Jul 17, 2025
9 min
What a failed digital product launch taught me about building for my audience instead of myself
Origin
I had an ambitious idea: a massive UI kit with hundreds of components. I spent months creating it, convinced it would be my big breakthrough. When I finally launched, sales were underwhelming. The problem? I had built something I wanted, not what my audience needed.
Challenges
It’s painful to realize that effort doesn’t guarantee success. The kit was beautiful, but too complex and expensive for beginners, who made up most of my audience. I skipped early testing because I didn’t want to “spoil the surprise.” That was my biggest mistake.
Growth
Failure taught me to involve users early. Now I test ideas with a small, free version before committing to a big build. Not only does this validate demand, but it also creates anticipation for the full product. Sometimes, losing on one launch sets you up to win bigger next time.
