From an idea with technology to a product for customers
It was an absolute pleasure to join Magic Leap pre-product (and pre- Product Management department). Joining as one of the first product managers of the company made my time at the company exciting and challenging.
One of the first goals I had was to work with executive leadership to define who our first customer was. Through research and debate, the company was able to agree that our first customers were (broadly) “creators,” who we defined as the developers, designers, and producers who would be able to create applications for the device.
This led me to focus my time on areas of the product relevant to designers and developers, namely creator experience, resources, tools and support programs.
Magic Leap World Diorama Builder
In addition to building out Magic Leap’s creator ecosystem, I had the opportunity to work on many other product areas. In particular, I was happy to contribute to the development and launch of the product in other ways.
Leading the development of parts of the operating system (particulary around application security and the developer experience) was particularly interesting for me, as it impacted nearly all parts of the product and was lower level software than I had previously worked on.
Due to the shape of the device, creators I spoke with who were going back and forth from their desktop to their device were having a difficult time keeping the device in a stable state for calibration. Being pre-launch at this stage, I knew that we were not in a position to sell anything to support these early testers, but working with our industrial designers and engineers, I was able to provide a 3D printable stand for the device, downloadable as a free resource.
I was happy to work across the company to get through not one, but two launches. The first was a private launch, making the hardware and initial software available to close partners who could not only start building software for the ecosystem but also provide early feedback before a more general launch.
All of this work led to the general launch of Magic Leap One, the company’s first device.
