The RSPB required a web application through which they could provide learning material to people interested in birds and birdwatching. Once a user has logged-in they are presented with 6 different modules as well as access to the resource library which contains the RPSB Handbook of British Birds and Where to Watch Birds - Britain.
Over the past four days I have been monitoring the development of Matt, Multi Account Twitter Tweeter application which has been built by the guys and girls over at Carsonified. Now whilst I could talk about the actual development of the application, it has already been done here and I would rather concentrate on the marketing of the application and the company culture from where the idea originated.
I have been familiar with Carsonified for a while. They host a range of events relevant to people within the web and technology industry; Future of Web Apps, Future of Web Design, Future of Mobile and Fuel. Whilst I haven’t attended any of the events (I simply can’t afford them myself) I subscribe to the related blogs and scout the internet for any relevant feedback and responses from the events. As well as hosting events, Carsonified creates website and web applications. To date it has created DropSend, Vitamin, Web App Charts, HugMyMac.com and today they have launched Matt.
The guys at Carsonified have done a good job of marketing Matt through the use of social networking and web 2.0 applications. I first heard about Matt through the Future of Web Apps blog in a post entitled, “Can we build a web app in 4 days?“. Intrigued as to whether they could I decided to follow the progress of the development through both the Future of Web Apps blog and Carsonified’s own blog. It wasn’t long before video footage of the development was put on YouTube and Vimeo, photos were uploaded to Flickr and the internet community began to pick up on the whole thing.
I reactivated my Twitter account as a result of Matt being developed and I even added Ryan Carson as a friend to get a bit more of an inside scoop as to what was going on in Carsonified HQ. Ryan tweeted throughout the four days often posting his thoughts on the whole thing, responding to comments or inviting us all to watch his live video streams from various mobile devices. The whole development seemed completely open without giving the game away, and the fact that Ryan responded himself to comments either via Twitter, the blogs or in an actual live video stream added to the informal, fun and personal vibe you got from the development.
Carsonified is only a small company but it does things right, it looks after it’s employees. They work 4 day weeks (3 day weekends!), you get your very own iPhone, 23″ cinema display, Aeron chair (to look after your body) and a Macbook Pro. Occassionally the have an ‘idea week’ whereby they turn off their email and shutdown their computers and let the ideas flow, both HugMyMac.com and Matt have been born from these weeks. If that isn’t enough to give you job satisfaction they will send you across the world to speak at events they host throughout the year as well as good pay and responsibility.
It’s with companies like Carsonified where the future of the web industry lies; adapting the normal and making it work for all parties involved. Sure Google have their 20% personal project time, but it has to be recorded and they still have to turn up for work, and how many companies do you know that will shutdown operations for a week to develop something seemingly random? They say their is a fine line between madness and genius, and I think Carsonified are on the side of genius.
Leave a Reply
You bring the idea, I'll bring the usability, design, colour and vision and together we will make something beautiful. Read more
With the right interface design you can change the most mundane of subjects into something inspiring, easy-to-use and fun! Read more
3 Responses to “Building a web app in four days”
Firstly, Matt looks good though with little experience of Twitter I’m not completely clued up on the usefullness of an app to manage multiple Twitter logins.
Secondly Carsonified definately seem like an awesome company to work for, they certainly run a good web conference, but I always think some things can be too good to be true.
by Kean on July 3rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hey Scott,
Thanks for the amazing writeup. I appreciate you following along on our crazy journey. Feel free to stopy by the office if you’re ever in town, and say hello.
Best,
Ryan
by Ryan on July 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Hey Scott,
This is a great post - I’ve just been checking out Matt and Carsonified. They certainly do sound like a good company to work for with some great perks. Why not suggest similar to MKM…?! The blackboard ideas board is a good one.
by Jonny Crook on July 16th, 2008 at 4:43 pm