Everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning. Most of us seek purpose and a reason for being. I find purpose in my work: solving problems through web & user interface design.
After doing this for 20 years, I no longer want to solve business problems given to me. I want to solve problems affecting people. I want to work with individuals with similar ethics, a sense of humour and a strong drive to make things. Most importantly, I want to build things the right way. With accessibility, usability and the customer’s experience at the forefront of our decision-making.
A few people in my circle own restaurants and I noticed a recurring pattern in the problems they were experiencing. A restaurant owner mentioned that he would love an app that could allow him to do certain things. That’s when I started thinking about it and a few years later it’s still in my thoughts. Constantly.
Jinta Hirayama’s Illustrated Fireworks Catalogs from the 1800s
I approached an old friend, Rudolf to partner with me. He was involved with a startup and had been in the game for years. We brainstormed and sketched what we wanted it to be. We had lots of ideas but we carefully selected a base to start with. We knew that for it to succeed, we needed a good marketing plan. We approached another friend, Gareth to join us. Gareth helped build our company website and we also started working on a marketing tool, which is potentially a useful web product which ties in with the app. We’re still learning.
Rudolf wrote the API calls for a freelance Frontend App Developer that we hired to bring our app prototype to life. During this time, Rudolf’s other company started to gain momentum and he had less time to commit to what we were doing. I approached another friend to help with the remaining backend work, but things take time when you wrangle favours.
Jinta Hirayama’s Illustrated Fireworks Catalogs from the 1800s
Right now, we’re almost complete with the first version of the app, but we have a while to go before it is the product it needs to be. I’m sad that Rudolf no longer has time to be actively involved but I am happy his initial venture has gained such momentum. I’m funding our startup myself (I have some savings and a corporate day job). We’re trying to get as far as we can without outside investment. Gareth and I are looking for a Backend Developer, so if you’d like to find out more about what we’re doing, please contact me. The API has been built in Django, so skills in that would be great.
As a final note, I’ll list some of the books that have guided some of our thinking processes. Some marketing books due to our lack of expertise in that field.
User Story Mapping - Jeff Patton, Peter Economy
Patton believes that story mapping requires a paradigm shift in team members’ mindsets, moving from “sharing requirements” to developing a “shared understanding.” There are good takeaways on MVP’s in the book.
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Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work - Indi Young
The book describes how to really listen to your users. The practical tips and methods help you to understand your customers’ thinking patterns and perspectives.
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Traction - Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares
From the creator of DuckDuckGo, it helped us think about which marketing channels made sense for us, given the industry and company stage.
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Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - Al Ries, Jack Trout
Seth Godin recommended this book saying “"This book is built around the brilliant insight that your prospect doesn't care nearly as much about what you do as you do, and thus you must boil down your offering into a unique slot that repositions the competition”.
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Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Chip & Dan Heath
After reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, this is a similar take on the idea of “stickiness” - that which makes an idea memorable or interesting.
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User Friendly - Cliff Kuang, Robert Fabricant
A worthy read after Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things. I found this one more accessible. An engrossing history of user-centered design.
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Hooked: How To Build Habit Forming Products - Nir Eyal
Read this one with caution. Creating habit forming products is definitely not our goal. It does, however, give insight into behavioural economics.
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The Ethical Design Handbook - Trine Falbe, Martin Michael Frederiksen, Kim Andersen
Practical techniques to make honest interfaces work for digital products. Tips to help a business grow sustainably — without dark patterns. A good antidote to building habit forming products.
Jinta Hirayama’s Illustrated Fireworks Catalogs from the 1800s