Along with skill and previous experience, attitude, communication, and passion are important indicators of a developer's capabilities.
Zachary asks, "Do you feel as though you're able to discuss the project in a meaningful way, and do you feel as though you will be provided with regular updates over the course of the project? Don't undervalue the importance of good communications on a project."
Unger adds, "If design is important to you, look for seasoned iPhone developers that have experience working with art directors, or other graphic designers, and [quality assurance] teams," to heavily review the app after the design team has contributed to it.
Nofelt emphasizes the value of hiring "someone who is genuinely excited about mobile instead of just jumping to what they think is the next big thing. You can generally get an idea of their engagement based on their past project and work history. Someone who has been exploring all things mobile (if even just as hobby) is a great indicator of enthusiasm."
100 things every young entrepreneur should know, straight from the mouths of startup veterans.
Saving Highlight
Buzz
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
LinkedIn
Buzz
Saving Hilight for you...
However, this was actually a great article, I work with dozens of iPhone devs and there is nothing I disagree with in this.
Hopefully Henry will appreciate this article.
This problem can be solved if businesses find new ways to develop mobile apps, ways that are fast and efficient and can in many cases allow them to leverage their in house web developer which they probably have to build them a mobile app.
An good candidate to fulfill this value proposition is Titanium Mobile which is open source and allows the development of cross platform (iPhone and Android)applications with only the knowledge of HTML, CSS and Javascript, oh, its free also.
Check it out:
http://www.appcelerator.com/appcelerator-platform/titanium-architecture/
There are so many thousand of Apps now. But, as with anything in life, the vast majority are pretty lame. I mean, how many Apps have you downloaded, used a few times and then either deleted or ignored?
I think the trick is for organisations to distil what the value that they REALLY offer their customers. Or maybe it's the value that they can offer for the very first time via an App.
For example, what do I want from a train company? Timetables and the ability to book tickets.
What do I want from a cinema? Listings and the ability to book tickets.
What do I want from my local vets? Information on owning a dog and, yes, the ability to book appointments for my golden retriever etc etc
Often, you can do all of these things on a website these days. But websites are usually so badly designed that I don't want to go to them. I'd rather use an App instead.
So, a great iPhone App is essential. But an honest appraisal of what it is your customers really want from you is much, much more important.