[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":121},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-\u002Fprojects\u002Fsmall-experiments":3,"project-writing-\u002Fprojects\u002Fsmall-experiments":22,"mdc-7rl79o-key":40},{"slug":4,"title":5,"description":6,"body":7,"category":8,"sources":9,"name":13,"order":14,"status":15,"stack":16,"featured":20,"path":21},"small-experiments","Small experiments — a project by Dennis Adriaansen","Smaller tools and interface ideas, including an Instagram carousel maker shared in public.","\n## A small tool can answer a useful question\n\nSome ideas begin as a prototype rather than a product plan. Can a repetitive task become easier? Does an interface make the next step clearer? Is the result useful enough to keep using?\n\nThat space matters alongside bigger projects such as [Nuxt Charts](\u002Fprojects\u002Fnuxt-charts) and [cloudconfig](\u002Fprojects\u002Fcloudconfig).\n\n## The carousel maker\n\nIn a public post, I shared an Instagram carousel maker and asked whether to open-source it. The post records an experiment and a question to the community. It does not establish a released product or a measured engagement result.\n\nThe interesting part is the cycle: notice a use case, build a small tool and make the idea concrete enough for someone else to react to.\n\n## What belongs in the notebook\n\nA prototype page should make its status clear. A short demo can communicate an interaction; an article can explain the design question behind it.\n\nRead [building small tools to test an idea](\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-small-tools-to-test-an-idea) for a longer reflection on that process.\n","The idea notebook",[10],{"label":11,"url":12},"My public post about the carousel maker","https:\u002F\u002Fx.com\u002FDennisAdriaans\u002Fstatus\u002F2091175741769531766","Small experiments",8,"Experiment",[17,18,19],"Interfaces","Prototypes","Product ideas",false,"\u002Fprojects\u002Fsmall-experiments",[23],{"slug":24,"title":25,"description":26,"body":27,"category":28,"sources":29,"date":32,"tags":33,"language":38,"draft":20,"project":4,"path":39},"building-small-tools-to-test-an-idea","Building small tools to test an idea","A carousel-maker experiment, and what a small working tool can teach before it becomes a larger project.","\nI posted an Instagram carousel maker and asked whether I should open-source it. That public update describes an experiment, not a released product or a measured result.\n\nThe useful idea behind it is broader: a small tool can make a product question concrete.\n\n## Build around one piece of work\n\nA carousel has a simple job. It turns a sequence of points into a set of readable slides.\n\nA focused prototype can ask whether the same spacing, type hierarchy and layout rules are useful across several slides. It can also reveal where a template stops helping: a long title, a code example or an image with an awkward crop.\n\nThose are clearer questions than whether a general-purpose design tool should have another feature.\n\n## Make the output easy to react to\n\nA description asks someone to imagine an interaction. A working output gives them something to inspect.\n\nFor a carousel maker, that output could be a short sequence of slides. Feedback can then become specific: the heading is too small, a slide needs fewer words, or the export does not fit the platform.\n\nThe prototype does not need to solve every case to reveal the next constraint.\n\n## Keep the experiment’s status visible\n\nShowing something in public creates expectations. A clear label helps distinguish a prototype, an open-source package and a product that someone can use today.\n\nThe question in my post was whether to open-source the experiment. It should not be read as a claim that the tool has already been released.\n\nThat distinction lets the work stay exploratory while still making it useful to discuss.\n\n## Let an idea earn its next step\n\nA useful next step might be a smaller scope, another iteration or simply a note about what did not work.\n\nThe larger projects in my workshop, such as [Nuxt Charts](\u002Fprojects\u002Fnuxt-charts), also started with a specific problem. A prototype provides a way to understand that problem before committing to a much larger system.\n\nSee [small experiments](\u002Fprojects\u002Fsmall-experiments) for the place these ideas occupy alongside the bigger projects.\n","Building products",[30],{"label":31,"url":12},"My carousel-maker experiment on X","2026-10-12",[34,35,36,37],"side projects","prototypes","carousels","product development","en","\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-small-tools-to-test-an-idea",{"data":41,"body":42},{},{"type":43,"children":44},"root",[45,54,60,82,88,93,98,104,109],{"type":46,"tag":47,"props":48,"children":50},"element","h2",{"id":49},"a-small-tool-can-answer-a-useful-question",[51],{"type":52,"value":53},"text","A small tool can answer a useful question",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":56,"children":57},"p",{},[58],{"type":52,"value":59},"Some ideas begin as a prototype rather than a product plan. Can a repetitive task become easier? Does an interface make the next step clearer? Is the result useful enough to keep using?",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":61,"children":62},{},[63,65,72,74,80],{"type":52,"value":64},"That space matters alongside bigger projects such as ",{"type":46,"tag":66,"props":67,"children":69},"a",{"href":68},"\u002Fprojects\u002Fnuxt-charts",[70],{"type":52,"value":71},"Nuxt Charts",{"type":52,"value":73}," and ",{"type":46,"tag":66,"props":75,"children":77},{"href":76},"\u002Fprojects\u002Fcloudconfig",[78],{"type":52,"value":79},"cloudconfig",{"type":52,"value":81},".",{"type":46,"tag":47,"props":83,"children":85},{"id":84},"the-carousel-maker",[86],{"type":52,"value":87},"The carousel maker",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":89,"children":90},{},[91],{"type":52,"value":92},"In a public post, I shared an Instagram carousel maker and asked whether to open-source it. The post records an experiment and a question to the community. It does not establish a released product or a measured engagement result.",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":94,"children":95},{},[96],{"type":52,"value":97},"The interesting part is the cycle: notice a use case, build a small tool and make the idea concrete enough for someone else to react to.",{"type":46,"tag":47,"props":99,"children":101},{"id":100},"what-belongs-in-the-notebook",[102],{"type":52,"value":103},"What belongs in the notebook",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":105,"children":106},{},[107],{"type":52,"value":108},"A prototype page should make its status clear. A short demo can communicate an interaction; an article can explain the design question behind it.",{"type":46,"tag":55,"props":110,"children":111},{},[112,114,119],{"type":52,"value":113},"Read ",{"type":46,"tag":66,"props":115,"children":116},{"href":39},[117],{"type":52,"value":118},"building small tools to test an idea",{"type":52,"value":120}," for a longer reflection on that process.",1794481660987]