a prototype is born
In a prior blog post I explained why the world needs a Zoom mute button. Now let me tell you how we’re bringing this sucker to life.
How it all started
Once I knew what I wanted, I worked with an engineer friend to hack together a very basic prototype of a Zoom mute button. In less than an hour he worked his magic and I had a functioning prototype. Despite it lacking a few key features, I used it incessantly for a few weeks. I was in love. But I could only use it in Zoom. So when I used other video conferencing software, I couldn't use my simple mute button prototype. This annoyed me greatly. Which is a great thing!
Why would my seething frustration be a great thing? When building any product, it’s not enough to build something people like. If you build something that saves people from pain (anxiety, embarrassment, frustration, etc.) they are far more motivated to want it. When I was annoyingly slamming the impotent mute button while in other video conferencing tools, I knew I was onto something.
Painful for everyone?
Now I needed to know if others shared my pain. People are too nice to ever say, “I think your idea is a piece of shit” so asking folks doesn’t really work. I decided it was worth investing a few bucks to bring the product concept to life to see if there was interest.
In hours stolen from my nights and weekends, I did quite a bit. I created the brand, built a website, set up business email, got a CRM stood up, created social media pages, published two blog posts, got an engineer to build a (hacked together) Zoom integration, hired an industrial designer, and found an expert who assembles high quality hardware (mostly buttons) used for photo booths. I even wrote and recorded a Zoom-related comedic skit that is so bad it will never see the light of day.
With all that under my belt, I started talking to friends, colleagues, and casual social media followers about the idea. I also started asking people to sign up for updates on my fancy, new (some would say IKEA-inspired), website. Soon someone responded to a social post with “need this.” Another person messaged me, “The freaking mute button has already gotten into my brain btw. I need one.” A former colleague sent me an article about people’s current struggle with muting on Zoom calls.
While not scientific, I certainly was receiving many signals that others felt the pain. Based on that I put a little cash into further developing the product.
So where are we now?
Version two (V2) of the prototype is on the way. My hardware guy assembled and programmed the button and it’s sitting in a delivery truck somewhere in between Milwaukee and California. Once it arrives we’ll hook it up to the macOS application we built and then it’s time to test! The V2 prototype has a LED light in the button so, if it works as expected, I can always see if I’m on mute or not. Needless to say, I am very excited to see it in action!
There's still a long way to go from prototype to production and I’d love your help! Some people have asked if they can preorder, but I don’t want to collect any money just yet. Instead you can help by checking out this very short and very funny survey.
