How working on a start-up product change my Life!
A story about me working with M33 Labs to build LunaDesk.
I’m going to tell you about a time in my life where I worked for a start up company that changed my life! It all started when I first saw the product in my junior year of college (2016). At the time M33 Labs called the product SPACE and M33 Labs had there product out for testing. It wasn’t much at the time but the CEO sold me on the purpose of the desk, which was to build a smart desk for creatives. I was blown away on what this team was building and I had high hopes for them.
When I became part of the team
Fast forward to after college I get an email from an old friend of mine about the CEO wanted to meet me for design assistance. I agreed and within a week I met the CEO of M33 labs Brandon Smith. I got to tell you this guy you will never be bored around, he loves to tell stories like no other 😂. Anyways Brandon started telling me about the business and how the desk came to be (little does he know I already knew about the company and the desk since they started). But the man was so passionate that I let him continue talking. He wanted me to help them design the final product, the website, and help them market later. I agreed because 1) you can’t say no to Brandon and 2) I loved the mission of the company.
Moving on to after paperwork was done, I started with getting to know the company more. Brandon gave the teams a cooked dinner every other Sunday so the teams can connect and catch up on each others lives. I loved this because being an unpaid start up its hard to stay motivated unless food is involved 😂. Just kidding! Really it was nice getting to know everyone and the back story of the companies journey which I’ll tell you more soon. But after that dinner I knew this will be a great company to be apart of.
The development of LunaDesk
Now I didn’t get a chance to build the space desk 3 years ago but from all the stories, it was a lot of work. Brandon told me that it all started out with a napkin on the plane. The idea came to him and the only paper he had was a napkin to draw the idea. That said he shared his idea with a few people who would be interested in starting this product. From there the team just grew and the product was in development.
The company built 6 versions of the desk to get it where it is today. All the sketches, mock-ups, testing, and final design. The teams kept finding better ways to build the product and more people loved it each time. This was something I admired about the company. They continued to be inspired and find better ways to use the product. Everyone here was involved in making this product come to life and I was happy to be apart of that. Below you can see some images of the development process.
What I did while working on LunaDesk
I had the chance to work on the product website, which meant working on the customers journey through ordering the product. Me and the CEO worked side by side to make sure this website met the brand, and the simplicity of the ordering experience. We looked at car websites (CEO’s favorite example for everything 😂) and technology product websites (Apple and Microsoft). After that I made the mock ups and came up with some photo samples of what we should have for photography/3D models.
While working on that I also got to work with the engineers to make sure the product was at its best. Meaning I had to test to make sure this is something easy to set, use, and update later on. I’ll show some examples below
Monitor:
Making sure the user can move their monitor in any direction easy. Before we had the monitor fold in the middle of desk, now its on a arm to move out of the way for users.
Under the Hood:
Opening the top of the desk to change out or fix parts later. The inspiration of this came from opening a door hood (wonder where that idea came from *cough *cough Brandon) 😂
One plug/pop-ups:
One of the best thoughts about this product was using only one plug for everything to work. No more tangling cords on the bottom of your feet, now you can have everything in the desk and add any additional products in the pop up plug.
Lastly I had a chance to work in marketing. I was already working on the website and the product so why not add those skills to marketing right? In marketing I was responsible for making assets, collecting researched data, and finding new ways to grab peoples attention to the product. This was a challenge because I already had a lot on my plate but it made me grow my skills in the end.
The downfall of LunaDesk
While the product was great, it was hard to find a way to get the people to buy or ship the product. We tried different strategies such as selling the desk without computer, finding better materials to make product weigh less, and allowing the user to customize the computer to their liking. Sadly it wasn’t enough and we had to let go of the company. It was hard but I learned a lot from the company and the product. The team I worked with was amazing and I’m still friends with them till this day (even the CEO is my best friend). In the future I hope to connect with the team again to start another business in our future because man they were some dedicated people.
What I learned from M33 Labs
LunaDesk was a big eye opener in my life. I learned a lot about building a product, working with a start up team, and growing my skills from many departments. I had the chance to feel passionate about a product which is hard these days to find while working. If we went back in time I would still accept joining because this start up made me who I am today. I found my passion in building products by becoming a product designer. I connected with amazing smart people who would help me if I ever asked them to start a business with me. Lastly I became more confident as a designer because before I didn’t think I had what it takes but everyday my friend Brandon reminded me how great of a designer I was 😊.
Just want to make a shout out to anyone at M33 Labs that reads this. You guys are amazing and I am happy I had the chance to work with you guys!
Last thing I promise you guys! Please watch the video below, it was made in memory of M33 Labs from the beginning to the end. And if you want to learn more about the company please click here.
Thank you everyone for reading and if you like this please leave a 👏🏻 and comment about any questions you have about the blog!
