Alright, so this whole “Laura Teen” thing, right? It kinda blew up in our little corner of the world, or at least, it felt like it did. For us, it wasn’t just some idea floating around; it became this actual, honest-to-goodness project that got dropped right in our laps. And man, was it a journey.
My part in all this? Well, I basically had to dive in and try to make some sense of what “Laura Teen” was even supposed to be. The big bosses, they just tossed the name out there. “Make it Laura Teen,” they said. “Make it fresh, make it for the young crowd.” Sounds simple when you’re the one saying it, not doing it, huh?
So, I started digging. What did I do?
- First off, I tried to see what other folks were calling “teen-focused.” Scoured the net, looked at apps, games, whatever.
- Then, I actually talked to some younger people we could get a hold of. Tried to catch their drift, you know? What they liked, what they hated.
- I even forced myself to use some of those super trendy apps. Honestly, I felt like a dinosaur trying to figure them out.
Then came the real work, trying to build this “Laura Teen” experience. We went through so many designs, I lost count. One version looked too kiddy. The next looked like something my grandpa would design if he was trying to be cool. It was a real mess. Every single meeting was just us throwing ideas around, hoping something would stick and not get immediately torn apart. We burned weeks, literal weeks, just arguing over colors and fonts for this thing.
The Never-Ending Feedback Loop
And the feedback! Oh, don’t even get me started on the feedback. You’d slave away, finally think you’ve captured that “Laura Teen” magic, and then someone from way over in another department, someone who hadn’t said a peep for weeks, would waltz in and go, “Hmm, not really feeling the ‘Laura’ part of it.” Seriously? Back to square one, again and again. It was like running on a hamster wheel.
We did eventually push something out. We had to. Was it the grand “Laura Teen” vision everyone had in their heads? Nah, not really. It was more like “Laura Teen: The We-Tried-Our-Best-With-What-We-Had Edition.” But it was done. Or, well, version one was out there.
The biggest takeaway for me from that whole circus? Trying to chase a vague buzzword like “Laura Teen” without everyone agreeing on what it actually means from day one is just a recipe for pure frustration and wasted time. It’s like everyone wanted this shiny new thing, but no one could quite describe it. We just spent a ton of energy trying to grab smoke. Next time someone throws a “Laura Teen” at me, I’m demanding a super detailed plan before I even lift a finger. Maybe even get it in writing, signed in triplicate!
