034 : The UX of time travel with SFCD Agency

SFCD Agency It’s a seemingly simple problem — tell the user what time it is in different countries around the world — with an endless number of solutions. There are a few questions you need to ask yourself before even touching pencil to paper: What’s the best way for humans to manipulate time? And really, what is time?

SFCD Agency took a break from client work to put out its first mobile application: Miranda. It’s a time zone converter with an elegant and unique user interface. In this episode, Yasser, the Head of Product and Strategy, and Dmitry, the Creative Director, share their experience making Miranda.

It’s an inside look at the app creation process within an agency, where ideas are brainstormed and workshopped into their final form.

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032 : Building an app business not just a product with Dan Counsell

Dan Counsell Realmac Software What is one of the biggest mistakes made by aspiring app entrepreneurs? Confusing a product with a business. If you build and release an app, you’re selling a product. What happens when sales dwindle? Do you have a plan for sustainable revenue?

Dan Counsell is the founder of Realmac Software, creators of applications such as RapidWeaver, Ember, and Clear. He’s been in the software business for a while now, and has learned some extremely valuable lessons along the way. In this episode, he shares the story of his very first piece of software, and his shock when people started sending him money for it.

He also walks me through the design, development, and launch of his most recent app, Clear (which I personally use every single day). The app is available for both iOS and an OS X, and he talks about why all developers should be targeting both App Stores.

This episode is about creating an app business, not just a product.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:42 — 40.0MB) | Embed

030 : A carefully crafted app launch with Jeremy Olson

Jeremy Olson Tapity It’s easy to look at somebody like Jeremy Olson and think, “wow, this guy came out of nowhere and just dominated the app scene!” His created his first app, Grades, while still in college, and it won him Apple’s prestigious Design Award in 2011. From there, he founded Tapity, an app development company that just launched its newest app Hours. He’s also the co-author of the popular App Design Handbook.

But creating a beautiful product is only one step in the process of releasing successful apps. In this interview, Jeremy takes me back to the beginning, and shares how he used a journal-like blog to make industry connections and build an audience before he even knew what he was doing. He also talks about turning app releases into launch events, which explains why Hours was covered by almost every major tech news website.

With over a million apps in the App Store, app success really is all about the launch. Jeremy shares exactly how he does it.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:22 — 39.7MB) | Embed

028 : Better products through storytelling with Donna Lichaw

Donna Lichaw Storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the beginning of history (one of the reasons that we even have history). Our brains are wired to respond to stories — whether it’s an urban legend told to us around a campfire as a child, or the tale of an obese man who lost weight with an all-Subway diet.

Donna Lichaw knows a thing or two about the importance of narrative, having studied film for both her undergrad and graduate degrees. She now uses the power of the narrative arc to build compelling products that engage the user by leading them through a carefully crafted experience. She’s worked with companies such as Seamless, Citi, Bloomberg, and Atlantic Records, diving into the user experience and building products that stick.

This episode is amazing. My favorite part is when she applies the narrative arc to an app I’m working on, and we get to see the entire process in action (starts at 52:45).

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:18 — 46.9MB) | Embed

How to quickly make GIFs and become an outsourcing master

Using GIF Brewery to make a GIF

I still have the chat logs from my endless hours spent on AOL Instant Messenger back in high school (2000 – 2004). I rediscovered them recently and spent about ten minutes reading before I couldn’t go on any further. Every other word made me cringe.

There’s a very specific reason why I was cringing: I remembered exactly what I was thinking as I had those conversations, but that is not at all how it came across as I looked back at things. I thought I was properly communicating my thoughts, but everything was actually coming out all wrong. I wasn’t being witty, I was just being a jerk.

I’ve become slightly better with words since then (I hope!) but there’s only so far that text chats can get you. When you’re trying to explain something to someone, there are times when words aren’t enough. You need to show them.

But when you’re not sitting right next to that person, showing can be difficult. There are a few different ways to solve this problem. Chris Ducker, of Virtual Freedom, crafted what he calls the VA Training Trifecta, in which an entrepreneur can either text, audio, video, or some combination therein to communicate tasks with virtual staff.

But there’s another powerful tool that I use nearly everyday to quickly show people exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about GIFs.

A GIF is the perfect communication tool for describing small bits of dynamic information, like how a button animation should work or the way something is working on your computer. You can guarantee that whoever you’re talking to can see exactly what you’re seeing, and it’s much easier to show rather than trying to describe the problem with words or going through the hassle of creating a huge screencast.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a GIF is worth over 9,000!

I’ve perfected a system that lets me make GIFs on my Mac in about 30 seconds. I’m going to show you exactly how I do it. Continue reading →