Episode 4 — Building the MVP
Episode 4 tells the story of building the MVP: the small breakthroughs, the unexpected challenges and the decisions that shaped dotmap’s first usable version.
Every product looks polished in hindsight.
The MVP stage is where things are messy, fragile and surprisingly exciting.
dotmap started as a rough prototype: a basic map, a few markers and just enough UI to test the idea.
But that early version revealed almost everything about what dotmap would eventually become.
The first glimpse of the idea
The moment the first real markers appeared on the map — representing test profiles — the concept clicked.
Seeing people placed in real locations made the product feel alive.
It felt intuitive in a way no wireframe could replicate.
Simplifying the experience
The hardest part of the MVP wasn’t building features — it was deciding what not to build.
Originally, there were ideas for:
- activity feeds
- in-app connections
- messaging
- recommendations
- team pages
They were all removed.
The MVP had to answer one question only:
Does a map-first directory make sense?
Everything else was noise.
The challenges that shaped the product
Some of the biggest breakthroughs came from unexpected frustrations:
- showing overlapping markers without clutter
- presenting profiles cleanly across devices
- making filters intuitive instead of overwhelming
- designing a professional profile that felt honest and focused
- striking the right balance between “directory” and “portfolio”
These weren’t technical problems — they were experience problems.
And solving them helped define dotmap’s overall philosophy.
The moment it felt real
When the first complete end-to-end flow worked…
- create an account
- set your professional details
- add skills
- appear on the map
- become discoverable
…dotmap officially transformed from an idea into a product.
Next episode
Episode 5 explores why supporting multi-stack professionals is essential — and how dotmap avoids ecosystem silos.
All episodes
- Episode 0 - Building dotmap
- Episode 1 - Why I started building dotmap
- Episode 2 — Designing the concept
- Episode 3 — A map-first way to explore tech
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