I know. I know. Every time we release a new app, I say it’s our best to date. But this one is special because it came about from failure and rejection.
Since 2009, we’ve been building Flash Card and Self Test apps for John Wiley & Sons’ leading higher ed titles so students could review key terms and concepts anywhere. In all, we did about 20 apps. They all looked the same and behaved the same, but just contained different content. And that’s where we ran into trouble.
In January, we submitted two more apps for review and they were rejected. Not because of any scandalous reason, but because we had so many that were similar and Apple felt we were cluttering up the store. First reaction, my head almost exploded. An hour later, I kinda realized, they had a point. So, the next thing was, well, we either overcome this or get out of the Flash Card/Self Test app business. We went with the “overcome this” option.
After a quick huddle up, we looked at how other higher ed publishers were handling this, and couldn’t find a good example. Actually, we couldn’t find any example. So we looked for businesses with no relation to education and found a few that did “in app purchasing” really well. That was it – we’d build a container where students could buy and run the apps they needed. It would be a container of self study tools. We ended up calling it that Wiley Business Study Center, but during design and development, we just called it “the container app.” Like most other ideas, it started in a 99 cent spiral notebook. I know, it’s high tech and your mind is probably blown right now:
Of course, some of this never made it through to the final app, but a lot of it did. This was well before we decided to make it and all the apps inside “universal” so they’d look great on the iPhone or iPad.
We laid out the plan and Wiley accepted – and they were amazing through the process. Together we fleshed out the look, logic and behavior of the new container app. It was a lot of work. A lot of proofing. A LOT of proofing. And they were insanely patient. In a nutshell, here’s what we did:
Built a new universal container app
Recoded 14 existing apps so everything was the latest and greatest
Reworked the images for the new high-res displays
Created 6 NEW apps
Made all 20 apps universal
Added a new feature to ALL of the self test apps – “Review All Chapters”
So when I see this app available on the iTunes Store, I don’t see one app, but 21 separate apps that at times felt like 42 apps since testing on both iPhone and iPad.
Have you ever watched HGTV on Sunday mornings? There’s a line up of shows that revolve around a professional (landscaper, builder, contractor, etc) comes to a home and works with the homeowner to fix, renovate, or complete a project that has been on the back burner for weeks, months or years. Along the way, the professional shows the homeowner how some of the things are done. Maybe they’ll put in a tile floor or hook up some new plumbing or wiring fixtures. Don’t forget the demolition. Demo. They always help with demo. Who can’t swing a hammer through some drywall? And who doesn’t love it?!
I call this Assisted DIY and often tell my wife, “if someone would just coach me along the way, I could do all this stuff myself and we’d save a boatload of cash.”
So, what’s this have to do with THICKSOLE?
Well, in a lot of ways, that’s what we do around here. We help clients take their ideas for websites or apps and assist in putting them together into finished projects. There’s no way we’re going to expect a client to start ripping into Xcode, or writing up some javascript for their fancy new web forms – just as a carpenter would never ask me to build custom cabinetry from raw hardwood. But, by using tools like WordPress, we are able to bring clients into the fold and let them get their hands dirty by not only creating content and maintaining their own sites, but we also spend time explaining the structure if they ever get ambitious to try out a new look/theme for the site, add new functionality with a plugin, or want to try their hand at some CSS.
We might build the house, but once we give you the keys, you’re a better home owner and in more control than you may have ever thought possible.
If you have an iPad or an iPhone, it might be loaded with apps that didn’t really pan out. Even though there might be a hundred plus apps on my iPad, there are about ten that I don’t know how I did without. One of those is iMockups for iPad.
For anyone that ever has to think through a website or an iPad or iPhone app, this is the tool to use. I’ve even had desktop apps that don’t come close to this $7 iPad app. In a nutshell, with a simple drag and drop interface, users touch and drag a basic framework to the canvas. For example, an iPhone, iPad, or a browser window. From there, using a library of objects, build out your wireframe. For example, here’s a shot of a canvas with an iPhone “framework” and then on top of that, from the right menu of objects, I dragged over a keyboard to show some sort of text entry.
You can even make multiple layout pages within a project and link certain areas to jump to another part of the project (another wireframe).
Now, you don’t have to describe your apps with paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Just put together a rough layout on your own and build from there. This app is a great way to think through an app and deliver a solid structure to your dev team. Download it today.
Long time hosting client, Phil Harvey, called last week and let me know about the release of his new book, Show Time. He was looking give his site a refresh while adding info about the new release. The schedule around here was pretty hammered with the app work we’ve been doing, but how can I say ‘no’?
I remembered the custom WordPress theme I was screwing around with to release for authors. As a mock up, I css’d everything in red, black, and grey. It happened his new book cover was red, white, grey and black. So, I took it as a sign. In just a few days, I was able to not only get his new site set up, but migrate everything from his old site over to the new WordPress platform. I like how it turned out:
The new app we built for John Wiley & Sons just went live in the iTunes store. I’m excited about this one because, well, on my ever growing ‘todo’ list, “renovate the kitchen” floats around mid-list. So, I had a dog in this hunt. I also liked the way it came out. So much so, I made a quick little video overview of the iPhone version:
I’ll cover how that video was created in a separate post, but for now, a little plug-o-la:
The app is made for both iPhone & iPad (the iPad version has some really nice background art) – aka a Universal app. It’s also available for Android. Looks like the publisher has it on sale, so if this is up your alley, pick it up now at $3.99.
Time for a small celebration. Oh – we have a few more apps in the works and should be hitting the stores in the next few weeks.
This morning I read that WordPress is still the most popular blogging platform in the world, and it made me happy that years ago, we picked the right horse. But how important is it to blog today? Is this just old school nonsense? Isn’t everyone moving on to mobile apps? Well, it is important that your blog works on mobile devices of course and things like responsive design take care of that. You can even create an app based on your blog content if you desire. But the process of blogging is critical to work through your thoughts and ideas. As well as to explain exactly what you were thinking when X decision was made.
I found a video from a year or two ago where Tom Peters and Seth Godin are on stage and discussing just this topic. Of course they explains the power of blogging much better that I can. Check it out for yourself:
Listening to Adam Carolla this morning, Adam pulled back the curtain on the machine that’s driving his new book, Not Taco Bell Material. I edited down the entire clip, but in a nutshell, Adam, the author, booked himself on Jimmy Kimmel Live to unveil the cover of his new book. This is a booking most publishing publicity departments would die to book. So, after 8 minutes talking about the book on national TV, they point everyone to Amazon to buy the book.
Here’s what people saw:
No cover, but lots of excuses (“being cautious” & “monitoring”). Here’s the audio…
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Luckily Adam has his own site, his own wildly popular podcast, and enough know-how to put a cover up online. Here’s the cover, by the way (not so hard to do, really):
If you’re an author and are finally living the dream by signing with a major publisher, you have as much, if not more, work to do than if you were self-publishing. Build a site as a central hub to all things you and your book. It’s simple, affordable, and critical.
A post over at Edenspiekermann just revealed that many professional designers are using an uncontainable application to layout websites and apps: Apple’s Keynote. That’s right, the presentation software that everyone relates to Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s PowerPoint, turns out to be quite a powerful design tool. Here’s a clip:
I was very surprised to find out that designers were using Keynote for laying out presentations. My surprise turned to alarm when I found out that they were also using it as a design tool to build UI designs for websites and apps. It turns out that I was absolutely wrong. Keynote is an incredibly powerful design tool. Less then one year later, I now rarely (if ever) use InDesign to layout presentations, and I have started using Keynote almost exclusively for any web layouts I do. And not just UX wireframes, but full UI designs.
The post goes on to explain what makes Keynote such a useful and appropriate tool for designing websites, as well as the shortcomings.
What I found the most interesting is that often we get so distracted by having the perfect piece of software or just the right hardware set up that nothing actually gets done. Here are professional designers using a $19.99 app that anyone can download today and get moving.
Less and less is in the way between you and getting your work in the hands of millions.
A friend sent me a link to an article on today’s NYT site. It’s about how non-technical professionals are diving into the fundamentals of technology. It all sounded familiar and then I remembered a post I wrote a couple of years ago (March 2010). Here’s a clip from the Times article:
“Inasmuch as you need to know how to read English, you need to have some understanding of the code that builds the Web,” said Sarah Henry, 39, an investment manager who lives in Wayne, Pa. “It is fundamental to the way the world is organized and the way people think about things these days.” Ms. Henry took several classes, including some in HTML, the basic language of the Web, and WordPress, a blogging service, through Girl Develop It, an organization based in New York that she had heard about online that offers lessons aimed at women in a number of cities. She paid around $200 and saw it as an investment in her future.
I forgot about this, but I made a graphic that could have accompanied this article. Here it is again…
Every time I demo a new WordPress site, the reaction is overwhelming. The ease of use, clarity, and structure of a well built site blows away non-technical pros that are used to being chased away from technology either by an overzealous tech person, or by a shoddy CMS that is set up for only the developer that put it together. At the end of those calls, I end up thinking, “why don’t more people use this?!”.
For one, there’s all that in-between work of buying a domain, setting it up on a server, installing WordPress, configuring a theme, and then you get to the fun part. So, I’ve been working on a new super affordable “package” for any non-technical professional that needs a website and doesn’t want to get bogged down in the technical aspects.
To start, I’m putting together a custom theme for Authors and Publishers. It’s being set up to feature a new publication but flexible enough to handle a library of titles. It will also handle all of the other activities that the author is up to. Here’s a sneak peek:
Launching in 3 different color schemes, there should be one to get you started. Along with the theme, I’m teaming up with the NYC-based hosting company, ClearDev, to take care of purchasing a domain, setting up hosting, installing WordPress (via their automated installer – the INSTALLATRON), and configuring the theme.
After that, we’ll meet via GoToMeeting for a quick one-on-one overview (less than an hour) of how to manage your new site in WordPress. It’s everything you need and I can’t think of a way to make it easier.
Well, there are a couple more things I plan on throwing in, but I’ll save those for launch.
In the meantime, check out the shot above and any feedback or questions you have, feel free to fire them off in the comments or hit me in the “contact” form. The feedback has been great lately and I appreciate it.
If you have an iPad or an iPhone, it might be loaded with apps that didn’t really pan out. Even though there might be a hundred plus apps on my iPad, there are about ten that I don’t know how I did without. One of those is 
. He was looking give his site a refresh while adding info about the new release. The schedule around here was pretty hammered with the app work we’ve been doing, but how can I say ‘no’?
. I edited down the entire clip, but in a nutshell, Adam, the author, booked himself on 
