I love being a developer! Why? Many reasons. One of the main ones is that it gives me the chance to create new things. I also love a challenge. And that’s one of the things I most enjoy about working for Making Sense. This company gives me the tools to prove myself on new projects.
A couple of months ago, I decided to take on a new personal challenge I’ve been thinking about for a long time: creating and developing an app of my own. I decided to write this blog post because I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with all of you the story of my experience developing “Hay Bondi”.
I wanted to tell you about the ups and downs I encountered. I also wanted to show you what a fantastic, rewarding experience it can be to passionately pursue new challenges, both personal and professional.
From Idea to App
Like I said a moment ago, this project started as a personal challenge. It arose from a situation I encounter frequently. Almost every day, I ride buses in my hometown of Mar del Plata, Argentina. I’ve experienced firsthand how hard it can be to learn the various bus routes, stops and connections.
These experiences gave me a wonderful opportunity to develop a useful, user-friendly app that could solve real world problems my fellow commuters face every day.
When I started this project, I felt like an explorer entering uncharted territory. There were no other apps available to help the citizens of Mar del Plata find the nearest bus stop, plan a trip from point A to point B, or just to offer a map of the available bus routes.
So not only was this challenge a great opportunity for me personally and professionally, it was a chance to provide a much-needed service to the citizens of Mar del Plata and tourists as well. I accepted the challenge of transforming this idea into an app in March 2014. A few months later, “Hay Bondi” was born!
Overcoming challenges
A project like this one is never easy, and it certainly wasn’t easy for me. My most difficult challenge was trying to develop an algorithm that consistently provided users the shortest, most logical bus routes. I had to take a number of complex details into account, including cellphone processor capability. I wanted the app to be able to operate on Android devices.
Another issue was time. I already have a challenging full-time job as a developer for Making Sense. This was a personal project I worked on in my spare time, so I had to find free moments when I was not at work to devote to this project.
This was tough sometimes! There were days I was dragging because I only got a few hours of sleep. I put a lot of hard work and dedication into developing this app, and it was worth it. In hindsight, I could not be happier with the results!
From start to finish, the process took me about three months. Even though I was very pleased with the results, I’m confident I can make it even better. I’m still working on it, improving functions and adding features to make it even more user friendly.
When I released Hay Bondi in the Play Store I was amazed by the overwhelming number of people downloading it. I thought I understood how much of a need there was for such a solution, but I may have underestimated that need.
It never occurred to me how many downloads Hay Bondi would receive in just a couple of days. I was shocked when local radio stations and other media outlets contacted me wanting me to talk about Hay Bondi. At that point it occurred to me “Hey. This is a big deal!”.
What I’ve learned
So what was the best part of this journey? I have to say “Everything!”. I was involved in every part of the development process including UI development, QA, UX, support and more.
The experience I’ve gained has been priceless. I’ve learned so many new things. For example, I now understand more about how to integrate different mobile concepts. Also, I’m now more comfortable taking on big challenges and responsibilities.
It feels great to do something I love, knowing that at the same time I’m helping people overcome frustrating problems in their daily lives.
So What Does This Mean For You?
So why do I tell you my personal story on the Making Sense blog? Because everyone here at Making Sense, myself included, is passionate about our work and how our clients benefit from this passion.
Our personal and corporate commitment to challenging ourselves to “step up our game”, to seeking out additional education and training and to improving our skills means that when you contact us with a big idea for a new, cutting-edge software program or app, you get off-the-charts value for your investment.
So if you have a custom software idea, and you can’t wait to see it come to life, contact us today!