Blog
18 January 20265 min read
Why I still build small tools
Tiny utilities teach empathy for users and sharpen the same skills that matter in large platforms.
DXProduct
Tools as compressed product thinking
A JSON formatter or timezone helper might look trivial next to a multi-region deployment — but constraints are the teacher. You have milliseconds, millimeters of UI, and zero patience from the user.
What building in public does
- Forces clarity: labels, errors, and empty states have nowhere to hide.
- Rewards performance: slow tools feel broken instantly.
- Builds taste: micro-interactions compound into trust.
If you're an engineer who only ever works behind internal APIs, try shipping something small. It's the fastest way to remember what "fast" feels like on the other side of the glass.