The Joy of Little Dev Experiments

You didn’t mean to start a project.

You were just testing something a new button style, a weird animation, maybe an idea that popped into your head while waiting for _{npm install} to finish.

Now it’s 2 am and you’ve built… something.
It’s barely functional, probably has no purpose, and you love it deeply.

Welcome to the joyful mess of dev experiments — the side quests, one-file wonders, and unhinged prototypes that give our neurodivergent brains a little hit of sparkle.
No Jira tickets. No deadlines. No “is this scalable?”

Just curiosity and chaos in equal measure.

Because here’s the thing: not every dev project has to be useful.
Not every repo needs a README.
And not every idea needs to go anywhere to mean something.

This week, we're celebrating the experiments.
The dopamine-driven builds.
The beautiful code you wrote just because you could.

Let’s dive in - no roadmap required.

You didn’t plan this.

You were just playing. Just tinkering. Just testing something you didn’t even mean to commit.
And now you’ve got a weird little build that does exactly one thing and it makes you so unreasonably happy.

That’s not a mistake. That’s a dev experiment.
And if you have a brain that runs on curiosity, chaos, and mild impulsivity?
You’re in the right repo.

🎉 Code That Exists "Just Because"

Not every side project needs to be a product.
Not every function needs a purpose.
And not every prototype needs to "go anywhere" to be worth building.

Sometimes you're just writing code to see what happens.
That’s joy. That's play. That’s valid.

Neurodivergent devs often feel guilty for not “finishing” things.
But what if finishing was never the point?
What if the button you made that explodes with sparkles is the win?

⚡ Why ND Brains Love Tiny Builds

• Low stakes = high dopamine
  You don't need a deadline to focus - just an idea and 10 minutes of free rein.
• Short feedback loops
  You get results fast - no waiting, no architecture, no team buy-in.
• Creative control
  It’s your playground. Your chaos. Your rules.
• Failure is funny, not fatal
  A broken experiment is still an experiment. (And sometimes it’s hilarious.)

🧰 How to Make Dev Experiments a Habit

Let’s set up a system that rewards exploration:

• Create an _experiments/ folder
  Throw all your weird ideas in there. Don’t overthink structure just ship sparks.
• Use playgrounds to reduce friction
  StackBlitz, Replit, CodeSandbox, JSFiddle.
  Open -> write -> tinker -> done.
• Give yourself weird prompts

  "What if I built a timer that yelled at me in pirate?"
  "What if this button slowly rotates until clicked?"
  "What if I built a mini site for my houseplants?"

• Commit to short sprints
  20 minutes. 1 file. No pressure to revisit.
  You're not building a business. You're building dopamine.

🔐 Reminder: Your Experiments Still Count

They count even if you never push them.
They count even if they don't have tests.
They count even if they only exist in a playground tab that's been open for 4 days.

They prove that your brain is still building, even when it doesn’t look like "work."

And honestly? Some of the most exciting ideas start like this - messy, impulsive, weird, and joyful.

You don’t need a roadmap. You just need a spark.

You don’t need a 6-month roadmap to build something beautiful.

You don’t need buy-in, a backlog, or a business model.

You just need a little time, a spark of curiosity, and a brain that likes to press buttons and see what breaks.

Your dev experiments aren’t distractions, they’re proof you’re still building, still learning, still alive in the work.
And that’s worth celebrating.

See you next Tuesday,
Simen - Chief Enabler of Side Quests
Zap - Currently rewriting _todo.ts into _✨tada.ts