It all begins and ends with functional components. — When we start doing design in the first sprints of the project we start in the code editor. Our process includes white-boarding and low quality wireframes as communication tools to get the core functionality understood and our process excludes delivering high quality design mockups from static design tools like Sketch…

Prototype, Usable, and Complete — Software Prototypes are built for growth. Poorly built small applications and software prototypes are not the same. A poorly built small application can have the appearance of being close to usable and at the same time be difficult to maintain, hard to iterate on, and time-consuming to debug. …

There is not any particular magic to developing applications for others. It takes a persistent effort, getting users to use the app, combined with skilled developers to provide the foundations of its usability. 1. Use it yourself. When you are seeking to build an application, and you are a potential…

From the moment we begin writing code, we aim to deliver code. It may take only a short amount of a single developer’s time to scaffold a project. Determining data models may be brief as well. Describing the application with user stories is no different. …

Building great software takes a village. A developer is a member of the team who is contributing to the codebase. Here is a breakdown in the role of client-side: (frontend) developers, server-side (backend) developers, and design technologists (designers who code). …

Upstate Interactive’s First Female Advisor — Today Upstate Interactive is happy to announce that we are adding Kate Tsunoda, thoughtbot’s San Francisco-based Managing Director, to our Advisory Board. Ms. Tsunoda states, “As a member of the Advisory Board, I provide guidance to the company leadership on topics related to growth.” Ms. Tsunoda has been working with Upstate Interactive informally for months, challenging us to become stronger as an agency. With her expertise and knowledge we have been able to grow our perspective on the software agency industry.

Love Languages, Attractions, and Understanding As we were walking the Springtime block of Cumberland Ave, my friend introduced me to the concept of Love Languages. It is a concept introduced and made popular in recent years by a book author. The author asserts five languages, modes of expression, of love: …

“Are you serious?“ — All characters are fictional and no scotch was consumed during the making of this project. Vanilla JS Application Example on GitHub My life changed when I went into the government contractor offices of MEGA, Inc. …

What is all the babble about? — What Is in a Word? Outside of the tech space, many people aren’t familiar with the word blockchain. They may have heard of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but blockchain itself tends to mystify the masses. If you spend time online, however, you’ve likely heard of both bitcoin and blockchain. Asking, “What is the underlying programming…