
Geospatial Makers Start Building!
From The MapScaping Podcast - GIS, Geospatial, Remote Sensing, earth observation and digital geography by MapScaping
February 11, 2026 · 47 min · Episode 252
About this episode
Stella Blake Kelly discusses the importance of building geospatial products that meet user needs rather than just focusing on technical perfection.
Geospatial Product Swiss Army Knife 1. The "Build It and They Won't Come" Trap We have all seen it: a talented geospatial professional spends months—perhaps years—perfecting a technically sophisticated web map or a niche data service, only to release it to a deafening silence. In our industry, the "build it and they will come" philosophy is a fast track to zero traction. Precision is the enemy of progress when it is applied to the wrong problem. Daniel and Stella Blake Kelly explored a remedy for this pattern. Stella—a New Zealand-born, Sydney-based strategist and founder of the consultancy Cartisan—didn’t start with a master plan. She "fell into" the industry after being inspired by a lecturer with bright blue hair and a passion for GIS that rivaled a Lego builder’s creativity. Today, she helps organizations move from "making things" to "building products that matter" using a framework she calls the Product Swiss Army Knife. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. The 7-Step Framework: More Than Just a Map Many geospatial experts suffer from a technology-first bias, prioritizing data accuracy over strategic utility. To counter this…
People in this episode
Host: Daniel
Guest: Stella Blake Kelly
Topics covered
- geospatial products
- product design
- GIS
- user needs
- market strategy
Keywords
- geospatial
- product development
- GIS
- user experience
- market needs
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Cartisan
Places: New Zealand, Sydney
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