Tell us about your Basketball app? BBall-Stats is an app that allows parents/coaches to keep track of a players stats during a basketball game.
How is it different from similar apps or competitors? My app BBall-Stats is very easy to use, and isn’t as complicated as some other basketball stats apps out there. Some apps get so caught up in all the different stats for players when most parents/coaches just want to know the basics.
Could you talk a bit about the app UI and design? My icon is pretty straight forward; it’s just a basketball. For the user interface, I decided to make buttons for all the different functions of the app so it is easy to use. I also included an info button in case the user can’t figure out how to do something. I wanted it to very simple and easy to use because basketball is a very fast paced sport.
What tools and/or communities assisted you in creating the app? I used Multimedia Fusion 2 to program the app, Microsoft Expression 4 for the graphics, and YouTube to figure out how to submit my app to the App Store. To learn how to program and make graphics, I attended a summer camp hosted by Youth Digital Studio and then took an online class through youthdigital.com to continue learning. Youth Digital is great. One teacher in particular, Aaron Sharp, was outstanding. He was always there when I had a question or problem, and even to this day if I ever run into a problem, he is always there to help solve it.
What lessons did you learn in the process? Initially, I had no idea of how to create the app. I had the idea, but I needed to know how to program and design graphics. While learning both of these, I discovered how to be patient and how to troubleshoot. You’re going to run into some problems when designing and submitting an app, you just have to be patient and find a way around it. I also found that you have to be willing to revise your work. Your first draft is most likely not going to be good enough for the App Store.
What went right and wrong with the app release? Everything went relatively smooth during the development, but with the release I had some issues. I spent a lot of time on YouTube trying to figure out what I needed to do to release my app to the App Store. I was so happy when I finally figured it out! Soon after its release, my coaches started to use it, and so did a lot of my teammate's parents. It spread like wildfire!
Who is on the team and what are the roles?For BBall-Stats, it was just me, Michael Feldmann. Now I have a team of myself, (programmer) Andy Tlsty, (graphic design) Grayson Stanton, (idea generator) and Noah Unverzagt, (advertising). We are all going to be Freshmen in high school this fall, but I actually created BBall-Stats when I was going into junior high. It was a great experience.
What were you doing before creating your app? Before I created BBall-Stats, I was in 6th grade. I was playing basketball, (which inspired the creation of my app), the trumpet, and the piano. As of now I have created my company, Pikey Productions, and my team and I have created Jumpin’ Jellyfish, which is also available on the App Store. The game started out as a napkin drawing (by my graphic designer) and turned into an amazing game! I decided on the name of Pikey Productions for my company because of the nickname “Pikey” my brother gave me. The nickname stuck so I decided to use it for my company name.
What are some of your favorite apps? I enjoy Instagram. It is a great way to keep in touch with people and communicate with them via images and video. I also play Clash of Clans on a daily basis. It is so addicting and collaborative! All the games that Supercell makes inspire me to one day make an app as great as theirs.
Head over to the App Store to download BBall-Stats.
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