Site Timeline – A deeper dive into AngelaMurrell.com

Below is a timeline of updates about the site that goes a bit beyond the scope of an about page. I hope that it provides context for why I made this site, what it is about, and what it is evolving to next.

With this timeline, I’ll be able to track the thinking and growth behind the site given the constraints at the time. By doing this, it should serve as a vehicle for appreciation of my work combined with your feedback. Together we can “look back at it” and celebrate the site’s evolution over time.

JUNE 2024 · Launching two projects. This is one of them.

I launched two major projects recently and this is one of them. In March, I relaunched Vertico Labs as a content hub for product and technology. And just now, I kicked off AngelaMurrell.com: my personal blog where I document everything: technology, stories, theories, design, poetry, and even recipes!

Why this leap into blogging and Vertico Labs? The last decade saw me immersed in startups, navigating a world of risk, stress, and reward. When the opportunity came to ponder my next decade, I started seeking fulfillment at a frenetic pace. That quest rekindled a childhood dream: writing.

As it turns out, the seeds of this concept were slowly being planted. In winter 2019, while I was still knee-deep in startup land, I took the stage at an open mic poetry event in San Diego. Starting in January 2020 and over the next few years I headlined a few of those events, while I also got works published in two poetry anthologies. A testament to community, a good friend of mine, after attending one of my performances, was inspired to get published in one of these anthologies, too.

Fast forward, I’ve recently started participating in storytelling events in San Diego (Long Story Short). These in person events have informed my digital priorities around community and contribution. It is refreshing to have a human and “real world” foundation motivating an online initiative.

With Vertico Labs, we have so much to write about for technology and product. However, there’s more for me to write about as a person; I’ve experienced tremendous growth in my thinking, all the while passing along what I’ve learned to those in my “in-person” community. I find that some of these “behind the scenes” human skills could apply to anyone regardless of their industry. This site let’s me go there.

Will you come along for the ride?

By making the site myself, I get to build in nice features and commit to making high quality content without being tied to the platform (eg. IG, substack) and their “marketing” and “growth” practices. I get to be creative and evolve my site to benefit people versus bots, algorithms, and corporate ad revenue.

For example, see these screenshots – “Write with me” and “Downloads” that make spending time reading my posts worthwhile in more ways than one!

Screenshots depicting site features "write with me" and "downloads". The "downloads" shows a Doggy Care PDF download button. The write with me shows an input for submitting a URL to post as a response to a post. These features are found on posts on this site.

As people “write with me” by posting links to their response on their own platform, it shows up as a conversation, rather than comments (why do I do this?). Regardless of how creative the readers are, I provide prompts for inspiration and reflection on how the piece relates to their own life.

An example submission in the conversation is "Post: 'Introducing a dog named Phil. Also honoring our old dogs.'; Bob S. 'I did not realize how many big moments my pets were with me for'" — Screenshot showing a fake “conversation” of responses as links. There are also prompts for inspiration, regardless of whether or not someone decides to create something in response.

I’m also launching a newsletter with a unique twist. It’ll keep you updated on the site and take you behind the scenes of upcoming posts. Through 🍝 “Monthly Noodles,” I’ll share early ideas I’m exploring each month. You’ll have the chance to vote on these concepts, influencing which topics I develop into full posts.

A screenshot of "monthly noodles" part of the updates email, where I state that you can reply back with a vote on the ideas I've been noodling on... to see it further explored in a post. Also encourage: replying back to the email with what my thoughts made the you think!

Sounds interesting? Don’t miss out… be one of the first to be part of the monthly noodling conversations! Subscribe at the bottom of this page.

JUNE 2023 · Site design is influenced by dogs

A year before the site relaunches (notice its 2023), this update continues from the previous update where I explored a new site design and commitment to writing, I finally got around to taking another pass at the site design.

In the previous design I made the start of a “filler” post about our new dog Phil. We lost our previous dog Hamilton in October and adopted Phil in November, so it was top of mind and easy to write about.

I needed to explore more of what a post would look like to finish the design in the “version 2” of the new site design, so I decided to continue writing from where I left off. It turned out to be quite an experience. I ended up telling a story about all our dogs and what they’ve been able to join us for in life.

It’s kind of incredible that this story of all our dogs is the post that inspired so many of the sites features.

With this update, the direction of the site became more clear. We could be ready to start the coding for this site soon. We just need mobile designs now…

Screenshot of a new design that was largely influenced by writing out an actual example post. It happened to be about all my dogs that accompanied me during big life moments.

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2022

The desire to write, especially after being inspired by other emerging digital gardens🌱 Digital Garden – A personal online space where ideas are cultivated like plants in a garden, allowing for continuous growth and evolution. This concept allows for early publishing of thoughts, which can be refined over time within a space that you own and design. For a deeper dive into this philosophy, read Maggie Appleton’s essay on Digital Gardens., fueled a new site design. This was a first pass and you can see it is definitely similar to what it is today.

Screenshot depicting the first pass of the newer site design. It is similar to what it becomes 1.5 years later.

Screenshot of the first design of posts when I set out to design the site. I started with a sample of an article about my new dog Phil at the time, but did not finish the whole thing.

2017

I made a website for this domain and I was very lazy about it. I purposely chose yellow and purple as clashing horrible colors, as a way to annoy myself into changing it.

As you scrolled the page, the text would come in, causing antici….pation.

A screenshot of my old yellow and purple site that says in big text "I mostly have made this site to use a better email address. But people like you will come here. So here we are. But since you are here... read this article"

2016

I bought a domain name: angelamurrell.com

Why? To have a better email address. I was using a gmail email address for 10 years and it became saturated with spam and annoying email I had to keep receiving.

How could I have an email for actual people? I figured I might as well just buy my own domain with my name than make yet another gmail username.