Month: June 2016

Tarron Newman—Co-founder of RIPE Intelligence—joins me on MATE to discuss how he revolutionised Australia’s emergency management with data. Through the creation of their product, EmergencyAUS, Tarron and his co-founder Luke were able to collate public emergency data when government agencies could not. Today, EmergencyAUS is the most popular national emergency information app in Australia. In episode 7 of MATE, we talk about how they created their product and built their company. We also explore the highs and lows of life as an entrepreneur. And … Tarron tells me the deep, dark, secret that his ‘I made it moment’ is the day he buys his helicopter. 🚁

 

Links and resources:

• RIPE Intelligence, the company which assists emergency services and the public make more informed decisions during emergencies.
• EmergencyAUS smartphone app, the most popular National Emergency Information app in Australia, which alerts users to emergencies across Australia. The app was developed by RIPE Intelligence.
• The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of catastrophic bushfires that devastated the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. There was a subsequent Royal Commission to investigate all aspects of the circumstances surrounding the bushfires.
• What’s the difference between a federation and a confederation?
• What’s the difference between a product and a platform?
• How crowdsourcing data has helped emergency management
• Some of the Victorian Government agencies and statutory authorities mentioned in this episode include:
  • The Country Fire Authority (CFA), which is a volunteer and community based fire and emergency services organisation in regional Victoria.
  • The Victoria State Emergency Service (SES), which is the control agency for flood, storm, tsunami and earthquake emergencies in Victoria.
  • Victoria Police, which is the primary law enforcement agency in Victoria.
  • VicRoads, which is the road and traffic authority in Victoria. It is responsible for road maintenance and construction, as well as licensing and vehicle registration.
• The FireReady app is the official Victorian Government app for access to timely, relevant and tailored bushfire warnings and information in Victoria. The app was developed by the CFA.
• Should you build a product or build a company?
• Don’t focus on the money; focus on building your product. If your product is amazing, the market will reward you.
• How do you know if you have “product/market fit”?
• Why every entrepreneur needs a good business mentor
• Why you probably shouldn’t go into business with your best friend
• The hardest part of entrepreneurship is the sacrifice

 

Special thanks:

• The guest on this episode: Tarron Newman, Co-founder of RIPE Intelligence.
• Podcast logo cover artwork by Courtney Carman
• Music from “Ghosts I–IV” by Nine Inch Nails, used under a Creative Commons licence.

 

Connect with MATE:

• Subscribe on iTunes
• Subscribe on Stitcher
• Subscribe to the RSS feed
• Listen on YouTube
• MATE podcast website
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook

 

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MATE podcast is a show about Marketing, Advertising, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Hosted by Adam Jaffrey: Digital Strategist and Entrepreneur. Made with ❤ in Melbourne, Australia.

MATE podcast is a production by branded podcast agency Wavelength Creative.

Ryan McLeod—designer and developer of Blackbox for iPhone—talks to me via Skype about how and why he came up with this crazy idea for an iPhone puzzle game. We talk about some of the design challenges he encountered while making Blackbox, and explore what life is like as an indie developer (when the hordes of fans come bashing on your door wanting new levels!). Ryan also discusses the principles of good design, and what it’s been like creating an interaction-heavy game without a formal design background. It’s a fascinating and hilarious chat!

📲 DOWNLOAD Blackbox, the iPhone puzzle game (FREE on the App Store).
🎥 WATCH VIDEO of this episode on YouTube (the video of our Skype call).

Note 1: You should download the game Blackbox (it’s FREE) on iPhone before listening to this episode, as it will give you some context for the discussion I have with Ryan.

Note 2: Since I recorded the video from my Skype call with Ryan, I decided to test out a video edition of MATE for this episode. You can watch the discussion on YouTube if you’d like some additional visual stimulation.

 

Links and resources:

• What is an “Interaction Engineer”?
• Download Blackbox, the iPhone game that self-identifies as a “refreshingly oppressive puzzle app” (FREE on the App Store).
• Portal, the highly acclaimed first-person puzzle-platform video game.
• FEZ, the indie puzzle platform game in which it is possible to achieve 200% completion (through collecting all 32 cubes and an additional 32 anti-cubes).
• Machinarium, the puzzle point-and-click adventure game that was developed over 3 years by seven self-funded Czech developers.
• Peek Calendar, the beautifully playful calendar app from an ex-IDEO designer.
• Easter eggs are non-essential part of a game put in by developers for fun. They are secret responses that occur as a result of an undocumented set of commands.
• Pull to Refresh, the user interface gesture (which Twitter strangely has a patent on!).
• The Ookla cat Easter egg in the Speedtest.net app
• The Inception app, which uses the sound around you and your iPhone sensors to augment your reality.
• Clear to-do app, and its secret themes Easter eggs.
• Hatch, the Tamagotchi-style app, which interacts with your device’s current state (e.g. dancing when there’s music playing, or yawning when your phone battery is low).
• Feature creep is the ongoing expansion or addition of new features in a product, preventing it from launching on time or on budget.
• What’s the difference between “Computer Science” and “Software Engineering”?! A simple explanation, and a more complicated explanation.
• The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman.
• Good design is about being empathetic towards other human beings
• Here’s that Vox video we talk about, which addresses the issue of the “Norman Door”, i.e. the push/pull door confusion fiasco:

• Good design goes unnoticed, and that’s a good thing. Good design should be invisible.
• A hilarious example of when rogue chatbots go wrong
• Saul Flores explains why overhyped “innovations” don’t change the world, in MATE podcast episode 005.
• Athan Didaskalou gives his take on virtual reality, in MATE podcast episode 002.
• Budget Cuts is the new virtual reality game where you flick throwing knives at robots. View the trailer:

 

Special thanks:

• The guest on this episode: Ryan McLeod, creator of the amazing iPhone puzzle game Blackbox.
• Podcast logo cover artwork by Courtney Carman
• Music from “Ghosts I–IV” by Nine Inch Nails, used under a Creative Commons licence.

 

Connect with MATE:

• Subscribe on iTunes
• Subscribe on Stitcher
• Subscribe to the RSS feed
• Listen on YouTube
• MATE podcast website
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook

 

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MATE podcast is a show about Marketing, Advertising, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Hosted by Adam Jaffrey: Digital Strategist and Entrepreneur. Made with ❤ in Melbourne, Australia.

MATE podcast is a production by branded podcast agency Wavelength Creative.