I Built a Roman Numeral Tattoo Generator, Then Realized Conversion Was the Easy Part

Short summary

A developer building a Roman numeral tattoo generator discovered that date conversion was trivial but the real product challenge was handling date format ambiguity, separator readability at tattoo size, and managing user expectations about what a digital preview can guarantee. The tool evolved from a simple converter into a planning workflow that accounts for font legibility, body placement, and physical constraints. The author ultimately repositioned the output as a visual reference rather than a final design.

• •Date ambiguity (04/11 vs 11/04) required word-based input before conversion
• •Separator and font choices significantly impact readability at tattoo size
• •Tool repositioned from 'final design' to 'visual reference for tattoo artist discussion'

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.