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Erik Trautman

“Everything you can imagine is real.”
-- Pablo Picasso

This Is Just A Crappy WordPress Site...

...For now. But I've got a vision of something much greater.

Originally, I wasn't going to release anything at all until I was fully ready to put out the Amazing Final Product Website. Reading more into the Lean Startup methodology, I've realized that I almost made a classic mistake in doing so. "Iterate early and often" is their mantra (paraphrasing), "Don't worry about not having a perfect product, you'll learn a lot more in putting out an early version and iterating than you would by trying to perfect something in a vacuum."

For starters, it wouldn't have made sense to post about my transition months after events had transpired (i.e. whenever I finally finished the site). By producing content and working with a live website (via WordPress), I'm already learning a lot of lessons that I wouldn't have by operating only in a test environment. Most importantly, by putting out this preliminary (crappy) version of the final product, I am able to document my journey towards that product and my trials along the way.

So what is the vision? From a design perspective, I am looking for a space to make my own. I want a place that is built around the written content but where I can showcase quirky design and photography as well. Being able to share my experience climbing the learning curve towards the requisite design and development skills is a significant bonus to launching early. As for what it will eventually look like"¦ you'll just have to stick around to find out.

The "Why" is maybe more interesting. I view putting out a polished and functional website as both a great exercise for skills development and as a showcase for those skills in action. It is the minimum viable product, alpha release or proof of concept that I can produce something in the Web world. The next step will be to produce something of actual value"¦

Tags:   The Blog Project