Career Stops

Neurotrack, iOS Development Lead

Coordinated with stakeholders across web, mobile, and backend to develop a new API for the distribution and administration of cognitive exams. Built the iOS integration of said API and deployed it across all six cognitive exams.

Worked with design team to define the company-wide design language and style guide. This was deployed across iOS, Android, and Web applications.

TED, Mobile Development Lead

Led development of visual redesign that shipped in June 2018. Led years-long transition from code base designed for the original iPad and iOS 3.2 to support modern technologies such as Auto Layout, adaptivity, and Swift. Built and deployed first and second generation of TED’s custom video player using AV Foundation. Coordinated, developed, and deployed app in 20 additional languages.

Collaborated with other teams in the organization to bring syncing of TED.com accounts to the iOS product. Reduced in-app crashes 50% year over year.

Hipstamatic, Senior iOS Developer 

Designed, developed, and implemented new features for popular camera application Hipstamatic. Assisted in production of Snap Magazine for iPad, which was read by over 100,000 people. In charge of special projects related to sharing both externally and internally within the Hipstamatic ecosystem.

Shrunk my jean size by two inches. Grew a mustache. Listened to a lot of Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons.

HotelTonight, Senior iOS Developer

Implemented accessibility support in the existing iPhone app. Added support for collecting user reviews to iPhone app. Co-developed iPad app from scratch, which was featured by Apple and maintains a 4.5 star rating.

Second Gear

From 2006 to 2012, I ran an independent Mac and iOS software development company called Second Gear. Under the Second Gear banner I released products a variety of different products (with varying success)

• Today — Mac OS X calendaring application designed to show only your current day’s agenda and to-do list.

• PocketTweets — A “sweet” solution for browsing your Twitter feed on the original iPhone.

• Elements — The first notes and writing app for the iPad that synced with Dropbox.

Education

I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer & Information Technology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Technical Prowess

What Problem Are You Solving?

If the answer to “who is your product’s audience” is “anyone with an iPhone or Android device,” you are likely screwed. 

Repurposing The Titanic

My biggest mistake with Glassboard was having blinders to the fact that the design decisions Sepia Labs made when building Glassboard would likely clash with mine. That doesn’t have anything to do with visual design. Instead, I’m referring to the platform architecture decisions they made as a funded startup, or spin-off, or whatever they were.

Ninety Days

Ninety days is a good amount of time to get a semi-polished 1.0 out in the world, especially in mobile. It won’t have every feature that you wanted to ship, but it will be out there and either be validated or invalidated by the buying public.

What's It Like To Be Robbed?

You sacrifice for several years saving up money for your first house. You get the money. You find the home. Contracts are signed. Money is transferred. This house is now your home.

And then one day you come home and see the back door smashed in. A large piece of wooden trim on the floor. Drawers in every room opened and rummaged through. Everything is missing. Everything.

The Auteur Theory

The best creative works, whether they be TV shows, books, or apps, are the products of focus and vision. At Apple, that was Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. WebOS had Matias Duarte, who has been doing wonders cleaning up the mess that was the Android experience. James Dyson does it for vacuums. 

TED 3.0: Working Effectively With Legacy Code

When TED shipped back in 2010 it was written entirely in Objective-C and designed to work on two device sizes: the iPhone 3GS and original iPad. Now we support phones as small as the iPhone 4s up to iPads like the 12.9" iPad Pro. In that entire time, we have continued to update the same app code base. There has never been a full-on rewrite of the iOS project, as tempting as it may be at times.