Websites, software development, a fifth wheel, and a shotgun. Another chapter from New Hampshire.
It's been more than a month since my last blog post, and quite a bit has happened. A new website client, a new professional direction, another software application brewing in my head, and a few adventures that have absolutely nothing to do with writing code.
Let's start with business.
A New Client and a Deep Dive Into UX
I've acquired a new website client: the Lakes Region Repeater Association (LRRA), an amateur radio organization serving New Hampshire's Lakes Region.
Official work on the website won't begin until after mid-November, but I've already rolled up my sleeves and started digging into the user experience.
I'm following a structured UX design process: Discovery, user flows, information architecture, wireframes, and eventually a fully functional WordPress prototype with usability testing.
The idea is to understand what visitors need, how they navigate the site, and how to make the experience more intuitive before getting tangled up in colors, typography, and code.
The wireframes are finished, and the UX case study is more than halfway complete. You can follow the progress on my Case Studies page.
It's been an enjoyable exercise, and one that's reinforced something I've believed for years: Good website design is less about decoration and more about solving problems.
Looking for Work in All the Wrong Places
Remember that old country song, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places?
Well, I've been looking for work in all the wrong places. Looking for work without any traces. Or something like that.
Yep, I've managed to define myself into a professional corner as a website handyman for local Lakes Region businesses.
Which I still am, by the way. And glad to be one.
But there's another side to my professional experience that doesn't particularly matter to someone who owns a restaurant, operates a septic truck, or runs a small retail business.
React. Next.js. TypeScript. Node.js. Express.js. Swift. Software architecture. APIs. Databases.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
These technologies are fundamental to building modern software applications, but they're seldom things a local business owner wants to discuss.
And then there's Shedooby, my own iOS app, published in Apple's App Store. A bonifide production software application that people can download and use.
So why am I focusing more attention on software development when building websites for small businesses can be lucrative? Therein lies some misinformation. Lucrative and website design do not go hand in hand.
It turns out the New Hampshire job market offers considerably more opportunities for software developers than for traditional web developers. Recent workforce figures I've examined suggest fewer than 500 web developer positions compared with roughly 9,000 software developer positions.
That's a slightly big difference.
Go where the work is.
I don’t have to talk about becoming a software developer.
I am a software developer.
I've designed, built, tested, and published an application that's available to the public. That counts for something.
But Shedooby is looking a little lonely sitting there as my one production app.
I think it needs a mate. A companion. A partner. A spouse.
Something New Is Coalescing
I've got an idea for another software application that would go beyond Shedooby's original 56-day discipline and grit-building challenge.
Shedooby is about setting goals, holding yourself accountable, and doing the difficult things that lead to personal growth. This new idea would take those principles further by expanding your domain and modifying your situation.
How much further? Well, that's still taking shape.
But it's an idea I'm excited enough about to pursue, not merely as another portfolio project, but as something I use myself.
Whether I end up developing software for an established company, freelancing, or building my own products, that's the direction I'm heading.
There is something especially satisfying about building software that solves a problem you've experienced personally.
Goodbye to Our Home on Wheels
In other news, we're selling our Grand Design Reflection 303RLS fifth wheel.
What a magnificent adventure that camper has given us.
We've traveled through much of the lower 48, ventured into the spectacular landscapes of western Canada, and pushed north into Alaska, America's largest state.
Black bears, grizzlies, eagles, and those wonderfully bashful moose. Mountain ranges that seem to stretch into eternity. Roads winding through wilderness so vast you feel like a tiny speck in the universe.
We enjoyed the hell out of it with our two beloved canines, and later, an opinionated geriatric cockatiel.
Selling the fifth wheel feels like closing a chapter in a great book. The memories aren't going anywhere and there’s a lump in the throat for remembrance.
Skeet Shooting in America's Best-Kept Secret
Adventures don’t always require leaving the state. I went skeet shooting for the first time with my brother and nephew here in New Hampshire.
What a state. What a state!
A brisk morning, 12-gauge shotguns, and ear and eye protection. Standing in the shade felt like winter was already peeking around the corner. Step into the sunshine, though, and it felt like early spring.
My nephew took top honors after we'd finished shooting at all 16 stations.
Me? No comment. I guess I better get to playing some video games like Call Of Duty.
And everyone went home with a little hickey on the shoulder, courtesy of a shotgun butt that had been offering enthusiastic reminders of Newton's third law.
New Hampshire really is America's best-kept secret.
I've visited every state except Oregon, Idaho, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, so I feel reasonably qualified to make that declaration.
I love New Hampshire's independence, its outdoors, its traditions, and its respect for individual liberty. Let's keep the state income-tax-free, preserve our Second Amendment rights, and resist the urge to fix things that aren't broken.
Of course, I could add a dozen more conditions to that list, but this is a blog post, not a political manifesto.
On to the Next Chapter
So there you have it. A new client, a more deliberate UX design process, a renewed focus on software development, a new application idea, a fifth wheel looking for another adventurer, and a shoulder that's learned a little about recoil.
Different activities, perhaps, but there's a common thread.
Keep learning. Keep building. Keep exploring.
And when you discover you've been looking for work in all the wrong places?
Set your sites on a different target and keep shootin’.