WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.056 --> 00:00:02.716 Raphaël: Welcome to the EC methodology series. 00:00:03.536 --> 00:00:07.226 In these articles and podcasts, we'll cover questions that come up 00:00:07.226 --> 00:00:09.116 when building a digital product. 00:00:09.716 --> 00:00:16.106 This series is intended for folks who have an idea for an app and want to learn more 00:00:16.106 --> 00:00:18.416 about what it takes to actually build one. 00:00:19.706 --> 00:00:25.616 So we'll start by clarifying some of the terminology around apps. 00:00:27.386 --> 00:00:29.456 It's an important question to ask. 00:00:29.776 --> 00:00:33.516 A, mobile app, a web app, a website? 00:00:34.046 --> 00:00:35.396 What's the difference? 00:00:35.486 --> 00:00:37.556 And who is this for? 00:00:38.246 --> 00:00:43.256 It might seem like a silly question, but people use the word "app" to 00:00:43.256 --> 00:00:45.386 mean a lot of different things. 00:00:45.596 --> 00:00:50.486 It might be a mobile app, a web app, a desktop app, or even an internal 00:00:50.486 --> 00:00:53.336 automation process to name a few. 00:00:54.266 --> 00:00:57.176 Here's a few considerations for each. 00:00:57.748 --> 00:00:58.608 Mobile apps. 00:00:59.176 --> 00:01:01.906 Some things you might want to consider when building a mobile 00:01:01.906 --> 00:01:06.886 app include whether it needs to be compatible with iOS and Android. 00:01:07.486 --> 00:01:12.706 Depending on the type of app, if you want to run on both that might double 00:01:12.706 --> 00:01:14.956 your development time and costs. 00:01:15.886 --> 00:01:20.836 With simpler apps, you can use a cross-platform framework, which will 00:01:20.836 --> 00:01:23.566 reduce your development times and costs. 00:01:24.046 --> 00:01:29.086 Most mobile apps will require setting up a backend system as well to host things 00:01:29.086 --> 00:01:31.686 like user data, but not all of them. 00:01:32.566 --> 00:01:37.216 You can build apps that only store data on the phone or provide functionality 00:01:37.246 --> 00:01:39.196 that doesn't require storing anything. 00:01:39.877 --> 00:01:40.817 Web apps. 00:01:41.197 --> 00:01:45.727 A web app is similar to some mobile apps and that they usually require 00:01:45.757 --> 00:01:47.797 a backend system of some sort. 00:01:48.217 --> 00:01:52.957 But they aren't device specific, which makes them easier to push to more 00:01:52.957 --> 00:01:56.917 people faster and more cost-effectively. 00:01:57.907 --> 00:02:01.867 They're usually created when you don't need specific functionality from a 00:02:01.897 --> 00:02:06.337 device, like some of the hardware functionality, GPS, gyroscopes. 00:02:07.327 --> 00:02:07.937 That sort of thing. 00:02:08.737 --> 00:02:12.417 Though web browsers are providing more and more access to hardware 00:02:12.417 --> 00:02:13.947 functionality these days. 00:02:15.837 --> 00:02:16.157 Website. 00:02:17.307 --> 00:02:19.227 So the term website. 00:02:19.617 --> 00:02:22.617 Can be used to describe some web apps as well. 00:02:22.647 --> 00:02:25.767 For example, the Facebook website is an app. 00:02:25.797 --> 00:02:29.257 It allows you to interact with it in complex ways. 00:02:29.997 --> 00:02:35.277 In our case, we reserve the term website for sites that aren't 00:02:35.277 --> 00:02:38.737 complicated in a functionality sense. 00:02:39.117 --> 00:02:44.037 They're either static presentational sites or they have common functionality 00:02:44.037 --> 00:02:49.797 like e-commerce or commenting that can be built with off the shelf tools. 00:02:50.127 --> 00:02:55.467 For e-commerce that might mean using a platform like Shopify or big commerce to 00:02:55.467 --> 00:03:00.687 name a few for content that might include platforms like Squarespace, WordPress. 00:03:00.897 --> 00:03:02.687 Wix or others. 00:03:03.119 --> 00:03:04.259 Desktop apps. 00:03:05.069 --> 00:03:09.389 A desktop app is operating system specific, often uses 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:11.339 faster, more efficient code. 00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:14.689 Has filed system access and typically tries to use your 00:03:14.689 --> 00:03:17.149 hardware as efficiently as possible. 00:03:18.209 --> 00:03:23.519 Desktop apps are suited for more computationally intensive work. 00:03:23.909 --> 00:03:28.589 Uh, think something like Photoshop or 3d software where you generally 00:03:28.589 --> 00:03:33.949 want to be able to access a graphics card or lower level systems that 00:03:33.949 --> 00:03:35.639 allow your app to run a lot faster. 00:03:36.152 --> 00:03:36.962 Automation. 00:03:37.832 --> 00:03:42.272 Automation is a process where code is written to carry out a specific 00:03:42.272 --> 00:03:44.022 task without human interaction. 00:03:44.792 --> 00:03:48.392 Automations usually don't have a user interface. 00:03:48.762 --> 00:03:54.312 They're about moving data, creating alerts, that sort of thing . It 00:03:54.312 --> 00:03:55.722 doesn't have to be complicated. 00:03:55.752 --> 00:04:00.972 You can often use tools like Zapier or Make or plenty of other ones that 00:04:00.972 --> 00:04:03.402 have come out in the last few years. 00:04:03.912 --> 00:04:08.472 An example of a problem that might be solved by an automation 00:04:08.712 --> 00:04:12.262 is moving Salesforce data automatically into BigQuery. 00:04:12.282 --> 00:04:15.342 So you can better work with it in Google data studio. 00:04:16.992 --> 00:04:18.432 If you've built an app. 00:04:18.732 --> 00:04:23.052 We'd love to know what you've built, why you built it, how you built 00:04:23.052 --> 00:04:26.592 it, what the process was, how you decided what you like to build. 00:04:26.902 --> 00:04:32.462 We'd really like to get your feedback on our process , and we always want to learn. 00:04:32.492 --> 00:04:35.252 So follow us if you want to keep up with this series, we 00:04:35.252 --> 00:04:36.662 have a lot to share with you. 00:04:37.098 --> 00:04:40.908 And if you think that we could work together, we'd love to partner with 00:04:40.908 --> 00:04:44.498 you and see how we can help you move forward with your next project. 00:04:45.168 --> 00:04:49.568 Just shoot us an email hello@ephemerecreative.ca. 00:04:49.908 --> 00:04:52.818 We'll include that in the show notes if you're worried about the spelling. 00:04:53.004 --> 00:04:53.904 See you next time.