On product development

Joining the bazaar a couple of weekends ago made me think about product development in general. You never really know which products will truly click with people unless you get to know your market better. It's kinda hard to experiment considering your budget for materials and time. You might have a fair idea of which colors to use or what material suits your target market's needs/wants, etc. but getting the right mix - I think that's what I need to study more.

I've mainly worked in software development teams who've gone through iterations to finish projects as required by clients. I haven't gotten any experience on product development per se except for the hats and stuff I made for the bazaar, for my online shop Crafty Cat. And I want to experience it more. Not just for the Crafty Cat, but for software too. I think that the nice thing about developing products is that you could play around with a lot of things and you could innovate based on your analysis of the market. With consulting gigs, you could innovate too. But you've got your client to please and there are times when you suggest innovation, they balk at it instead of hearing you out or they think about the averse effects of the innovation. I guess it's because for them they think they can't absorb the risk. But if you're developing the products on your own, you have to absorb the risk by yourself. High risk, high yield -- a choice you could take.

Honestly, I am low risk kind of person. It's just that there's always an itch to create and not be at the mercy of one person who will stop the creativity. If you develop something, there's a chance that others will see that you're creating something special, something awesome. Or if it gets ignored, you'd realize that maybe it's for a very special type of market. And it's something you could only find out if you try and experience it for yourself.