I’m wondering now if the idea of creating a product is burying the core experience of getting people to notice their thoughts and having a genuine insight about the nature of their own mind.
I’ve been excited by the product design challenge and brand development – familiar territory from my previous business. And it’s been really interesting exploring the potential critique of capitalism and the wellness industry.
But I’m concerned all these additional elements could bury the core experience.
Jonathan (course leader) made a great observation last week:
“It seems like you have several different ideas (thoughts) swirling round, no value judgement just an observation: 1) The challenge to your own ego, 2) providing an experience for an audience – loosely spiritual, meditative, reflective, 3) the challenge to marketing & capitalism and the consumer product. These overlap and intersect but they may also need to explored separately for a while?”
I’ve explored this product route and I feel it has potential. But I’m going to park it for now and focus entirely on the core experience.
I won’t build any prototype or invest in design until 20-30 people have tried it and I’ve documented their reactions. Then I can refine based on what actually helps people have the insight.
If the core experience works – if people genuinely have insights – then I can explore what happens if this was also a product. Would it deepen the work or distract from it?
In the New Year, there are options:
Option 1: Keep it as potential Phase 2. Build and test the installation first. If it works, only then explore the product presentation.
Option 2: Keep the experience central, but include one simple product mockup that raises the question without overwhelming it.
The questions I need to be asking
Rather than spending time thinking about logo, cost and whether it’s genuine or parody, I need to be focusing on the experience first, asking:
- Does closing your eyes help or hinder the counting?
- Is one minute the right duration?
- What instruction wording helps people understand without over-explaining?
- What visual feedback actually enhances the experience?
- Are people having genuine insights or just going through motions?
Next steps
The work is helping people discover they’re barely aware of their own thoughts.
- Build basic functional prototype (clicker > LED) with instructions
- Test with 20-30 people
- Document & video reactions
- Refine the experience
- Prepare simple demonstration for our March in person week