Most of my work has a client, an objective, a deadline, and a budget. Those four vectors shape the result. And that’s exactly what makes commissioned projects productive, yet limiting at the same time.
Experiments are something else.
What Experimentation Projects Are
An experiment, in my practice, is any project that meets these conditions:
- No external client: I only answer to my own judgment.
- No conversion objective: I’m not trying to sell anything or generate leads.
- A specific technical or conceptual problem: It’s not free time — it’s focused research.
The result may be an interactive component exploring an animation technique, a micro-site testing a design concept, a script automating something in my own workflow, or simply a visual piece that serves no one but helps me understand something.
Why Experiments Are Investment, Not Time Wasted
The pressure of client work has a direct consequence: it incentivizes the known solution.
When there’s a deadline, an accepted proposal, and a client expectation to manage, the risk of trying something new goes up. The proven solution, even if suboptimal, has less friction.
Experiments are the space where I can take risks and fail without consequences. And that has enormous value in a sector where tools, techniques and paradigms change constantly.
Some of the most relevant resources for my current work were discovered or deepened in projects that “served no purpose.”
The Kind of Experiments I Do
The experiments I find most valuable tend to be those exploring the intersection between disciplines:
- Code + design: Generative animations, procedural interfaces, effects only possible in the browser.
- Mini design systems: Building a complete design system for a fictional project, just to explore its limitations and patterns.
- Personal productivity tools: Scripts, automation flows, templates that improve my own process.
- Technical writing: Explaining in public something I just learned. Writing is the best comprehension test.
How I Integrate Them Without Turning Them Into Procrastination
Experimentation without structure can easily become distraction disguised as ambition.
To avoid this, I have some rules:
- Time-boxed: An experiment has a defined time block. If it doesn’t yield something interesting in that time, I discard it without drama.
- Starting question: There’s always a technical or conceptual question it’s trying to answer. Without a question, there’s no experiment: just wandering.
- Publication or documentation: If the experiment is worth doing, it’s worth documenting. Publishing it here is part of the process, not an optional extra.
Experiments are how I anticipate the future needs of client projects. It’s hard to justify on an invoice. But without them, my work would be significantly worse.
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