hedgehoglab

Hi, my name is Jonny and I'm the most recent person to join the team at the lab. My background is in games software, but I decided to delve into enterprise software development as I felt the area could learn a thing or two from the world of games from an aesthetic and performance standpoint. When writing games software it is not just important to focus on functional requirements but also the overall experience.

Imagine hitting the fire button on a shooting game, and suddenly a message appears with a big exclamation mark saying, "Error 127888876AB2 - Please contact your system admin", this certainly wouldn't be acceptable to a gamer paying £40+ for a game, so why should it be acceptable in enterprise software where the cost is often much higher?

Many would say that the bugs in the latest release of any enterprise product can just be patched with version 2.0.3.7.1.2.735 and everything will be fine, but you never had to buy a game for your PS2, and subsequently had to patch it with a mass torrent of updates and bug-fixes. This is because the developers knew that if they didn't get it right the first time, then they were screwed, and in a sense the constraint of being unable to patch the software forced the developers to ensure the code was stable, and quality design practices were followed wherever possible.

Getting this level of quality design and bug-free code written for enterprise software isn't as difficult or time consuming as some may imagine if you have developers with the right mind-set. The important thing to realise is that, just because we can release a mass of bug fix patches doesn't mean that this should be used as an excuse to release poor quality software.

Since starting here a few months ago I've been focussing my efforts on mobile software development as the mobile space is fast becoming a very exciting place to be, as it matures into a place for serious developers and equally serious software. My first port of call was iPhone development as it is a nice, clean and aesthetically pleasing platform to develop for, that is currently in vogue within the mobile marketplace. So what better way to improve the user experience our products provide, and bring their powerful functionality to the place a large number of customers will find it most useful.

For our soon to be released product solomon, I have been working hard to produce an iPhone app that makes use of all the features the main CRM provides, but with simplistic design and a good user experience in mind. This will make the app very easy for iPhone users to get to grips with, and will provide a simple yet powerful way to keep in touch with and manage your business contacts whenever-wherever. Here is a sneaky peak into the app, and some of the features it will provide.

Over the coming months I will be developing fixx and solomon apps for iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Developing for this range will provide the majority of our customers with the ability to take full advantage of our products at the times when they are unable to get to a computer. Keep checking back for updates on how development is going, and previews of what is happening with our mobile products.

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