2025 · FOUNDER, LEAD DESIGNER
Compass
A magnetic tracking system that brings precision measurement to home fermenters. I led this product from concept through launch, coordinating hardware engineering, manufacturing, and go-to-market strategy.
Quick Facts
Timeline · 18 months
Role · Founder, Lead Designer
Manufacturing · 5 partners across the US
Opportunity
The Blue Tape Problem Home winemakers face a persistent crisis: tracking wine through months-long fermentation processes as it moves between buckets, carboys, and bottles.
The Pain Points:
It’s easy to forget what steps have/haven’t been completed across the long process
Information gets lost during vessel transfers
No system for learning from past batches
Scattered notes across notebooks, phones, blue tape
The Insight: Tracking isn't a labeling problem. It's a system design problem. Information needs to travel with the wine while also building knowledge over time.
Brief
Making - Help orient users to ensure they don’t miss and duplicate steps during production
Tracking - Ensure each batch was tracked across all stages of fermentation
Learning - Facilitate learning from the wine during and after creating
Making
From Expert to Universal Transforming expert knowledge into a tool anyone can use required ruthless prioritization.
My Contribution:
Mapped complete winemaking process with experienced home winemaker
Structured cards to guide beginners without limiting experienced makers
Balanced instruction with agency through clear hierarchy
Designed for real conditions: humid cellars, sticky fingers, months-long timelines
The result: a physical interface between knowledge and action.
Tracking
Information That Moves Wine transfers between vessels. Traditional labels don't. This was the core problem to solve.
My Contribution:
Designed magnetic Mount + Tracker system for information mobility
Engineered permanent Mounts for one-time vessel installation
Calibrated magnet strength for stability + single-hand operation
Solved for universal fit across multiple sizes of plastic buckets, glass carboys, ceramic demijohns
Navigated constraints: food-safe adhesives, corrosion resistance, low-profile geometry
The breakthrough: information follows the wine seamlessly through every transfer.
Learning
Knowledge Over Time Wine improves through iteration. But only if you remember what you did.
My Contribution:
Designed Archive Sheet as companion to Recipe Card
Created dual structure: production data (front) + tasting experience (back)
Balanced structured fields for comparison with freeform space for discovery
Designed for years of additions without feeling cramped
Made documentation feel like craft, not homework
The goal: transform scattered notes into systematic improvement.
Outcome
From Chaos to System Compass eliminated The Blue Tape Problem. Launched August 2025, patents secured November 2024.
Core Innovations:
Magnetic tracking that follows wine between vessels
Dual documentation: execution + learning over years
Augments existing workflows instead of replacing them
Works in real conditions: humid cellars, dirty hands, months-long processes
Design Contribution: Proved that physical craft tools can achieve systematic organization when designed with the rigor typically reserved for software. The result isn't just better tracking - it's invisible innovation that makes winemaking feel seamless.
