Web App: Juvely

Welcome to the Juvely blog! I’m James Deer and my fellow developer is Luca Spiller. Luca and I are both 18 and from the UK, Luca is studying a BSc in Computer Science at Exeter University and I’m studying an MA in Computing Science at Aberdeen University.

Following Ryan Carson’s BareNakedApp from when it started is what really inspired me. The idea of what to build came to me from previous troubles and experiences, i briefly looked around to see what was already available in that market, the things i found were either extremely over priced and/or very badly designed. This is where i wanted to make a change, so i began to plan the app to a certain extent, gathering ideas for a good few months. Once i had done this i started on the very first interfaces. Now my original plan was to start developing the app through summer and have a majority of it done, however, problems arose and i had to put the project on hold.

In September i made a post on buildv1.com, this site “connects entrepreneurs”, i thought i would give it a shot and see what would come of it. I got a couple of emails which didn’t really sound to promising, then in late November i got an email a novel sent from Luca, he explained about himself, what his previous experiences were and what he can program in. I thought as he took the time to type this out i would at least give him a shot. I spoke to him over emails some more, then over MSN, i found him to be an extremely great guy, he shares the same goals and is talented in a good few programming languages, what else could i have asked for.

So now we had both agreed to work on the app together splitting everything we make 50/50. We created a basecamp account, now i had never used this masterpiece of a tool before but like so many others I’ve also fallen in love with it. This is now our main channel of communication. At the start of December i started re-creating the UI’s i had done back in June, now they look better than ever. What i have learn’t is its much better to find a partner to work with, getting constructive criticism improves your work a hell of a lot and it motivates you so much more.

In this blog we plan to document every step of the way and if you’re lucky we’ll give you some video posts!