Week 2 of Building my Digital Product
If the early weeks of building my Study Abroad in Korea Survival Kit were about getting all my ideas on paper, this past week was about refining them into something that actually looks and feels like a real product.
The “middle mile” of development is tricky and it’s easy to feel stuck between drafting and final polish. But it’s also where the biggest progress happens.
From Draft to Design
This week I shifted from messy Google Doc drafts into Adobe InDesign to start shaping the Survival Kit into a polished PDF. InDesign gave me the consistency I needed for layouts, styled headers, and overall flow. I began with quick sketches and a mood board for inspiration, then translated those ideas into real designs with building the table of contents, refining spacing, and applying typography styles across sections.
It’s amazing how different the product feels once it moves into design. Suddenly, it isn’t just content on a page, it’s now a guide with structure and personality. Still, I’ve learned that design takes time. Even small details like text alignment or image spacing required careful tweaking, and I often had to choose between moving fast or slowing down to ensure quality. This week, I leaned toward quality, knowing that clean design will make the final product much stronger.
Naver Maps Pivot
One of the biggest pivots I made was how I handle the Naver Map collections. Originally, I planned to build everything in-app, creating playlists of cafés, attractions, and eats. But the platform’s limitations in English made it clunky and not very user-friendly. Instead,I shifted to a Google Sheets companion spreadsheet that holds all the links plus my personal notes and tips.
This change completely reframed the Survival Kit. Now, the PDF acts as a polished introduction, while the spreadsheet becomes the interactive layer where readers can explore further. I even built calls-to-action (CTAs) into the PDF to funnel readers toward the spreadsheet, like an example is in the PFD, I only showed four of the most important apps in the guide, while linking out to the spreadsheet for the full list with download links.
This layered approach balances design with practicality, and honestly, it makes the whole kit feel more useful.
Preparing for Delivery
I also started exploring how I’ll deliver the Survival Kit once it’s done. After researching different platforms, I narrowed it down to Gumroad and Ko-fi. Gumroad appeals because it’s less saturated and has a Discover page that could help with visibility, while Ko-fi has no fees and strong community discovery. My plan is to test storefronts on both next week and see which feels like a better fit.
Alongside that, I outlined the delivery assets I’ll need: mockups of the guide in use, a cover with a tagline, and a short product description. While I didn’t dive deep into those yet, I intentionally focused this week on design so the core product feels solid before tackling the business side.
Looking Ahead
This week reminded me that quality takes time. By focusing on design now and making strategic pivots like the spreadsheet integration, I’ve built a stronger foundation. Next week, I’ll shift into polishing delivery assets and testing platforms, getting one step closer to launch!
Check out my week 2 journal here.
Hey, I’m Ashley!
I am a graphic & interactive designer passionate about creating purposeful, fun, and engaging design. Whether it’s a brand identity, a responsive website, or a social media campaign, I love connecting ideas with strategy to make work that’s not only beautiful, but effective.
