In the summer of 2010, we hired the new development firm and dipped into savings that we were nervous to dip into. It wouldn’t double the cost, but every extra dollar over the original estimate hurts a little. It took us a month or two to get the contracts right between us and the development firm. Once the contracts were in place, we began work in earnest.
Our intention was to do this incrementally—spend a little on the first task, assess our budget when it is complete, and, if possible, move to the next task. Lyle and I decided that this time we would tag-team with this developer so that if I am busy, Lyle can send a reply to a developer’s questions and keep things moving. Also, we decided to work with the existing code in order to save money.
The new development firm—we’ll call it “The Focus People, Inc.” (“Focus” for short)—got right to work. The process went something like this:
Week 1:
Me: Please do A, B, C.
Focus: Done.
Week 2:
Me: Looks good, but can you tweak A this way?
Focus: You mean this?
Lyle: Yes.
Focus: Done.
Me: Great. Now, can we make a new image for the email?
Focus: Yes, here are the issues and some decisions for you to make.
Week 3:
Lyle: Okay, here are our responses and decisions.
Focus: Thanks, done. Please review.
Lyle: Looks good. Can you adjust this or that?
Focus: Yes, now have a look.
Me: Great. Now, let's tackle D, E, and F.
You get the idea. Things went smoothly. We maintained contact. They were responsive despite the fact that we knew they must be juggling other projects at the same time and even though there were times when both Lyle and I were offline for more than a few days.
As we finished each task, we re-assessed whether we should go ahead with the next item on our list. Mostly we stayed on track, but sometimes Lyle and I deviated to get something we thought would give us more bang for our buck. And, when we got to the end of our minimal list of tasks, we did do a few other things, such as the vibration when you dunk someone on the first try. But, we had to stop ourselves or we would be spending down our retirement. We agreed that this was still supposed to be a simple version. We would get it to market, get more feedback from users, and hopefully learn whether it was worth it to add the rest of the features we envisioned. From August to October, we finished version one of the app. Then we decided the bug needed attention. It had gotten worse since the new developers had begun to modify the existing code.
It took about 2 months of paperwork and planning and then a few more months of development. Lyle and I managed to stay on top of things despite a child’s tonsillectomy, a vacation punctuated by an ER visit for one of the kids, and both of our day jobs. Lyle was traveling more for work and I was juggling more at home and work. Luckily, we both had iPhones as our cell phones by now and we used them to keep connected to the developer even when we were out of state or at the hospital. This was a tough adjustment for me who likes to be disconnected from technology, but I stayed focused on the goal: get this app to market.
Finally, finally, by about the middle of November, the bug was truly fixed and we agreed it was time to see whether Apple would accept this.
We submitted the app on the Friday before Thanksgiving.
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