Month: December 2015

6 Apps to Help Survive Family this Holiday Season

December 22, 2015
 
Ashley Rondeau

If you are thrilled to be home, surrounded by awesome family, sharing hugs and kisses while angels are singing, this isn’t the article for you. Rather, if you’re like me, stuck in a boring city with family you’ve already had pleasantries with and are now looking for a better distraction than arguing about politics for the next week, read on.
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Over the years, I’ve become an expert at avoiding family and eeking through the holidays with my sanity intact. Before smartphones, it was stocking up on Blockbuster rentals and alcohol. Well one of those things have changed in the modern era. Here are 6 apps that will help you survive this holiday season.

1. Netflix.

Maybe you do Hulu Plus. Maybe you do HBOGo. Some of you are sadists who do Crackle. For me, Netflix is my go-to during the holidays to disengage from yet another argument about what I really should be doing for a living, and allow me to escape to sweet, sweet digital-Nirvana. Where Arrested Development (even season four) and Master of None can drown out the ambient noise of family, half hour by half hour. “Sorry guys, this just auto-played another episode. Go to Sam’s Club without me.” Ahh, sweet bliss.

2. Twitter.

Facebook is populated by families, yours and mine. Instagram’s just full of Christmas trees, dogs with hats, and poorly-lit family selfies. You can’t escape the holidays on these networks. Twitter, on the other hand, is where the cynics live. There’s no room for long well-wishing messages of hope. You can skip right over any images. Twitter is your best bet for reading all the snarky asides during the holidays, where uncles and aunts can’t find them. Twitter is your inner Grinch’s platform to poop on Whoville, without any risk of your heart growing three sizes. #HomeForChristmas is that sarcastic never-ending feed of tweets that you can commiserate with surreptitiously at the dinner table. And you can always mute the happy ones for a week.

3. Uber.

I don’t have a car here. Stay safe when you drink alone at a bar.

4. Final Fantasy VI.

You can’t watch TV and movies the entire break. I’m running out of Netflix already. Square Enix just released this port of the classic Super Nintendo game on Android and it’s great. The story is immersive enough to make you forget about any and all relationship advice from your family, and at night you dream of having magic powers that can either take you away from all this, or at least transport your cousins to another dimension. The nostalgia is key here. It brings you back to a time when the holidays were still exciting and magical as you unwrapped a Nintendo next to a decorated tree. Instead of now, where you have a virtual log fire streaming from YouTube next to an empty space where the family was too lazy to put up even the plastic tree. At least these tiny mages don’t age.

5. Google Cardboard.

To date, I haven’t found a better app that will captivate family young and old…so you can quietly escape and drink wine in the kitchen. Fire up the app, put it in the head mount, and let them “ooh” and “ahh” and leave you alone. Sure, you’ll have to give up your smartphone for a while, but that’s why you have your tablet computer. And a laptop. And this aforementioned wine. Also, those head mounts are just $12 or so, and they make great presents to distract everyone all week long. I’ve come armed with three this year.

6. Hipmunk.

Maybe I can’t actually buy this earlier flight out of here. But a guy can dream, right? Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.
Happy holidays, everyone. I hope your time with family is swell. I’d provide a link to my Twitter so you can follow the rest of my miserable week, but I don’t want to depress you. Follow us at @RocketFarm instead! Much happier there, I promise.
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So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

Schedule a consultation today.

4 Reasons NOT to Work in Mobile Development

December 17, 2015
 
Ashley Rondeau

Cats. Football. Cilantro. There are some things that just aren’t for you. Working in mobile development might be one of those things. We at the Farm love it, of course. It’s creative, fulfilling, and we get to do fun things like meet The Woz during hackathons. But as we continue to hire (which we always are!) and foster young programmers looking toward mobile, we want to make sure you know what you’re getting into. If you’re considering a career in mobile, it’s good to do your research. After all, knowing what you don’t want to do for a living is just as important as knowing what you do want to do. Here are four reasons that might deter you from working as a mobile developer.

1. You don’t want to spend your time “pixel-pushing.”

file-295507_1280Unless your app is somehow completely text-based (and good luck with that), there’s going to be design elements that will require hours and hours of pixel-pushing. From batch resizing to color correction to page layout, there are plenty of mundane and unsexy tasks to be done as a mobile developer. And on those occasions you get a demanding client who can’t stop messing with the design, you’re going to need some extra-strong coffee to get you through the day(s).
Keep in mind, most app developers make “boring, safe enterprise apps,” as their bread and butter, because at the end of the day that’s where the money is. Some college student might come to you with a great idea for the next Candy Crush, but unless she can lockdown some funding, you’ll have to take it on as a passion project as you work the projects that keep the lights on. Here at Rocket Farm, we have the luxury to be somewhat picky with the projects we take on, but we also love the challenge of making even the most “boring” apps as visually stimulating and enjoyable to use as possible. We find the love in the grunt work.
You don’t have to be a perfectionist to enjoy “pixel-pushing,” but if you work in mobile development, you do have to find a way to make it enjoyable for yourself.

2. You don’t want to fight to be understood.

Mobile has come a long way since the first iPhone and the industry has matured. In fact, more people are on mobile than on traditional desktop computers:

Source: comScore
Source: comScore

But that doesn’t mean businesses really understand how to use mobile. In all honesty, the market is still in the early phases of figuring that out. Some enterprises who need mobile the most still don’t even have a clear strategy in place to implement a successful mobile push.
This means that as a mobile developer, you’re entering a career that isn’t well understood. “Why is that button there?” “Can’t we have more call-to-actions on this screen?” “Why does this app feel so slow?” You’d be surprised at the sort of questions we have to patiently answer simply because mobile apps just haven’t been around long enough. Companies aren’t clear on matters like how much good development can cost, how much time it should take, or even some best practices of design — often because we’re making up these best practices as we go!
If you want to succeed in the mobile world as a developer, you should be ready to be consultative. Be open to what the clients want, but find a way to get your ideas across so they can see bigger possibilities in what you’re trying to do. Collaboration is key to creating great apps that both you and your clients can be proud of. Just be ready not to back down when you have a vision of what apps should be, because more often than not the client will be looking to you to lead the way.

3. You don’t want to be limited to a small screen.

How many different ways can you paint a four inch screen? That’s basically your job. Sure screens have grown half an inch here and there, and sure you can work on tablets too. But the vast majority of apps that make money exist to be shown on a smartphone’s screen. Right now, there are 1.5 million apps that all purport to be a unique combination of pixels that will knock your socks off. At least, that’s what companies that will hire you will want. “Our app has to stand out.”
Can you build a unique experience on a 4 inch screen? That’s your challenge in mobile development, and some find it limiting. Gone are the 13 to 17 inch laptop screens that open up a vast world of color combinations and possibilities. Now you’re limited to a screen not much larger than a deck of cards that people will complain about if a button isn’t within easy reach of their lazy thumb. There are only so many ways to use an app with an index finger. There are only so many ways to deliver information on a small screen. If you’re not up to the task of constantly innovating in a confining design space, don’t become a mobile app developer.

4. You don’t want to be at the mercy of Apple and Google.

Think your current boss is unreasonable? Wait until your next boss changes a huge aspect of your job overnight without warning and refuses to hear your complaints. Apple and Google will be your boss, your coworker, your security guard, your IT, your payroll, and your lover and spouse depending on how deep you get into mobile design. When they say “jump,” you say “wait, what? Since when? Oh geez, company meeting guys! Something changed.”
For what it’s worth, both Apple and Google are benevolent dictators. For effectively having a duopoly, they both do a good job of keeping app developers more happy and less angry with new releases. But if you want to work in mobile, you have to kowtow to these two giant corporations that ultimately care more about their bottom line than your livelihood by a long stretch. You’ll have to learn new languages, keep up with the latest releases, and adhere to their ever-changing rules.
Are you willing to have a career that’s largely dictated by two tech behemoths?
But for those of you who haven’t been scared off yet, and are willing to overcome these four challenges, the world can be your oyster. Demand for mobile developers is incredibly high and it’s a great time to be in our field. If you’ve got the willingness, and the chops, maybe you should join us at the Farm. Now that we’ve weeded out the don’t-ers, we want to talk to you doers.
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So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

Schedule a consultation today.

How To Run Agile like the New England Patriots

December 3, 2015
 
Dan Katcher

A few weekends ago I was invited to give a talk to the Boston University Global Apps Initiative, a student run group that works to publish apps that benefit nonprofits. These BU students, numbering in the hundreds over the years, learn to work in teams and build collaboratively. It’s an awesome organization and a great mission, and they’ve published six apps since starting in 2012.
Rocket Farm at Boston University Global Apps Initiative
The GAI folks asked me to do a talk for the LEAP (Leadership and Education Acceleration Program) Conference on Agile Development. “Sure”, I said. And then thought to myself “how do you make agile software development interesting for college students”?  Software process is not normally the most electric of topics, so for inspiration I turned to the world’s greatest (and most frequently maligned) football team, the New England Patriots, and the greatest coach on Earth (pause for the trumpet fanfare), mighty Bill Belichick. What resulted was a talk titled “How to Run Agile like the New England Patriots”. (OK – full disclosure – when I gave the talk it was just called “Agile Software Development,” but I’m all about revisionist history.)

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I’ve had a small brush with the Pats before. Way back in 2007, when I was at Quattro Wireless, I was part of the team that built the mobile websites for the NFL and the Patriots. As part of that work, we traveled to Patriots Place to meet with their digital team and witnessed some of the prep the Patriots organization does in the midst of a football season. As we walked through Patriots Place, an open door revealed a daily planning meeting with representatives of all aspects of the organization: security, vending, parking, media, etc., each running through a fast update on their area of focus. Talk about a cross functional team running an efficient standup!

The Goal is to Win

Perhaps the best way to start the analogy is to compare the goals of the two organizations: the New England Patriots (or whatever your worse local team may be – just so you don’t feel excluded) and your Agile Software Team. The Pats’ goals are simple: put their team in the best position to win, week after week, in a variety of circumstances and against a variety of opponents for the entirety of a season. Sure, there are other goals along the way, like representing the team well to the media, keeping players healthy, game planning successfully – but the primary goal is to win. Every week. For 19 weeks.
Now look at the Agile Software Team. Reading the Agile Manifesto and the underlying Agile Principles, the goals are equally simple: deliver working software that meets customer needs, week after week, in a variety of circumstances for the entirety of a software project. This is the Agile Software Team’s notion of winning.

Agile is a Team Sport

Being agile is all about teamwork. It’s about cross functional teams who must work together daily to be successful. The highest priority is to satisfy the customer through continuous delivery of software that meets their needs. And when changes in requirements come, they’re welcomed, just like how the Patriots welcome a changing opponent each and every week. It’s about communication and collaboration and trust that your teammates are going to fulfill their commitments. “Do your job,” Belichick commands, and if everyone on the software team does their job, the team becomes incredibly productive, powerful, and can maintain that productive pace consistently over the course of a software season, and beyond. Agile is a team sport, built around motivated individuals.

Agile is Preparation

It’s instructive to look at how the Patriots prepare week after week, for games that usually take place on Sundays, but also Thursdays and Mondays. Likewise, the Agile Software Team must be as flexible and deliver when the customer needs it, not when it’s convenient. Your bye week is Christmas. Get back to work.
So how do the Pats prepare? You might think a typical week starts the moment the previous game ends, but it actually starts well before that as the coaches look at opponents in the coming weeks. Likewise, you need a great product manager to be looking well beyond the current week’s build to help prepare for what’s ahead.
Then the week begins. Sunday is wrapup and media. Monday is weights, team meetings, unit meetings (e.g., special teams or linebackers), followed by a practice and walk-through. There’s a lot of film work, reviewing issues from the last game, pointing out problems to fix, all while healing and recovering from the previous game. To me, this seems like our team’s Sprint Retrospective to a T. We review what worked, what went wrong, and plan ahead for the week.
Tuesday is typically a player off-day while the coaches get the game plan in place. You might call this Sprint Planning. That game plan is delivered on Wednesday, when the players review more film, walk through the formations and play, and really being to practice. The sprint is in full swing! And the heavy lifting happens Thursday and Friday: weights, therapy, film, practice, and the ever-present media sessions.  Here’s a thought: those media sessions are analogous to marketing, which every Agile team should be fully aware of and eager to support, whether for the external market or for your direct customer.
Saturday may be a travel day, or if it’s a home game, a day with a light schedule and team dinners. We’re prepping for the build! And then it’s game day on Sunday!

Be Agile Like the Pats

The Agile Software Team organizes their week’s work in a really similar way. Monday is release day (just in case there’s a little more left to do over the weekend), and then the routine starts again. They follow up a release with a sprint retrospective, ideally on the same day but sometimes on Tuesday, which also has a sprint planning session.  The sprint kicks off and team does their thing: grooming sessions continually, writing lots of code, code reviews on checkins, daily standups for status, weekly status meetings with the clients, and of course – don’t forget the media sessions (aka, marketing). By Friday they have a great feeling for what’s going to make it into the release. Not everything always does, but the Agile Software Team strives to communicate frequently with the clients to adjust based on their feedback.
Belichick’s own description of the process is neatly captured here, and it’s a fascinating read. His job starts with game day and works backward so that his team is always properly prepared to play, be it a Thursday night game or on Sunday. Belichick stresses the need for routine and the need to know where in the weekly preparation schedule you are. It’s a great analogy for app developers: if you live and breath Agile, you’ll know where you are relative to release day, and your team should be geared up to run a very routine routine. Monday is release day. Work backwards and make it happen.
So there you have – Agile inspiration from your New England Patriots. Find us @RocketFarm
By the way I’m not by far the first person to use the sports teams metaphor for startups and technology. Go read @eshares amazing post on how to run a company like a sports team – it makes that point brilliantly. But in my talk I focused specifically on the agile software development process. And the Patriots. Go Pats!

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

Schedule a consultation today.