Weekly Roundup - 16th-20th October 2017
Monday 16th October 2017
Week five at PropertySafe! Powering through the UI design on the project, today a couple of new pages for logged in users were added. It’s starting to change quite a bit for users that are logged in so I am going to have to separate the flows out in to separate Sketch pages.
As we get closer to launch date, I am really looking forward to sharing more about what I am currently working on and more in-depth analysis of the problems we are trying to solve.
The dev guys started on the development for the revised Maintenance Manager sign up process. This is the first time working with them on a project so it was good to see how they go working from a design concept. There were a few areas they weren’t sure on, so I did some of the front end dev for them, which I’m glad they asked for help and didn’t just ignore it because they didn’t know how to do it themselves.
Being able to switch between both worlds from design to front end dev gives me the advantage of knowing what is and what isn’t possible with the development. Keeping in mind the business objectives, I only design elements that I know are relative easily to develop and wont take up a lot of time, yet be aesthetically pleasing, functional and logical to the user. A huge frustration is working with a developer who you provide a design to and they come back saying they’ve done it and ask “Is this OK?” but it looks totally different to the design I gave them. Of course my answer is going to be No.
If the reason a developer doesn’t add a certain feature as per the design is because it will take too long, there needs to be a level of communication from them stating that as early as possible so we can work out what really is going to add the maximum amount of value to the system in the shortest time possible.
Monday Back Workout
- Warm up Single Arm Cable Row
- 2 x 12 reps 20kg, 2 x 12 reps 23.5kg Single Arm Cable Row
- 4 x 12 reps 60kg Single Arm Iso-Lateral DY Row
- 4 x 8 reps 40kg Single Arm Iso-Lateral High Row
- 4 x 12 reps 61kg Lat Pulldown
Tuesday 17th October 2017
Continued the UI design to get approval on certain pages. I’m happy with the progress we’re making on this.
I did a further review of current dev on the Maintenance Manager sign up page, it’s a good start but needs more attention to detail on some of the areas. My goal over the next 12 months or so is to redesign the current system and really align it so it becomes dead simple for users to be able to do what they need to do. At the moment there is so much friction on how to complete things that I can see why people get frustrated.
Spent a couple of hours after dinner doing some research on good Australian companies to invest. One company I will be keeping an eye on over the next few years is DigitalX. DigitalX is a Blockchain Technology Company based out of Perth and New York. They provide ICO advisory services, blockchain consulting services and blockchain-related software development. Their partners can use DigitalX’s Blockchain technology expertise to deliver innovative products to global markets. DigitalX has raised approximately $20m from Investors and is well placed to deliver advice to the Token Sale marketplace. Their share price is currently sitting at $0.06.
Last weekend I went to the Central Coast Gem Show held at Mingara Recreation Club. It was great to catch up with a few guys who I now call friends, Greg from Blue Gems and Tony & Jude from Mineral Store Australia. For the shows around the Central Coast and Sydney that Tony and Jude have been vendors at, I have spent the day catching up and helping them out where I can.
After talking to a few people at the show, it is obvious that people are looking for a platform other than Facebook to sell minerals and crystals online. Most of the vendors at these shows are over 40 and many are not tech savvy and just want something simple that allows them to upload a product photo, add some text and a price and for potential buyers to come to them.
When I was initially creating Aussie Mineral Hub, I was playing around with the idea of creating a platform that would allow mineral dealers to do just that. I decided to create a personal website for myself so I put that idea on the back burner.
After doing more research throughout the year, I got back into working on the idea and have created the basic framework. The platform is called Minerfy and I’m currently working adding the functionality for a user to add their own products. Once I have this set up, I will be talking to some people and get them using the system so I can see it in use with real content and to get their feedback. It is currently live as it’s easier to show people who I’m talking to about it.
There is still a LOT of work to be done to get this up and running, but I’m happy with the amount of progress I have achieved in this short period. Stay tuned for continual progress updates on this exciting new project.
Tuesday Chest Workout
Warm up followed by 3 x 12 reps 60kg Iso-Lateral Chest Press
- 4 x 12 reps 60kg Bench Press
- 4 x 12 reps 54kg Pec Fly
- 4 x 8 reps 80kg Iso-Lateral Wide Chest
- 15 mins Sit Down Bike
Wednesday 18th October 2017
Continued working through UI design and finally got to a new section for payments. The current functionality for this section was to select between tabs which payment type to select. I changed this to a dropdown, it then shows the relevant fields depending on which payment type has been selected. This is a more suitable and future proof process in case they add more payment methods down the track.
After weeks of prototyping several different card design layouts, an option finally got approved. This is a big part of the design and it flows through to other sections of the project.
Can’t seem to get rid of this sickness whatever it seems to be. I’ve been pushing through with a sore throat and blocked ear for over a week now because the doc told me all I can do is wait it out.
Wednesday Legs Workout
- Warm up followed by 4 x 12 reps 54kg Leg Extension
- 4 x 12 reps 35kg Seated Leg Curl
- 4 x 12 reps 40kg V-Squat
Thursday 19th October 2017
Finalised the payments section of the project along with other new pages. A lot of small tweaks throughout before sending off for final approval.
A new resource for this week! One of the dev guys showed me this site: https://stackshare.io – it’s a site where all the best software tools and cloud infrastructure services are in one place. It allows you to see what other developers are using in their web development, discover new tools submitted by the community and learn why developers like the tools they use. Pretty handy to keep up to date with what the big guys are using!
The Drop Box Stackshare page
Thursday Shoulder Workout
- Warm up followed by 4 x 12 reps 25kg Shoulder Press
- 4 x 6 reps 40kg Single Arm Iso-Lateral Shoulder Press
- 4 x 8 reps Dumbbell Raises
- 4 x 12 reps Barbell Raises
- 4 x 8 reps 8kg Single Arm Cable Raises
- 4 x 10 reps 60kg Single Arm Rear Delts
- 10 mins Sit Down Bike
Friday 20th October 2017
The approved designs are now starting to go into development which is great to see. Again, working with the dev guys to ensure that the development matches my UI design as close as possible. Pretty sure they are hating it already with me being pixel perfect! They better get used to it!
I did a whole bunch of design work in the morning and then updated the Invision prototype after lunch.
Friday arvo catch up with a couple of mates over at Sunken Monkey to talk shit and see how everyones week has been. This sickness is hanging around like a bad smell, throat is killing me and my right ear is still blocked. Seriously over it. It’s been a long week, straight home and straight to bed.
Friday Arms Workout
- Warm up cable curls and pulldowns
- 4 x 14kg 12 reps Dumbbell Curls
- 4 x 14kg 12 reps Hammer Curls
- 4 x 25kg 12 reps Barbell Curls
- 4 x 12 reps 21kg Cable Rope Pushdown
- 4 x 12 reps 85kg Tricep Press
- 10 mins Sit Down Bike