Last night we deployed HueCubed v1.0 to Production. A year ago, I had an idea for a product that would inexpensively help people study for the PMP® Exam and other certifications or tests. The result? HueCubed. HueCubed is a web application which will display randomized flash cards. Upon reviewing the question, you simply click on the Flip button. The card flips and displays the answer. You then have several buttons you can click. If you click on skip, incorrect, or correct, the system will log your selection. You can then, at any time, click on Check Progress. If you click on Flip, the card flips to the other side. If you click Back, you will navigate to the previous card.
So let's say you want to see your progress and click Check Progress. Your choices will be broken down by categories of study. Think of them as mini decks of cards. There is one big deck (All) and then you have it broken down into 23 categories. At any time, you can click one of the squares and it will return you to that card for review. e.g. if there were 28 cards in a deck and you click on 14, you can go directly to card 14 of 28. (see image)
Anyway, I can go on an on about this product. The idea came to me after I was asked over and over again to recommend products to help people study for the PMP® Exam. Sure, the products are out there. But, each one had something I didn't like or thought could be improved upon. I wanted something Simple, Powerful, and Cost-Effective. So, I created HueCubed.
The last year has been hard. I went through 3 development teams before I got a winner. I'm not demanding or anything. It's just hard to find the right team sometimes. I spent countless hours eating my own dogfood. I created UI wireframes, I created fnctional designs. I created a WBS. I used a Kanban to manage my work. We iterated and iterated.
HueCubed v1.0 was my critical path. All of the required deliverables are there. It will be a solid platform to build upon. I hope I didn't drive me wife too crazy with the idea of this first product. I still have a group of offerings I want to provide.
In closing, I want to quote 2 great people who inspired me to do what I did.
Jason Calacanis said “Starting is easy; Finishing is hard.”
Seth Godin wrote "Pick a budget. Pick a ship date. Honor both. Don't ignore either. No slippage, no overruns."
I had an idea on March 22, 2009, that seemed simple enough to finish. How hard could it be? The answer was "very".
I had a budget and stuck with it. I gave myself 1 year to get it done or move on with my life.
I bootstrapped the effort and got it delivered.