Business Update 001
Hey everyone,
In an effort to track progress and provide transparency, I am going to start posting regular updates on the development of Crowd Card. These updates will vary in length and content (some will be technical while others will relate to non-technical sides of starting the business), but my goal will always be to make them both informational and entertaining. I will do my best to provide updates weekly, schedule permitting.
For Business Update 001, I will provide an overview of some of the tools that I’m currently using to build Crowd Card - everything from the website you’re on now to the app itself. As always, I’d love feedback, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with comments and suggestions.
Squarespace
I decided to use Squarespace to build and host the Crowd Card website/blog. Although I have a bit of web development experience, and could have built the site from scratch, I need to dedicate more of my time building the actual app and less of my time building a simple landing page and blog site. Squarspace is incredibly easy to use and the learning curve is basically flat - it lets you design and build simple sites quickly, provides a hosting service, and actually has pretty decent analytics, all at a relatively low cost. A site that would have taken me two weeks to build and launch got done in two days, looks great, and is a breeze to use for blogging. Well worth the money, in my opinion.
iOS development
I have zero experience designing or building iOS apps - none, nada, zilch. So you will be following along in real time as I learn Swift, SwiftUI, and everything else that goes into building an iOS app (tutorials in progress now). Fortunately, the Swift language itself seems relatively easy. As noted above, I have experience with web development, including some backend work in Python and php. I’m also a data scientist by day, so SQL and general programming are right in my wheelhouse. I bought a MacBook Pro and am using xcode to build the iOS app.
Github
Using Github as a repo is a no-brainer. I have Crowd Card set up as an org and am currently the sole contributor 🙁. Come join me.
Asana
I love using task planning boards to stay on top of my work. Asana is a top notch task planning tool. I use it, not only for Crowd Card, but in my day job and my personal life as well. The only task planner I’ve found that’s superior to Asana is Zenhub, but their free tier isn’t quite as good as Asana’s, so here I am.
Figma
Although I have some basic knowledge of UI/UX, I have never designed an app. My basic approach thus far has been to take notes on design elements of apps that I use regularly and try to implement them for my own purposes. For example, Crowd Card will have several navigation layers, as users will have to navigate between fight promotions, fight cards within each promotion, and individual fights within each card. I want this navigation to be smooth, intuitive, and fast, so I am taking notes on how other layered apps accomplish this. After some research, I started using Figma to design pages and user flows through the app. It’s relatively easy to use and the pricing is not bad at all. I love that you can preview pages/flows across multiple device layouts.
Canva
I am using Canva to create visuals for the website, the app, social media, presentations, etc. I am also using it to design merch (coming soon 🙂). At the moment, I am using Canva’s free tier, but will very likely update to get access to a broader suite of the tools they offer.
Google Suite
I am using Google suite for communication and general office tooling (calendar, docs, spreadsheets, etc.).
Social Media
Crowd Card is present on X, Instagram, and YouTube, but currently only active on X. As everything develops, I will expand Crowd Card’s media arm, but for now my focus is on building the app itself.
Those are a few of the tools I’m using to build Crowd Card. As a first time developer, I am largely learning on the fly. If you have any feedback/suggestions, I’d love to connect and discuss. That will wrap up Business Update 001 - more to come.
Written by Daniel Kuhman
