So I’m now 36 and I’m still not on the property ladder. I know it shouldn’t, but it makes me feel like a pathetic loser. I really shouldn’t be so hard on myself when I look at the statistics. This recent BBC survey goes to show I’m not alone. I haven’t given up on the dream and have a gut feeling that one day it will happen. Being a pragmatic developer I decided the first step is to see what kind of deposit I need. That’s when I came up with the idea for howmuchdepositdoineed.uk. It’s a simple web app that allows you to enter your postcode and the kind of property you’re looking for. Using Google geolocation we can determine the radius of the property area. Then we ask Zoopla for the first 50 listings that match our property type. It works quite well although I wish the deposits were a little smaller.
Category: Ideas
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Attack on free speech or lack of respect
I’ve been playing the latest attacks in France over and over in my head. First off let me make my position on the atrocities absolutely clear. The attacks were appalling and the perpetrators got exactly what they deserved. My concern is that a line of respect and common decency has to exist if we are going to live in a peaceful co-existence.
The declarations for un-negotiable freedom of speech are coming from the same liberals that are offended by anything that comes out of Frankie Boyle’s mouth. They’re complete hypocrites. I’m all for COMPLETE freedom of speech but I accept that in practice it just isn’t feasible. Surely, I can’t go up to someone call them a c*** and demand my rights of ‘freedom of speech’ should that person want to hurt me. It’s ridiculous.
I’m not religious but I appreciate it’s a very personal thing that means a lot to millions of people. When I’m talking to anyone about religion I tread carefully because I respect them and their religion. For a publication to totally disregard the feelings of so many people is just irresponsible. On all of the coverage, I saw just one interview with someone that dared make this observation.
Luckily, my faith in humanity came from a very unlikely source. The head of the Catholic church!
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My Full English – The Design Phase
Close Photoshop immediately. You are trying to run before you can walk. Have you ever just stared blankly at a completely blank PSD waiting to be hit in the face with the inspiration bat? I have and know it can be soul-destroying.
The initial design phase has to exclude all detail. To force this approach I took a Sharpie pen and some blank pieces of paper. Firstly I identified my main user paths. Luckily for MFE, there are only 2 of them.
- I need to find a venue for my breakfast
- I’ve just finished my breakfast and I would like to add a review
Both of these paths need to be achieved in as few amount of steps as possible and work on both mobile and desktop devices. Here are some of the initial sketches.
MFE Initial Design Ok, I’m unlikely to win any art competitions but by roughly sketching out ideas I managed to get a much better idea of what the flow of the site needed to be.
Once I was happy I created a digital version of the designs and flow to make it easier to share and reference. I used Mockingbird, which is a very easy-to-use wire-framing tool and is free for 1 project.
MFE Digital Wireframe Once transposed I exported it to a PDF which I could then share with others and also use as a constant reference for the ultimate goal of the project.
What Next
In the next post, we’ll look at how we are going to manage this project
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Innovation
How do I innovate? Do I need to invent something new? How do I measure success?
As a developer, I’m often looked upon to use technology to improve processes. This to a degree is innovation but you don’t necessarily need IT solutions to innovate something. You just need a good imagination.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Albert EinsteinOften when I oversee a process it’s easy for me to offer suggested improvements mainly because I’m neutral about it. I bring an outsider’s perspective. Becoming too close to any system can lead to not seeing the wood for the trees. I’ve compiled a simple suggested list of things to do which could help define your next project. By looking at something that needs improving you can follow the list and hopefully identify how to innovate it.
1. Issues with the current process
Make a list of every single bugbear you have with the existing process. Anything that is causing the process to be slow or inefficient. Every small thing no matter how trivial is worth noting down. Sometimes the small things are the quickest things to fix and have a larger positive impact than you may think.2. Goals of the new process
What are the ultimate measurable goals that can be used to assess the success of the new process? Some examples may be the time to process a record, the number of people required for the process and the cost to run the process. Make sure you mark down the values of the current system so have something to measure against.3. Forget everything you know
If you were to start again today, how would you set up the process? Think in terms of ultimate solutions. Don’t think about any constraints, just consider a perfect world and a perfect system. Does the new system avoid the issues listed in part 1? Good, then you’re ready for step 4.4. Feasibility
Carry out a feasibility study to see how much of the ultimate solution is possible. Looks at budget and time restraints. Think about the downtime of existing systems and how you can deploy the new solution.5. Build
I would recommend using an Agile approach in delivering the solution. Aiming to get quick wins out there into the real world ASAP. Look at 3rd party solutions to hit the ground running. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. By introducing these changes quickly you can get buy-in from the users.6. Assess
Once you’ve completed the changes that budget and resource has allowed, take a look at your initial goals. Did you hit most of them? Yes, then it was a success. Cross-reference your ‘perfect solution’. Maybe you already have an idea about your next project may be.Processes, technology and requirements are always in constant flux. You should look to re-assess any system at regular intervals to see if you can make further improvements. Remember 3rd parties may be able to help in the future if they can’t at the moment.
I hope you find this useful.
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My Full English Launched!
Last Saturday was a momentous day. It marked the launch of My Full English. The site aimed at the connoisseurs of the decent fry up.
The idea came about after a recent away trip to Southampton where we needed a greasy hang over cure. We had to actually interact with a human being to find out where we could get one! Can you believe that!
This is a joint venture between myself and Shane Exley. It uses Google maps to allow users to add their venues which can be anything from a restaurant to your local Cafe. Once a venue is added people can add their personal breakfast reviews along with uploading a photo. The mobile version of the site even allows users to find directions to a venue of their choice.
We are hoping to get a 100 reviews by the end of next year so please get eating.
Please let us know your thoughts by adding a comment on the site. Enjoy!
