Adam Wiggins' journey from Heroku to Muse emphasizes the importance of creative recovery and building passion for innovation.
Ink & Switch's focus on enhancing end-user programming and productivity led to the development of Muse, a tool for deep work and creative thinking on iPad and Mac.
Muse sets itself apart by providing a platform for users to freely organize and develop ideas, fostering a sanctuary for deep work and cognitive exploration.
Adam Wiggins envisions a future where tools like Muse revolutionize collaborative creativity, emphasizing user feedback and impact over traditional success metrics.
Deep dives
Adam's Post-Heroku Journey and Reconnection with Co-Founders
Following a high-flying tenure at Heroku, Adam Wiggins took a break to recharge creatively, engaging in gig work and investing. However, his passion for building led him back to reconnect with his former Heroku co-founders, James Lindenbaum and Orion Henry. Together, they founded Incan Switch, an innovative research lab that laid the groundwork for Muse.
Incan Switch's Academic Research Approach and Inspirations
Incan Switch drew inspiration from historic industrial research labs like Xerox PARC and Bell Labs, aiming to envision the future of computing with a focus on productivity. By combining academic research with a forward-looking perspective, they explored enhancing end-user programming and pushing the boundaries of computing beyond the prevailing consumption-oriented trends.
Muse's Focus on Deep Work and Thinking Tools
Muse, a tool developed by Incan Switch, is designed to facilitate deep work and thinking by offering a tool for creative endeavors on iPad and Mac. Muse aims to provide an environment conducive to uninterrupted focus, enabling users to delve deep into complex problems for extended periods, fostering a sanctuary for deep work and cognitive exploration.
Future Vision for Impact and Success of Muse
For Muse's success, Adam Wiggins emphasizes impact over traditional success metrics, focusing on how the tool can influence the broader tools-for-thought community. With features like Infinite Canvas and simultaneous nesting, Muse sets itself apart by providing a platform where users can freely organize and develop their ideas, contributing to the evolution of tools for creative ideation.
Muse Provides Space for Ideation and Collaboration
Muse, a design tool, distinguishes the ideation phase from the design specifics by offering an open canvas for creative brainstorming, allowing users to focus on the broader strokes without getting hung up on design details.
Innovations in High Fidelity File Embedding
Muse aims to integrate higher fidelity files, such as illustrations, to provide users with a more dynamic and expressive platform while maintaining a fluid and seamless user experience that allows for detailed exploration and collaboration.
Decoupling Web Technologies for Local Fast Performance
Adam Wiggins considers decoupling web technologies to achieve high performance local applications, possibly leveraging tools like Electron or Tauri to combine the strengths of web technologies with native system components for faster and more efficient performance.
Looking Towards Future Possibilities and Impact
Adam Wiggins envisions a future where tools like Muse revolutionize how individuals and teams collaborate and think creatively, emphasizing the importance of user feedback and collaborative exploration in shaping the direction and impact of the product.
This week we’re back for part 2 with Adam Wiggins — going beyond Heroku and the story of Muse (listen to part 1). After a six-year adrenaline high on Heroku, Adam needed time to recover and refill the creative well. So, he moved to Berlin, did some gig work with companies…dabbled in investing and advising. But he wasn’t satisfied. Adam likes to build things.
Ultimately, he was just waiting for the right time to reconnect with James Lindenbaum and Orion Henry — the same fellas he created Heroku with. Eventually they founded Ink & Switch, an independent research lab which led to innovations that made Muse possible. Muse is a tool for deep work and thinking on iPad and Mac. Today’s show is all about that journey and the details in-between.
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