Raphael Schaad, design founder of Cron (which became Notion Calendar), shares insights on sketching, MVP identification, building Cron in YC during COVID, designing dialogues, and lessons as a first-time design founder.
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Quick takeaways
Designing a startup involves identifying the MVP of the problem and focusing on user needs.
Building a successful product requires a balance between innovation and responsive adjustments to user feedback.
Maintaining quality standards in design and consistent user interactions are crucial for product success.
Deep dives
Shift to Framer from Figma in Design Community
A trend in the design community is the rapid shift towards using Framer, driven by renowned designers like Joey Banks and Ryan Scott. Framer's similarity to Figma reduces the learning curve, making the transition seamless. Noteworthy designers have described the experience of building projects on Framer as almost magical, reflecting the platform's user-friendly nature and efficiency.
Design Founder's Journey from CRON to Notion Calendar
Rafael Shod, the founder of CRON, now known as Notion Calendar, shared insights into his journey from the inception of the idea to joining Y Combinator. Starting with an AI-powered to-do list concept, he navigated challenges and failures before the success of a Chrome extension marked a turning point. This evolution led Shod to YC and eventual integration with Notion to enhance their calendar roadmap.
Navigating the Idea Maze in Product Development
Shod's venture through the idea maze highlighted the importance of iterative prototyping to validate concepts effectively. His experimentation with different ideas, from AI-enhanced to-do lists to a successful Chrome extension, showcased the process of recognizing user needs and adapting based on feedback. The journey involved persistence, adaptability, and strategic pivots to align with market demands.
Product Development Approach and User Feedback
The product development strategy emphasized gradual releases and user feedback integration to refine the offering. Shod's methodical approach involved incremental improvements based on cohort feedback cycles, focusing on addressing feature gaps and enhancing user experience iteratively. Balancing proactive innovation with responsive adjustments to user needs shaped the product roadmap and culminated in successful market adoption.
Quality Design, Attention to Detail, and Toolkit Development
Shod's emphasis on meticulous design, detail orientation, and consistent user interactions underscored the importance of maintaining quality standards. Engaging in dialogue and toast design, maintaining a design toolkit, and fostering a craft-driven approach enhanced the product's visual coherence and user engagement. The integration of design thinking with code execution highlighted the significance of consistent design systems for effective product development.
When it comes to design founder stories, Raphael Schaad’s is one of the best. So this episode is the first-ever telling of how Raphael designed and built Cron (which became Notion Calendar). We talk about:
Sketching on paper vs. sketching in code
Why shipping quality software is like camping
How Raphael identified the MVP of the problem
What it was like building Cron in YC during COVID
Why you should design dialogues as first-class citizens
Why Raphael didn’t invest much in the Cron landing page
The differences between a design toolkit and a design system
a lot more lessons from a successful first-time design founder