Datasheet

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Chapter 1: Gathering What You Need to Develop BlackBerry Apps
How one idea leads to another
For instance, in a project on another
smartphone device, I once had a need to d
isplay text in a variety of the available fonts to
demonstrate to the user experience specialist
what the device’s different fonts would look
like. Several apps were available at this
platform’s marketplace to do this, and even
writing my own was fairly straightforward.
But it got me thinking: The fundamental problem
I was trying to solve was an inability on the part
of the development team to quickly and clearly
see what the results of our choices for user
interface elements would actually end up looking
like. There was no way for the user experience
specialist to “play around” with different
settings and get an instant reaction to the
settings on a real device.
Unless. . . . What if I created an app that allowed
a user of the smartphone to mix and match
fonts and buttons and labels and menus and all
the other user interface objects on the phone
itself? In essence, this would be an “interface
creator” application, running on the actual
device, so that anyone with a device could “try
out” different combinations of user interface
items. Developing such an application would
be helpful to anyone in an organization who
wants to prototype user interface development,
without actually having to write code.
This is the kind of imagination-behind-the-
scenes that can lead to applications that your
users will want to use. I haven’t gone out to
build this particular app, yet, but you have my
permission to make the attempt.
you want to develop can be challenging, so I recommend that you review the
apps available in the App World in a variety of different categories. Think of
this exercise as window shopping. Your imagination will be working in the
background while you look at what’s for sale already, and all it takes is one
example to trigger something wonderful.
Brainstorming, alone or in groups
I am a co-founder of a small startup, BlazingApps. The other co-founders and
I sit down irregularly for a brainstorming session. We go around the table
and contribute an idea or many about different apps we’ve thought about
since the previous meeting. I enjoy this kind of imaginative collaboration and
highly recommend it. Granted, you might find it difficult to brainstorm all
by yourself, so for the solo entrepreneur, I highly recommend writing down
any thoughts or ideas somewhere so that you can easily find them again.
You should write down everything, no matter how small or unimportant you
might think it is. This way, you’ll have a collection of thoughts and imaginings
that you can use to spark more of the same. Or else, some combination of
your thoughts and imaginings across a spectrum of your recorded notes will
group together and prove to be an app worth creating.
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