Interesting Tips From a Seasoned App Developer

A self-taught programmer has been producing apps for over 10 years.  He has been successful writing apps and has shared some tips to help app developers.

Satisfy your own needs

My most popular apps are ones that I’ve developed for myself to satisfy my own needs with devices that excite me. If you want a capability on your device, chances are there are other people thinking the same thing. Having a problem you want to solve for yourself means that you are more committed to it and actually understand it. It’s also a lot more fun.

Take feedback and act on it

Without exception it has been feedback from highly engaged users which has allowed my apps to keep developing over the years, to improve and stay fresh. I respond to most customer emails myself and aim to do so quickly. This seems to have a lasting halo effect as customers recommend my apps to their friends. Many people are surprised and very pleased to get an email from the real developer rather than a support minion.

Keep it simple – but not too simple

You’ll typically get most feedback from the highly technical users who want lots of complicated features and options. These guys are great, they have some killer ideas, but they are not the majority of your users. In order to keep the broader base happy, you need to keep things simple. Palm OS used to talk about ‘the zen of Palm.’ They obsessed about letting users act in as few taps as possible. Apple has embraced this desire for simplicity — though, with Apple, making things beautiful can sometimes get in the way of achieving the goal.

Looks matter

When I started developing, apps were called applications, and we cared more about what they did than how they looked. Times have changed. For your app to be a success, it needs to look good. Spend that bit of extra time (and maybe money, if graphic skills aren’t your thing) to give it a bit of polish.

You can’t predict success

Apps are like pop songs. You write the app, you polish it and you release it. You don’t know whether it will be a hit or flop. That is true even after your first successful app. Most pop bands are one-hit-wonders, and most developers will struggle to follow initial success. I had low expectations for the app that would become my most successful project, and others that I was super-excited about disappeared without a trace. You do your best, release your app, then move on if you need to.

Small is good

I have been accused of lacking ambition, but I like my small, low-risk approach. I don’t have employees, I have never spent more than a few thousand pounds to develop, design, and launch an app. Many developers are working towards a big launch on borrowed money, hiring an expensive team of rock star developers and publicists, hoping and hanging on for that ever elusive venture capital or big tech buy-out. I look at most of those app ideas and wonder why they didn’t just build their app in the evenings, launch it, and see what happens. Most will disappear without a trace, but a good idea that fulfills a need will gradually find a market. And probably has as much chance of hitting it big as any other decent app, with a lot less risk.

 http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/insights-from-an-app-developer-veteran-think-simple-low-risk/

Tips For Writing on the Web

What is your goal when writing on the web?  Is it to showcase your intelligence or is it to inform people of interesting or helpful facts to a specific group?  Knowing the audience in which you are writing for is imperative for success. Below is a an article for advice on writing on the web.



Most users visit a web page for 10-15 seconds. In that brief time, 80% will skim the page for keywords they already have in mind. Therefore, before you begin writing web content, it’s important to understand your audience and anticipate what content and keywords they’re trying to find.

Adhering to the following guidelines will improve your web content:

1. Make your text easy to scan

• Put the most important information at the top of the page.
• Use plenty of embedded links, subheadings, bullets, lists, anchors, etc., to break up your text.
• Use tables, numbers, and charts to convey information visually when you can.

2. Cut your content down to basics

The biggest mistake writers of web content make is providing too much content and introductory text. In general, cut your print text by at least 50% and use the following guidelines:

• Web writing should be clear, concise, and direct.
• Write at a 6th- to 8th-grade reading level.
• Always try to write in first or second person.
• Whenever possible, stick to facts.
• Use active verbs and concrete words whenever possible.
• Try to avoid jargon, abbreviations, technical terms, and cleverness.
• Keep paragraphs short and stick to one main point at a time.
• Sentence structure should be simple and varied.

3. Write accessible link phrases

Accessible link phrases should differentiate links on the same page and be understood easily when read out of context. In general, links should:

• be brief and descriptive
• provide information even when read out of context
• explain what the link offers
• not deal with the mechanics of the site
• not include phrases such as, "Click here for more info"
• identify a new document type if not html (i.e. PDF, DOC, XLS)

4. Write short headlines

Users can generally only process several words at once, so generallyshorter headlines are better.
   Headlines should:
            



Headlines should:

• be concise and direct
• be able to stand on their own or be understood out of context
• avoid jargon, abbreviations, cleverness, and technical terms
• be search engine friendly. Visit our SEO Guidelines for more information.

https://itservices.uchicago.edu/page/writing-web