What I was building
I was building what would become Toast Album: a QR-based event photo platform for guest uploads, private galleries, passcodes, payments, and zip downloads.
Why it mattered
Wedding and event photos often stay scattered across phones, group chats, and shared drives. The product needed a cleaner way to collect and manage them.
What changed or broke
The first HTML/CSS version helped the idea move quickly, but the app grew into auth, uploads, payments, galleries, and downloads. The original structure did not fit the product anymore.
What I learned
Architecture choices matter earlier than I expected. A simple idea can become a full-stack product quickly when real product flows start stacking up.
What I would improve next
At that stage, the next step was to confirm the final stack and public product name. The product has since launched as Toast Album.