HOW TO BUILD EPIC THINGS

MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT

East Highschool

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Why Build Apps?You can build things for cutting edge computers that almost everyone carries around in their pockets

The App Store & Google Play make publishing an app to hundreds of millions of customers pretty easy

It’s a career or hobby that is continually growing and changing

Who is Jonathan Wiley

ME ME ME ME

Speaker Introduction

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Who am I? How did I become a mobile developer?

I grew up in the Mule Capital of the World!

I am a. giant. nerd.

Speaker Introduction

I learned how to re-program my graphing calculator to play games and avoid algebra by hacking the homework

I took photos with my cool, new camera phone >>>

How much of a nerd?

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Nerd goes to college

I went to college at Vanderbilt.

I learned how to program more than my calculator

I also volunteered a lot with VSVS (here at East Middle!) - fun science lessons with y’all

My senior year the very first iPhone came out….

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Nerd doesn’t want to leave college

I learned to program beyond my graphing calculator, beyond my computer, and went to graduate school and began programming for big things like power grids and water systems

Ultimate CODING

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It’s ok to quit as long as you try something else

I didn’t like what I was doing. I quit.

I moved to New York and started a development company centered around these new things called smart phones.

I had no idea what I was doing. It was a bust.

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It’s ok to fail as long as you learn from it.

I went back to Nashville and got a job

I learned more about smartphones and how development companies work by working at larger companies like Metova & Griffin Technology.

I started again. I surrounded myself with smart people. I asked lots of questions from people in the community. I made a plan.

Speaker Introduction

What do I do now?

LUNARLINCOLN

LunarLincoln

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I started a mobile app development shop (again)First it was me at home with the cats with 1 or 2 projects

Then me + Travis (employee #1) in a basement closet-office with more projects

Then me + Travis + Jennifer - We were crazy busy

Today: Office of 6 in Germantown. (Wiley, Jennifer, Travis, Ben, Patrick, and Jack)

LunarLincoln

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What do we build?

We make people’s ideas and apps a reality with code, design, and planning

LunarLincoln

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Apps for golf cartsLunarLincoln

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Apps for sales teamsLunarLincoln

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Apps that track and record everythingLunarLincoln

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Apps for emailLunarLincoln

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Apps for the 5c caseLunarLincoln

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Building things everyday is…

Hard

Interesting

Challenging

Fun

Not. Boring. (Like power grid coding)

LunarLincoln

Real quick - here is the whole process

LIFECYCLE OF AN APP

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Come up with an idea

What makes a good idea/app?

Does it solve a problem?

Does it accomplish a task?

Is it fun?

A good app is one people will use and can make money

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How do you make money?Build an app that is unique (or at least stands out from the crowd)

Build an app that leverages new technology

Build an app that has more character than the competition

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How do you make money?Find your happy quadrant

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Don’t forget

You’re app idea must be one that you're passionate about

Have fun! Make sure you're building something you can work on for a long time because the initial shine will wear off well before you've finished

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You have your perfect baby app idea. Crash Course

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Come up with an elevator pitch

An elevator pitch forms your guiding principles

If its hard to make a concise pitch, or people aren’t getting it - maybe the idea needs some work

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Refine the idea

Come up with a list of features your users might like to see

Determine who your users are

Filter the feature list through the audience definition

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Research the competition

Get valuable data from their experiences

Google it!

App reviews

Press

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Keep on refining…

Are you ready yet?

Is the idea clear?

Is it needed/fun/new?

Can you make money?

Do you want to work on it to death?

Is there any competition and can you do it better?

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Make, Show, Learn, Make, Show, Learn, Make, Show, Learn, Make, Show, Learn, Make, Show, Learn

PROTOTYPING

Crash Course

Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four

sharpening the axe.

- Abraham Lincoln

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Designing the app through rapid prototyping3 step iterative process

Make

Show

Learn Repeat as necessary until the idea works for your users

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MakeStart with paper

Sketch out as many different ways you could accomplish your main goals as possible

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Make: Basic WireframingLow fidelity

Helps you understand how a user will accomplish their goals with the app

Helps identify any places a user might get stuck or experience friction

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ShowShow your friends, family, anyone who will listen

Ask them unbiased questions

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LearnTake the feedback you got and analyze it

Come up with a few ways to make your app better

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RepeatDo this over and over again, adding a bit more realism each time until you have a great prototype

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DesignWhen your wireframes are complete you’re now ready to add design.

Simple design can consist of a selected color palette, a custom font, and nice icons.

Use tools such as Sketch or Creative Suite for mock-ups and artwork

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DesignYou don’t have to be a professional designer. Many professionals have already done the work for you.

The internet is filled with free resources!!!

Check out sites like: such as GraphicBurger or Pixeden or Freebiesbug

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Key Prototyping TenetAvoid writing any actual code

Keep everything low tech this way changes are easy and not expensive/time consuming

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Build the brains behind the beauty

ACTUAL CODING

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Break it down and be organizedTake your wireframes and break them into tasks

“A user can upload a photo”

Place your tasks into an issue tracker for agile development

Trello

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Start buildingCreate a repository to host your code

Try to accomplish something for the user every time you break off a chunk of work

If you mess up, simply revert your code (you did setup a repository right?)

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Committing code to your repositoryCreate a new Xcode project

Build, run, commit

Start building first user story

Commit

Start building second user story

Commit

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Track and measure your code with analytics

Flurry Fabric

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Test your code

iOS TestFlight

Test it yourself

Send it to friends

Use crash reporting to catch crashes

Android Google Play Developer Console

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Prepare for Launch APP PROMOTION

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Submit your app for reviewIf its Android - hooray your app will be live in a few hours with little to no review

If its iOS - get ready to wait up to 10 days for review. Be sure to review Apple’s stringent App Store policies.

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Get ready to announce to the publicCreate an app landing page - make sure to include:

Description of your app Prominent link to download your app Video of your app Press Kit

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Announce to the public (and the press)Gather a list of press peeps who would be interested in your app

Have they written about similar apps?

Are they writing to your target audience?

Find common ground and get in touch with each of them

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RecapWireframe and user test

Design with basic UI

Code the right idea

Build marketing website and resources while waiting for app store approval

Reach out to the press

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What to do after the hoopla of launchMeasure with analytics See how the public responds Pay (a little) attention to app reviews Look at support emails for sources of friction for users Apps are like houses, they fall apart if they're not actively maintained

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Let’s Review BUILDING AN APP

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Form a great team!

Do the leg work before you start building

Build your vision

Launch your vision and tell people about it

Profit

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What does it take to be a good developer?

ACTUAL CODING

Aspirations & Learning

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A good developer needs to be inquisitive

Why doesn’t this work?

How can it be better?

What if….

Aspirations & Learning

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A good developer is always learning

New phones

New operating systems

New trends

New features

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A good developer has an analytical mind

It’s all a machine. You just have to find the right magic words (code) to make the pieces work in sync.

Building and fixing the machine is what it’s all about.

Aspirations & Learning

Jay Oh Bee

DEVELOPERS - WHAT KIND AND WHERE

The Working World

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Mobile Development Jobs - Freelance/Indie

Work for yourself

Pick your projects (clients)

Build your own apps

No steady paycheck

Examples: David Smith | Sam Soffees | Marco Arment

The Working World

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Mobile Development Jobs - Start UpSmall team

Single product-early stages

Very fast paced / long hours

High Risk / High Reward

Examples: WhatsApp https://www.whatsapp.com/about/ | Slack https://slack.com | Postmates https://postmates.com | Duolingo https://www.duolingo.com

The Working World

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Mobile Development Jobs - Agency

Small/medium team

Many different projects

Lots of different code bases

Fast/medium paced environment

Examples: Handsome http://handsome.is | BlackPixel https://blackpixel.com | MetaLab http://metalab.co | Fueled http://fueled.com

The Working World

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Mobile Development Jobs - CorporateLarger companies can have larger teams

Can take a slower pace with development

Projects are often more focused on one internal goal

This is Margaret Hamilton – She was Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program. In one of the critical moments of the Apollo 11 mission, Hamilton's work prevented an abort of landing on the moon. Read the Medium article

The Working World

What can I do now? GETTING STARTED

Resources

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Learn Online

Swift WWDC Videos

Stanford Video Lecture Series StackOverflow

QuoraObjc.ioNSHipster

Resources

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Build Stuff

LittleBits

MakeyMakey

Arduino Projects

Game Kits

Resources

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Go to things & meet peopleVandyHacks 2015

Cocoaheads

Nashville Mobile Development User Group

Nashville Makers

Girl Geek Dinners

TN Code Academy

100 Girls of Code

Thanks

Download this presentation and other goodies at: www.LunarLincoln.com/EastHigh

Follow us online: @LunarLincoln