Category: Development

How Many Steps Does It Take to Launch an App?

If you’ve ever developed an app, led a UX design project, or managed a product from idea to launch, you know the journey is rarely linear. It’s a mix of planning, iteration, unexpected detours, and—at times—a frantic race to the finish.

Watching the classic Tootsie Pop commercial got me thinking: launching a project is a lot like asking, “How many licks does it take to get to the center?”

At the start, everything seems simple. You’ve got an idea, a vision, maybe even a wireframe or prototype. Just like unwrapping a Tootsie Pop, it feels exciting—a fresh start full of potential.

One… Two…

Then reality kicks in. User needs shift, goals evolve, stakeholders have new requests. Development reveals unforeseen challenges—APIs don’t work as expected, edge cases pop up, accessibility needs refining. Suddenly, your smooth path turns into an obstacle course.

Three!

Now comes the make-or-break moment. You can push forward blindly (the equivalent of the owl taking a giant bite), or you can pause, reassess, and iterate. Great UX isn’t rushed—it’s tested, refined, and validated.

Some teams rush to the finish line, shipping a product that barely holds together. Others take too long, stuck in analysis paralysis. The best teams find a balance—moving quickly while ensuring the core experience is rock solid before launch.

So, how many steps does it take to build a great app?

It depends. Every project is different, and no two journeys are the same. But one thing is certain—the process matters just as much as the final product.

Join us at the 20th Anniversary of DevLearn

I’m so excited to announce that we’ll be attending, speaking, and sponsoring DevLearn this year, and I’d love for you to join me! The primary event takes place Nov 6-8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. DevLearn is the premier event for learning and development professionals, and it’s the perfect opportunity to learn about the latest trends in e-learning, network with other professionals, and discover new tools and technologies. Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned pro, there’s something for everyone at DevLearn. Plus, it’s always more fun to attend conferences with friends! So mark your calendars and register today

3 Great Keynote Events:

Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher
Co-founder and Editor-at-LargeRecode

Erik Wahl

Erik Wahl
Internationally Recognized Graffiti Artist

Dani Johnson

Dani Johnson
Co-founder and Principal AnalystRedThread Research

David Kelly
CEO
The Learning Guild

Learn More >

Have you tried the new ChatGPT 4o – Omni?

The new ChatGPT app is here and is set to revolutionize how you interact with AI. It reminds me of the computer on Star Trek, where you can activate and interact just by using your voice. The app comes with a fresh, user-friendly design that makes chatting with ChatGPT smoother and more intuitive. With faster response times and an offline mode, you can get the answers you need, even without an internet connection. Plus, the app now supports rich media, so you can share images and videos directly in your conversations, making your interactions more dynamic and engaging.

The new app also brings a highly personalized experience to the table. You can customize the look and feel to match your style and integrate it seamlessly with your favorite tools and apps. Security has been beefed up, ensuring your data and conversations are well-protected. Whether you’re using it on your phone, tablet, or desktop, the multi-device sync keeps everything consistent across all your gadgets. Download the new ChatGPT app today and experience a whole new level of AI-powered communication!

Watch the Streamed Announcement:

Luis Malbas on Using ChatGPT | AI for TLDC Workflow

Check out Luis Malbas’s video presentation on how he uses AI for his workflow. My takeaways:

  • Using ChatGPT free for generating, summarizing and accelerating the creation of content for the TLDC community
  • Importance of adapting to technological advancements and demonstrates how they use AI in their workflow, including subscribing to an AI newsletter and using ChatGPT for 80% of their tasks
  • Critical everyone learns, experiment and start to build skills to be more productive
  • Using SnackPrompt to help generate and learn about new prompts to improve ChatGPT results
  • AI is an essential part of our digital world and we need to stay on top of it.

Join TLDC Community

Learning About AI

In this web-based resource, you can learn about Artificial Intelligence and the key areas that make it up. It’s a great example of a resource, providing mini learning objects for us to consume. https://atozofai.withgoogle.com/intl/en-US/

I love the rollovers on the desktop:

Love the rollovers and motion on the desktop.

Review it on a mobile device to learn how the content shifts and moves.

Let me know what you think.

Apps, Gadgets and Tech to Create, Collaborate and Elevate #IDIODC

If you haven’t checked out the #IDIODC podcast, Brent and Chris interview and dive into topics around learning and technology. Great way to keep up and connect with peers.

You can listen to my chat about technology and expanding your toolbox.

Check out the weekly episodes, every Wednesday and you can listen to the library at: https://www.dominknow.com/idiodc.

Capturing a long scrolling browser page simply in Chrome

Challenge: Need to grab a long scrolling page.

Solution: from within Chrome:

  • Open Developer Tools
  • Select Run Command from : Menu
  • Type “screenshot” and Select ” SCREENSHOT Capture Full Size”

or in Responsive Mode

  • Select : and chose Full Screen Capture.
  • Select “Capture Full Size”

Results

PNG is saved directly to your downloads and your ready to review, annotate or share (after a little compression / export to JPEG or PDF).

A Game-Changing Tool for Online Collaborations with Miro.com

Miro is one of those tools that gets me so excited about the possibilities and how it can help teams get stuff done because it works transparently, for the most part, and allows you to create, brainstorm, gather feedback or quickly collaborate on the next steps. The tool works via your browser or you can download an app for your desktop or mobile device. If you have an Apple Pencil, Surface Pen, or similar you can draw, annotate more naturally on screengrabs, elements, or just write some notes.

In the past 90 days Miro has launched several new features:

  • It allows you to invite additional non-registered users for collaborating, gathering data, and participation without having to add them to a paid plan. This is a game-changer that opens up the possibilities of how you utilize the platform outside your primary team.
  • Visual tables which allow you to use rows and columns to organize text, graphics, icons, and screengrabs
  • Attention management which allows the board owner to gather all collaborators to a particular part fo the board to focus their attention
  • More integrations including Jira, Confluence, Trello, Airtable, Notion
  • Use your mobile device to convert handwritten stickies to virtual sticky notes that are editable

How I Use Miro:

  • Team brainstorming where we review concepts, gather ideas, organize concepts
  • Tracking stakeholder meetings, notes, and export as PDFs to share post meetings
  • Brainstorming: voting via collaborators
  • Quick wireframing using the PEN tool and lo-fi using the add-on
  • Creating tables to organize ideas
  • Moodboards to capture concepts, research, and feedback
  • Webinars to involve participants in sharing, brainstorming and collaborating
  • Working with journey mapping and mind maps for projects
  • Capturing stickies from my wall to share with remote team

This week launched a new MIROVERSE where you can share your templates with the community so that they can learn, get new ideas and personalize for your team.

Why are you still reading this? Jump over to Miro.com, sign up for a free account, and start to plan your team’s next collaboration session.

Check out the live and free recorded sessions from the #learningcollective created by @RISC_Inc with content by @KristenLearning @LearnNuggets @sarahmerci @JD_Dillon (to name a few)

RISC has been curating content to help L+D professionals stay ahead of the curve and learn, expand and grow their knowledge-based from creating content, UX, designing for every screen, to how to conduct interviews to learning about AI just to name a few of the topics:

Check out at: sealworks.team/LearningCollective

I’ve watched and taken notes on sessions from JD, Kevin, Kristen, and Sarah’s so far. Join me for my live broadcast on Getting Started with Prototyping using Adobe XD, we’ll cover the basics to get you launched as well as share several resources and our favorite tips, tricks and plugins. May 20th at 10am ET.

https://sealwrks.com/2WZuOof

You can watch the recorded presentation below.

https://www.facebook.com/RISCInc/videos/672681696920264/

Accessibility Resources

Two resources for learning and planning around designing for everyone. Understanding the possibilities during planning will lead to a more usable experience.

Accessibility Do’s and Don’ts

Thinking about best practice do’s and don’ts check out this blog post.

Thinking about Accessibility for Teams during planning and workflows.

Developed by the US.gov for assisting teams around inclusive design. check out this quick start guide.

More resources:

Microsoft Inclusive Design

Trends in Learning: Where Should I Focus 2019 #DevLearn Design + Tech

With the constant changing and evolution of technology, we need to understand what is possible and how to determine what is a fit for your audience. Join us for this in-depth look at what tools, design, and technologies we should focus on in learning today, and what’s just around the corner. We’ll dissect what technology will be enhancing learning, and what we need to get excited about and start planning how to integrate into our solutions. What can we learn from the buzz and new tools appearing in the consumer and corporate environments and how can we take advantage of them to help our audiences succeed? This fun session will give you dozens of ideas and reboot your brain with fresh perspectives on how to enhance your learning today. 

Download the presentation.