Week 1 of Development: Building my Bilingual Digital Product
The first week of building my Spanish Content Creator Toolkit taught me a lot about translating ideas into real structures. Although I had strong initial ideas and sketches, I soon realized that digital execution presents new challenges. Between experimenting in Google Sheets, exploring Canva layouts, and trying out organizational systems, I had to balance creativity with functionality. This post reflects on the tools, challenges, and proud moments from this first development stage.
Documenting the Process
This week, I officially moved from planning to building. I initially developed five possible toolkit components, but narrowed them down to three so that I could realistically create within my timeline:
Posts & Video Prompts
Captions Library Pack
Content Calendar
My focus was spread across sketching, drafting digital layouts, and testing interactive features in Google Sheets.
Captions Library Pack & Prompts
One-page layout sketches
I created two template versions (vertical & horizontal) for the Captions Library Pack. These were simple one-pager layouts drawn for quick reference, which I plan to categorize and color-code. Iterations for the posts and video prompts are still being completed.
Content Calendar
For the content calendar, I transferred my pencil sketches into a functional spreadsheet draft, which included sections for Date, Post, Platform, Format, Status, Captions, Hashtags, Preview, and Tags. To make it more useful, I added dropdown buttons for platform and format, as well as conditional formatting to track post progress (WIP, Revise, Scheduled, Posted).
First working draft in Google Sheets
Tools I Used
Notebook & Pencil – for freehand sketching, brainstorming layouts, and my notes
Google Sheets – for building an interactive calendar with sorting, dropdowns, formatting, and colors
Canva, Pinterest, and Notion – for visual inspiration of the captions library and calendar design
YouTube: watched a tutorial to learn Google Sheets functions I wasn’t used to
Challenges I Faced
One of my biggest obstacles this week was finalizing the toolkit components and which ones to prioritize. I felt some creative block at the beginning because I didn’t want to overcommit and underdeliver, but also underdecide and create something underwhelming. To move past this, I looked at examples on Notion, Pinterest, and Canva for inspiration. That exploration helped me commit to the three components that felt both impactful and achievable.
Another challenge was working with Google Sheets. I’ve only used it casually before, so building a fully functional content calendar required trial and error. Simple features, such as dropdown menus, initially slowed me down, but by the end of the week, I felt more confident.
Assumptions vs. Reality
Assumption: I could develop all five toolkit parts.
Reality: I needed to scale down to three to produce quality work in time.
Assumption: Sketching and planning would take the most time.
Reality: Drawing concepts went smoothly, and transferring those sketches into digital, interactive versions was the real challenge.
Assumption: Google Sheets would be straightforward enough to figure out on the fly.
Reality: Basic functions were confusing, requiring extra help, but I learned valuable skills through tutorials.
The Next Steps
Finishing the Google Sheets calendar and polishing its structure
Starting the Canva calendar design (and aiming to bring it close to completion)
Creating digital versions of the captions library page
Sketching the prompts page and, if time allows, beginning its digital iteration
Seeking feedback on the layouts and usability of each component
Hi, I’m Allison!
I am a graphic and interactive designer, ready to craft strategy-driven and engaging designs for you now!