8 ms·

Making of April Zero: Part 2

111 points by aprilzero 12y ago

joelrunyon 12y ago
This is cool. I want this to be an app.
- joelrunyon 12y ago
  And I just realized he's releasing it as one - http://gyrosco.pe/ http://gyrosco.pe/
  - TannerLD 12y ago
    Would be nice to have some sort of link back to the article just to confirm the two. Also weird I put in my email and the page just scrolled down and revealed some aviation manuals. No indication if it "worked" or not.
    - aroch 12y ago
      It sends a GET to createsend http://gyroscope.createsend.com/t/d/s/jiltlj/?callback=jQuery2110046029964007594404_1407447875319&cm-jiltlj-jiltlj=test%40example.com&_=1407447875320 If you use NoScript or the like you get a nice notification that you triggered something
  - misframer 12y ago
    He should put some text on that website.
    - DarkTree 12y ago
      yeah actually can someone verify that this is related to his app? I can't really come to terms with entering my email into a blank third-party website.
      - cjeane 12y ago
        It's linked to at the bottom of the article.
      - aprilzero 12y ago
        Sorry. It's real but pretty rough, I put that page together really quickly. Working on an upgraded version now that should feel less shady
      - joelrunyon 12y ago
        It's in the CTA at the end of his post.
- Nzen 12y ago
  I thought so too, but - for myself - I know I'm not tracking enough aspects or varying my location enough for all the gauges that his lifestyle accommodates. I will, however, take this inspiration to my own projects, where I've been more apt to use canvas than svn.
at-fates-hands 12y ago
http://aprilzero.com/journal/making-of-aprilzero/ http://aprilzero.com/journal/making-of-aprilzero/ I like at the end of part 1 where his buddy texts him and asks him if he wants to go to Hong Kong and to meet in 5 hours at SFO. Must be nice. . .
laacz 12y ago
This is some hugely impressive amount of highest quality work done by a single person. I cannot recall seeing anything more astonishing than this.
sixQuarks 12y ago
It doesn't matter how long you practices the art of design, there are few people that can pull this off by themselves. I believe this guy has natural design talent coupled with years of practice.
- computerslol 12y ago
  I see talent. This is a nifty display of technical prowess. I don't see discipline or any concern for the experience of the user. Having spent some time in the explorer section, what I see is something pretty, but unreadable. After the novelty of the interface choices fades, it's about as engaging as an XML document. There's no story here, no human element. I am seeing some interesting ideas and uses of space wasted displaying useless data. The experience is disjointed, the navigation is not intuitive, the page does weird things on scroll, and it doesn't work in IE11 (which is more offensive to me than it likely is to most of his audience - I switched to chrome to play with this). If I were looking through this as a portfolio piece, I would be impressed with the technical elements of the design, a bit put-off by the usability problems, and confused (and a little upset) as to why a record of travel to 72 cities is presented in such a dehumanized manner.
  - debt 12y ago
    In his defense it was a personal project; not a product for paying customers. I find it impossible to get "upset" at someone's personal project. But haters gonna hate. EDIT: Count all the haters above coming out of the woodwork. We can't see the points so we'll never know the real number.
    - computerslol 12y ago
      Let me clarify. None of that was an insult. He has talent. It takes a lot of experience to harness and balance it properly. As he matures he'll figure it out. He's 24. Building something pretty is one talent. Building something novel yet still intuitively usable is another. Building something engaging is yet another. They (and more) are all linked. If he gets them all (or even just a few) down and balanced he'll be someone to look out for.

111 points by aprilzero 12y ago

joelrunyon 12y ago

This is cool. I want this to be an app.

joelrunyon 12y ago
And I just realized he's releasing it as one - http://gyrosco.pe/ http://gyrosco.pe/
- TannerLD 12y ago
  Would be nice to have some sort of link back to the article just to confirm the two. Also weird I put in my email and the page just scrolled down and revealed some aviation manuals. No indication if it "worked" or not.
  - aroch 12y ago
    It sends a GET to createsend http://gyroscope.createsend.com/t/d/s/jiltlj/?callback=jQuery2110046029964007594404_1407447875319&cm-jiltlj-jiltlj=test%40example.com&_=1407447875320 If you use NoScript or the like you get a nice notification that you triggered something
- misframer 12y ago
  He should put some text on that website.
  - DarkTree 12y ago
    yeah actually can someone verify that this is related to his app? I can't really come to terms with entering my email into a blank third-party website.
    - cjeane 12y ago
      It's linked to at the bottom of the article.
    - aprilzero 12y ago
      Sorry. It's real but pretty rough, I put that page together really quickly. Working on an upgraded version now that should feel less shady
    - joelrunyon 12y ago
      It's in the CTA at the end of his post.
Nzen 12y ago
I thought so too, but - for myself - I know I'm not tracking enough aspects or varying my location enough for all the gauges that his lifestyle accommodates. I will, however, take this inspiration to my own projects, where I've been more apt to use canvas than svn.

at-fates-hands 12y ago

http://aprilzero.com/journal/making-of-aprilzero/ http://aprilzero.com/journal/making-of-aprilzero/ I like at the end of part 1 where his buddy texts him and asks him if he wants to go to Hong Kong and to meet in 5 hours at SFO. Must be nice. . .

laacz 12y ago

This is some hugely impressive amount of highest quality work done by a single person. I cannot recall seeing anything more astonishing than this.

sixQuarks 12y ago

It doesn't matter how long you practices the art of design, there are few people that can pull this off by themselves. I believe this guy has natural design talent coupled with years of practice.

computerslol 12y ago
I see talent. This is a nifty display of technical prowess. I don't see discipline or any concern for the experience of the user. Having spent some time in the explorer section, what I see is something pretty, but unreadable. After the novelty of the interface choices fades, it's about as engaging as an XML document. There's no story here, no human element. I am seeing some interesting ideas and uses of space wasted displaying useless data. The experience is disjointed, the navigation is not intuitive, the page does weird things on scroll, and it doesn't work in IE11 (which is more offensive to me than it likely is to most of his audience - I switched to chrome to play with this). If I were looking through this as a portfolio piece, I would be impressed with the technical elements of the design, a bit put-off by the usability problems, and confused (and a little upset) as to why a record of travel to 72 cities is presented in such a dehumanized manner.
- debt 12y ago
  In his defense it was a personal project; not a product for paying customers. I find it impossible to get "upset" at someone's personal project. But haters gonna hate. EDIT: Count all the haters above coming out of the woodwork. We can't see the points so we'll never know the real number.
  - computerslol 12y ago
    Let me clarify. None of that was an insult. He has talent. It takes a lot of experience to harness and balance it properly. As he matures he'll figure it out. He's 24. Building something pretty is one talent. Building something novel yet still intuitively usable is another. Building something engaging is yet another. They (and more) are all linked. If he gets them all (or even just a few) down and balanced he'll be someone to look out for.