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It's all about the USER, dummy... Or at least it should be.

Principal Engineer & Mobile User Advocate at Zillow Group

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Consulting vs Startup -- a question that I find myself struggling with frequently. Both have their upsides and their downsides.

My goal is life is to create applications that allow people to spend less time dealing with the application and more time getting their jobs done.

If anyone tells you that an application is complicated because the task/job it is doing is complicated they are either lying to you or they are not very good at designing applications. Applications MUST be easy to use if they are going to be of any use to their intended users. Users should be allowed to concentrate on doing their jobs, not on figuring out how to use the software.

Oh, I currently host the Las Vegas IOS Developers meetup which meets on a monthly basis. Its a small band of people who have a genuine desire to learn how to develop software the right way.

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Career: 16

Principal Engineer & Mobile User Advocate

Zillow Group

Jul 2020 - Present

President, Chief Consultant

hot-n-GUI, Inc.

Jan 1994 - Present

I consider myself an "Application Architect" instead of a software engineer or programmer. This is because there is so much more to creating a successful application than throwing some code together. I represent the user during the design and implementation phases. Surprising most people forget about the user which is ashame since they are the center of the universe for an application.

Mobile App Architect / Consultant

hot-n-GUI, LLC

Jan 1994 - Present

Check out our some of our own apps via the links below. You can also see a few of our client's apps by going to our website at: http://www.hotngui.com/mobile.html

Staff Engineer

Life360

Remote (Las Vegas)

Jan 2019 - Jul 2020

Principal Engineer

Zillow Group

San Francisco

Jan 2018 - Jan 2019

My role morphed into a full-time position from my previous role of consultant here at Trulia Brand of the Zillow Group. My duties expanded to taking ownership of all things Apple and industry standards for our iOS and tvOS applications.

Software Consultant

Zillow Group

San Francisco

Mar 2015 - Jan 2018

My initial responsibilities for their Trulia Brand were to troubleshoot numerous stability issues, integrate unit testing into the continuous integration process, and providing architecture and coding advice for bringing their code base up to date with the latest Apple technologies and guidelines. I am also personally responsible for the user interface of their Apple TV app and iMessage App/Extension.

Man of Indeterminate Title

m›Path

Silicon Valley

Sep 2013 - Aug 2014

Not much to say... Or was that not much I can say... Stay Tuned...

Senior Architect, Chip Planning Solutions

Cadence Design Systems

San Jose, CA

Jul 2008 - Mar 2013

Cadence acquired one of my best clients, ChipEstimate, and talked me to staying involved in the projects we started before being acquired. I am slowing sliding out of this role.

Consultant

Chip Estimate

Cupertino, CA

2006 - 2008

I was hired to design an implement a cross-platform application for their advanced chip estimation tools that allows designers and managers to accurately estimate chip area, power requirements, and costs. The company was acquired by Cadence Design Systems where we continued to sell to the world's largest chip and electronics companies.

Consultant

Reshape

San Francisco

2005 - 2006

I was hired to design and implement a cross-platform desktop application (written in Java and Perl) that would allow users to create complex process scheduling schemes for the eCAD domain.

Consultant

Becton, Dickinson and Company

San Francisco

2001 - 2002

I implemented the user interface for one of their desktop applications that interface to their flow cytometry instruments in the BioSciences divisions.

UI Dude

Netmosphere

1998 - 1999

User Interface Architect

Annuncio

1997 - 1998

Engineering Manager

Meta-Software

1992 - 1994

SMTS

Cadence Design Systems

1987 - 1992

Softw Engineer

Pinebush Technologies

1985 - 1987

Projects: 18

Trulia for Apple TV (tvOS)

Jul 2016 - Present

I was a major contributor to the design and implementation of an Apple TV app for my client Trulia (part of Zillow Group). It's their first venture into being real estate to the TV. The app allows users to browse homes in any US city including listing details, photos, videos, local crime information and school ratings. The app was written completely in Swift; it uses several third party and company propriety frameworks; UI was constructed in Apple's Interface Builder.

Kitten TV for Apple TV (tvOS)

Oct 2015 - Present

It's simple, it's silly, but it's as cute as can be... It also demonstrates a lot of underlying Frameworks including Remote Resources. The app hit #75 on Apple's Top Free Entertainment apps after a week.

SeaPhoto for Android

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.simonsanctuary.seaphoto

Aug 2015 - Present

Working with a team of scientists and marine biologists, I designed and implemented an educational app that makes information and photos of hundreds of species found on/around Monterey Bay easily accessible.

Trulia

Mar 2015 - Present

Just started working the great iOS team over at Trulia. The details are under NDA. Suffice it to say that I am heavily involved in their iPhone/iPad app offerings.

favr by Mainstreets

itunes.apple.com/app/id943985135

Aug 2014 - Present

This is a really cool social app that allows you to easily share with people in your trusted network of friends. It can help you find restaurants, mechanics, plumbers that your friends "favr" as opposed to relying on reviews of random strangers.

Wild Animal TV for Amazon'z Fire TV

amazon.com/hot-n-GUI-Inc-Wild-Animal-TV/dp/B00LKOD1GK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414079836&sr=8-1&keywords=wild+animal+tv+hot-n-gui

Jul 2014 - Present

It's a rather silly app, but it's our second commercial effort aimed at the new Amazon Fire TV. Basically a collection of video screensavers for people who love large wild animals.

Kitten TV for Amazon's Fire TV

amazon.com/hot-n-GUI-Inc-Kitten-TV/dp/B00KXWBITW/ref=sr_1_1?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1403184823&sr=1-1&keywords=hot-n-gui

Jun 2014 - Present

It's a rather silly app, but it's our first commercial effort aimed at the new Amazon Fire TV. Basically a collection of video screensavers for kitten lovers.

Crayon Fun

itunes.apple.com/us/app/crayon-fun-coloring-books/id693867857

Sep 2013 - Present

A collection of coloring books that allows children to explore their creativity, improve their hand to eye coordination, and just have fun. For a fun surprise, try turning the iPad upside down and see what happens! November 2nd, the app reached #1 in Mexico in the "5 & Under" category. #7 in the "Entertainment" category as well! October 3rd, 2013 -- #2 in "5 & Under" category in AppStores in Poland, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus.

"It's Almost Time (Free)" for Windows Phone 8

windowsphone.com/s?appid=38170f34-1856-4473-bd71-d04c6ca6a52e

Apr 2013 - Present

This is a port of our free version of "It's Almost Time" app over to Windows Phone 8. It gives you a fun and unique way to count down to noteworthy events! It is advertisement supported...

Stealth Project X

Mar 2013 - Present

This new client suddenly lost access to their Mac OSX developer and asked me to jump in the 11th hour to do some major code forensics and firefighting. There's nothing more fun that deciphering a developer's intent when there is no documentation or comments. I was able to get them to MVP in time to meet their deadline.

"Formyula" for iOS

appstore.com/formyula

Jan 2013 - Mar 2013

Formyula is an add-on for the EnvironmentalReports subscription based service that makes it easy for you to collect field data electronically and send it to your office or partners in real time. Formyula makes your inspection/survey records more defensible by allowing you to record GPS location, take photos, and create audio notes while out on the job. With an EnvironmentalReports account you can archive your surveys for use later on. You can retrieve archived surveys, use them for reference or update them with new findings.

"Grudge Match" for iPhone

appstore.com/grudgematch

Nov 2012 - Dec 2012

The folks over at Ultimate Food Fight, Inc. found themselves in a bind when they lost their iPhone developer a few months before they needed to release their app. I picked up the pieces and helped them get to market. This included lots of coding, bug fixing, and working out a few usability issues. In a relative short time, working only part time on the project because of other commitments I was able to not only get the app into a shippable state, but left them with a long laundry list of recommended improvements for them to followup on. This is an example of some of the many services we provide beyond just cranking out new apps from scratch.

"SeaPhoto" for iOS

itunes.apple.com/app/seaphoto/id515571588?mt=8

Nov 2011 - May 2012

Working with a team of scientists and marine biologists, I designed and implemented an educational app that makes information and photos of hundreds of species found on/around Monterey Bay easily accessible.

"eCOC+" for iPhone and iPad

itunes.apple.com/app/ecoc+/id554635283?mt=8

The initial project had me doing some bug fixing and enhancements to their existing apps already in the AppStore. That was followed by a much larger project to deliver the next generation of their apps that is much more dynamic in its architecture and user interface. This is necessary so they can expand their services to more potential customers that require specific configurations of the app and its data. I also revamped much of the visuals.

"It's Almost Time" for iOS

hotngui.com/apps/ItsAlmostTimePaid/index.html

This iPhone/iPad app gives you a fun and unique way to count down to noteworthy events. The latest version now supports iCloud!

"Blue Intensity - The Game" for iOS

hotngui.com/apps/BlueIntensityFree/index.html

Based on the classic memory game of "Concentration", Blue Intensity is not only fun but can also help improve your memory. It supports Game Center so you can compare your best times with others!

"Barnyard Box" Paid Version for iOS

hotngui.com/apps/BarnyardBoxPaid/index.html

Just like our free version plus it allows you to record and play your own custom sounds along with the rest of the barnyard!

"Barnyard Box" for iOS

hotngui.com/apps/BarnyardBoxFree/index.html

Remember that childhood game called "MooBox"? Well, its back but better! Now besides the cow you can now hear the entire barnyard of animals: Cow, Horse, Pig, Rooster, and even a Duck!

Awards: 1

DesignVision Award 2007

Feb 2007

This prestigious award was given to ChipEstimate for the INCYTE Enterprise application which I designed and developed the desktop client. The team which included myself won several additional of Design Vision Awards from the IEC in subsequent years for follow-on products.

Skills: 51

Technical

.NETCC#C++DatabasesEclipseGitiOS Development
JavaJava Enterprise EditionLinuxMobile ApplicationsMySQLObject Oriented DesignObjective-CProgrammingSoftware DesignSoftware DevelopmentSoftware EngineeringSQLSQL ServerSwiftUMLUnit TestingUnixVisual StudioWeb ServicesXML

Business

Agile MethodologiesManagementProject Management

Creative

Interaction DesignUser ExperienceUser Interface Design

Other

Application ArchitectureApplication DesignCarthageCocoaPodsDesign PatternsDesktopGUIHibernate
JDBCLuceneNetBeansSolrSwiftUISwingWindowsWindows PhoneXcode