I had the opportunity to be a part of the first ever Boise State University app-athon this weekend.  Zenware sponsored as well as judged the applications.

Teams entered the contest to see if student teams could spend 48 hours, starting Friday afternoon at 4 until Sunday at noon.  The goal was to build a mobile application from scratch in the time frame.  The offical rules were that your submission must…

1. Be a mobile or web application.
2. Be created by team members entirely between the Friday kickoff and the Sunday deadline
1. External resources: Participants may use external resources (online tutorials, reference books, feedback from friends, etc.) but all documents, code, graphics and other submitted material must be created directly by team members. For example, a non-team member may give a verbal description of how to create a log-in system, but the actual typing (coding) of said log-in system must be done solely by members of the team in order to eligible for submission.
2. Third party libraries: Third party libraries are permitted if they may be used freely and are publicly available/accessible by all teams. Generally, we will allow third party libraries that are completely free to use, for example those with an LGPL license. If you are unsure whether using a particular library or framework is allowed, please verify with Bronco App-athon organizers. We reserve the right to reject the use of a third-party library if it would create an unfair advantage over other teams.
3. Have been created within the Bronco App-athon 2012 location.

It was great to see all of the creative ways students came up with to solve a problem that they saw. One app was built to provide one location for all of the relevant links students need to find on and off campus.  Another was a workout app that used the accelerometer to create a unique workout every time you shake the device, it had a great user interface and the execution was well thought out.  Still another was a replacement for the blackboard app in use today that some feel is in need of improvement.  There was an app that allowed brainstorming at a real-time collaborative level, one for wine connoisseurs and another that created a locker in the cloud for files.

Students took a variety of approaches either web-based or native apps. All apps were developed in groups, except one completed on the Kindle Fire that was done solo, it was a game and it was pretty cool.

All in all it was a great success no matter how you look at it.  The students got the opportunity to show off there creativity, development skills, learn new stuff and meet some other developers, as well as potential employers.  Oh and did I mention the winning three teams got money?  Yup the first place team received $500 each, $300 each went to second and third place got $100 each.

I had a great time talking to the students, faculty and other sponsors and I will be there next year as well.
Rod Puzey
Follow us on Twitter: @zenwaremobile and @zenewareinc

Zenware is a Boise Idaho based company that specializes In custom mobile software development, custom iOS development, custom Android development, ipad software development, iphone software development, custom web development, web hosting and Saas based work order management software.

Today was the 2nd day of the Mobile Tech Expo. The conference center opened to more than 2500 PDR, Auto Recon, Wheel Repair, Leather Repair and other auto recon professionals. People traveled from all over the world to participate. We spoke to people from Russia, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Puerto Rico and more.

Day to 2 included more participants in the PDR Olympics. Fellow PDR guys gathered around to see others skills manipulate the metal until there was not trace of a dent. Light bars illuminated subtle creases in the metal providing a guide until the dents were totally eliminated…..unless they ran out of time.

Still looking forward to see PDR Glue Pulling Contest, Leather Restoration and Paint Competition

The expo featured quite a line of products including:

• Portable Shelters
• Leather Repair & Restoration
• Paint Touch-up
• Carpet Dyeing
• Glass Chip & Scratch Repair
• Headlight Restoration
• Wheel Repair & Restoration
• Plastic Repair * Refinishing
• Pressure Washers
• Gold Plating
• Window Tinting
• and many more

Mobile Web Game - Give Mojo

For the past couple of weeks our team has focused on developing a mobile and web game app, GiveMojo (http://www.givemojo.com). GiveMojo is a fast growing mobile and web game that is specifically designed to get fans more engaged in a sporting event.  Basically GiveMojo provides an engaging forum for fans to compete against fans to see who can give the most mojo to their team by flipping  “smack” and earning mojo points.

Our team has really enjoyed this project. We have spent a concerted effort with the game idea creators, Karl Meinhardt and David McCauley to accomplish three primary goals:

1. Create an easy to use game interface that gets fans into the game
2. Eliminate friction points that make it difficult for users to join, login, play, invite others and otherwise participate
3. Develop a “sticky” app that keeps users engaged

I have noted a few key items that contributed to the successful launch of Give Mojo These items are applicable to both business and game applications.

1. Start with a well-designed plan for your mobile app
   Take the time to create design mockups of the application. This provides a powerful , essential tool to discuss and think through application flow, game or business logic, conditional inputs, expected results and back-end-integration
2. Test the application in at least two phases:
   Phase 1: Testing in phase 1 includea those who were directly involved in the the application idea and a select group of target users. In the case of GiveMojo this group included the game concept creators, developers, project managers and a couple target app user, i.e. serious college football fans. Our primary purpose in Phase 1 was to ensure the application functioned according to the technical specification, identify glaring performance issues and get user feedback.
   Phase 2 “Polishing Phase”
   In my opinion this is the critical phase of testing because it provides the final feedback you need to polish and fine-tune the application for official launch. This is typically a soft launch of the application.During phase 2 testing we include testers from our first phase and extend the group to included “non-interested” parties. In the case of GiveMojo, our “non-interested” testers included casual football fans and even a few non-football fans.Why include “non-interested” users?Non-interested testers have no pre-conceived perspective on how the application should work. Their un-biased use of the application will expose friction points that make the application awkward or difficult to use.  They may even uncover “dead-ends” that leave users stranded in an eternal loop or lost application no man’s land. Exposing these areas is critical to creating an app that provides a phenomenal experience for your users.Observing and listening to this group is key to creating apps that are “sticky”. Your goal is keep the user engaged. Whether it’s a game or business app providing information and a user experience that enables the user to act is critical to endearing users to your app.
3. Official launch and additional testing
   In a perfect world the heavens open, the angels sings and the world is at one when you officially launch your application. The reality – it’s more of a satisfying sigh of accomplishment.We’ve found that in app development, no matter how much testing and tweaking you do, there are still areas for improvement. After the official launch we encourage our customers to actively monitor the application performance and user patterns. If it’s a mobile web app or web based application monitor server and bandwidth usage to ensure server resources are sufficient to provide the best experience for your users.Launching to a larger user base will inevitably expose areas where the application can be enhanced.  That’s ok, expect it! We encourage our customers to ask for feedback and look for areas to improve their applications.Remember software evolves – especially with new devices, new capabilities and most importantly new ideas from you and your users.

Incorporating a great design with careful consideration for user interface design, application flow, and full testing cycles with key individuals will better ensure your business or game application success.  Strive to eliminate friction and frustration points. The better the user experience the more sticky and successful your application will be.

Now come join us for a little smack talking at Give Mojo, where fans are getting into the game.

Jody Sedrick – Zenware