Follow-up with Mark on Flutter, TotallyStrong.me, and Family
Dec 27, 2018
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Mark Thompson, a solo developer who built TotallyStrong.me using Flutter, discusses missed deadlines, family focus, Flutter achievements, and the upcoming launch of TotallyStrong.me app. They also talk about the importance of good design, balancing personal and professional commitments, the trade-offs of Firebase and Flutter, and future plans for the app.
Investing in a good designer and prioritizing design is crucial for app development.
Family obligations and time constraints can significantly impact the development process.
User feedback, transparency, and motivation are key factors in app development and launch.
Deep dives
Lessons learned from launching Totally Strong
Mark Thompson shares his experiences of launching his app Totally Strong. He discusses the importance of design and the value of investing in a good designer. He explains how he had to make tough decisions to prioritize features and cut certain functionalities to meet his deadline. He also highlights the challenges he faced with testing and debugging the app and the ongoing development process with Flutter.
The impact of family and time constraints
Mark Thompson discusses how family obligations and time constraints affected the development of Totally Strong. He shares how his wife's request to spend more time with their family during the summer impacted his development schedule. He talks about the efforts he made to find time to work on the app, including waking up early and rearranging his daily routine. He also mentions the challenges of finding uninterrupted time and the impact it had on meeting deadlines and bug-free development.
The importance of user feedback and transparency
Mark Thompson emphasizes the significance of user feedback and the role it played in the development of Totally Strong. He shares how he involved early users in the design process, gathering their opinions and observing their interactions with the app. He also discusses the importance of transparency with his audience, highlighting how he communicated missed deadlines and progress updates through email communication. Additionally, he mentions the motivation he gained from being featured in the Flutter Live conference, which inspired him to prioritize the development and launch of the app.
Launching the App on Android and Future Plans
The host and guest discuss the progress made on the app, Totally Strong. The guest announces that the app will be live on Android by the time the podcast is released. He also shares his plans to offer video workouts on demand in 2019, which he believes will make the app more sustainable and revenue-generating. The guest expresses gratitude for the support received and reflects on the journey so far, highlighting the importance of balance and taking time for family amidst the challenges of being a solo entrepreneur.
The Logo Design Process and Working with Friends
The guest discusses the process of designing the app's logo and the challenges he faced. He acknowledges that working with close friends on design projects can be risky, as it can strain the relationship when money is involved. He shares his experience of finding a designer who could create the logo he envisioned, highlighting the importance of clear communication and finding a balance between budget and design quality.
About a year has passed since we last spoke to Mark Thompson about his journey through a solo developer application build for TotallyStrong.me using the new framework, Flutter. This week we talk about missed deadlines, family focus, Flutter achievements, and the upcoming launch (finally!) of the TotallyStrong.me app. A great episode for those folks trying to build their own way.
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