A Lazy UVP

I've come across the lazy Unique Value Proposition (UVP) which is quite cool to try wrangle your business idea into one sentence. See the below;

<idea name>    is the    <category name>   that provides   <rational benefit>      and      <emotional benefit>     for       <customer segment>       with      <specific problem>.

For example:

1. Piggybump is the mobile app that provides a money management tool and fun platform for children who has heaps of pocket money and no way to track it!

(Shocking example I know - but I did hack around with this idea for a while then realized it was too complex and time consuming for the customer segment that most likely would not use it! Also there are a few on the market already so in the list of apps not to develop!)

2. Littlemapdot.com is the blog that provides tid bits of information and a way to share discoveries from New Zealand for random thinkers that stumble across the blog.

(Hmmmm that was a bad example too! I don't have much of a direction for this blog, its just random stuff)

So if you mix the Lazy UVP and the Lean Canvas I think you will have a very good starting point for your idea!

Good luck :)

Over n out!

Dee

P.S. Feel free to share your UVP in the comments

Art Deco Social Media

As a bit of a rookie to Art Deco, I have had an awesome time sifting, searching and wondering through the many Art Deco enthusiast groups on the world wide web. See the tips below on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Reddit, for some Art Deco social time;

- Instagram 
You won't find old fogies posting black & whites but more young-ins and enthusiasts seeing and snapping daily Art Deco architecture and gorgeous art deco items. Check it out - amazing photography coupled with gorgeous art deco style.

Tech Tip - Popular hashtags are #artdeco #artdecoarchitecture #artdecodesign #vintagedeco

- Facebook
There are many Art Deco pages that post about their wares they are selling. But take a walk through all the 'groups' on Facebook. It is less about selling stuff and more about sharing the art deco love. I have found a few local groups in New Zealand but I am sure wherever you are from there might be a local shin-dig just for you! Best Napier NZ group is 'Napier - Art Deco, History, Heritage and People'.  

Tech Tip - in your Facebook search bar type Art Deco and click the magnifying glass symbol. Click 
the 'More' button and select 'groups'. Voila you have a lot of Art Deco groups to join!

- Pinterest

Prepare to get lost amongst pins and boards and not notice the time go by. To get started just search art deco and many pins will come up. From there delve into their boards and profiles and get following. Every time you follow an art deco board, their updates will pop up in your home screen. Easy updates and search. Just gorgeous stuff in there! Not really used to connect with people, rather to like and re-pin inspirational images of Art Deco. Great source :)

Tech Tip - Click my Pinterest board link on my side bar to go to Pinterest as your starting point. ---->

- Reddit

This is a strange one. The Reddit group on Art Deco is not updated often with interesting stuff and reddit on a whole is not for the faint hearted. However I simply love the conversation around Art Deco found on this platform. For example the below answer was a reply relating to someones Project on Art Deco 'What is your favourite part of Art Deco?'. Best answer hands down is below;

"[–]ZombieOmNom 10 points 1 year ago 

Aesthetically it's attractive in a timeless, tasteful way. It can be difficult to pull off and requires total coordination of decor, and when it is done well the effect is astonishing. It has a classical, nostalgic quality, in that it represents an archaic imagination of the future, from a time when the future seemed as exciting as it does today. It arrived at a time of cultural shift into consumer culture, where individualism was touted as the new model of economic progress. It flourished as a progression of the very beautiful art nouveau. It represented cultural and civic pride in fashionable architecture, being the style of choice for many important buildings such as power stations, train stations, sky scrapers and cinemas, and was largely the last publicly applauded architectural and artistic movement before the controversially ill-fated brutalism. It was tremendously influential on the way our environment eventually came to be; it spawned present day modernism, minimalism, and most other "modern" styles. To this day it has near universal appeal, and has become iconic.

Thanks ZombieOmNom! 

So there you go! These are just some alternatives than the classic 'type into Google' method of exploring Art Deco. I like to think of this as gracefully dragging Art Deco kicking and screaming into the 2015 techy world.

People all around the globe are living breathing Art Deco on a daily basis so get social darlin'! 

Enjoy :) Regards, Kiwi Dee xx

My App in the App Store

I set a goal for myself; To see if I could get an app to the iTunes Appstore by the end of 2013.

Well it happened! I will reveal all in this post. I paid next to nothing (although a lot in time), without in depth coding and all by myself. How? Well I will share with you my secrets!

Why?
Well why not!? I've always had a hankering to see if I could get an app to the app store, a bit of a personal challenge and a boasting point I suppose! "Why Yes, I do have an app in the app store and its not half bad :)."

What? 
Since I had no skills coding and programming the amount of functions needed to be cut down. I quickly realized having a simple content based app was the way to go.  With all my reading, many said to keep it simple as the user wasn't interested in trudging through all your 'cool' ideas and pages.

Having a look at my immediate whereabouts (Napier, New Zealand) I decided a info app on Art Deco and top things to do in Sunny Napier is a good start. I started 20 Buildings to write about/images. I soon cut this down to top 5 as it takes a LONG time to generate your own quality content. I added top 5 things to do in Napier and voila! I had a Top10 App.

How?
Elance? ODesk? TeaminIndia? Developer contacts? NO WAY (although I'd like to explore these options). I went down the DIY road. DYOR People!!! After a few stop starts, I settled on AppArchitect. It was basic as it was still in its beta phase. So I adapted my app to fit into what was available at the time on the web based platform builder. The first go at getting into the app store (Version 1) saw my half hearted effort get there... Yeah nah, didn't go well (a little embarrassed of it actually!) Also it was uploaded under the developer Applique - That's what AppArchitect was originally named. It had to be by default Free also.

After thinking - should I just leave it or spruce it up? After seeing they were going to release the actual binary code (the files that you upload into iTunes connect so you could have it under your name in iTunes), I got my mojo back for it and Version 2 went much better. I thought of it in the new IOS 7 design and adapted what I'd done so far into a Xero inspired 'beautiful' user interface. The content was done so all I had to do was design around it, the fun job! So I toddled away at that for a while then saw they were releasing the binary code. Jumped on that bandwagon (several emails and tweets later as they were a bit slow responding) got my binary code.

I must say, it was a bit of a rigmarole trying to get iTunes connect to accept the binary code file - although AppArchitect supplied a lot of the info that you needed to change things in order to get to the App store. Actually, considering they were in Beta mode they were moderately helpful!
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End Result: TA DA!

Napier Top10 Traveller edition is here!

Use the app & throw the map

Quality tips for the traveler & not boring info.

Features? Instant location of iconic sites, easy simple info, affordable and mobile, local tips, share where you are with friends.

For travelers of all types, cruise ship peeps, backpackers, do-ers, day trippers or 3 day visitors, even locals

Napier, NZ: This is the closest you will get to living in The Great Gatsby time. Experience Napier

View in iTunes here!

 

The most condensed brochure you will find in Napier city

Designed by KiwiDee

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It was definitely a journey.
Onto the next project!

Dee xx