, I try to think of those users who don’t know me at all… Not of those friends who know how I work and may judge me based on the result, but of those users who have no expectations, don’t know me and have never heard of Shout, until now. I usually build for them and it’s a very exciting way in which I get to build from scratch, bringing nothing but my drive into the product.

Better get back to it!

Henri