
Making the perfect backpack. Craft in the age of AI.
From Hallway Chat by Fraser Kelton & Nabeel Hyatt
June 28, 2025 · 41 min · Episode 36
About this episode
Nabeel and Fraser discuss the impact of AI on craftsmanship and product design, using the Boundary backpack as a case study.
Craft in the age of AI. Nabeel and Fraser start with a dive into what makes the Boundary backpack so great. They explore how AI is changing the way we do customer research, the importance of obsessive attention to detail, and why great founders still need great taste. Along the way, they debate what it takes to recreate the creative magic of “1930s Paris” for modern product builders. (00:00) - Opening (00:27) - Backpacks and Craft (05:36) - AI's potential role in product refinement and customer research (08:42) - The Down Power Wash Dish Spray? (10:08) - Consumer packaged goods and the importance of user research (15:38) - Creating environments that foster creativity and innovation (35:21) - The importance of solving fundamental problems in startups (37:47) - Microsoft Teams as a signal about founders
People in this episode
Hosts: Fraser Kelton, Nabeel Hyatt
Topics covered
- craftsmanship
- AI in product design
- customer research
- creativity
- startups
- innovation
Keywords
- backpack
- AI
- customer research
- creativity
- startups
- product design
- innovation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Microsoft Teams
Products: Boundary backpack
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