Today’s interview is with Connie Bossert from Fair Lady Media, Inc. Please stop by their website, Facebook page or Twitter to say hello. They launched a new app this weekend, called Grampa’s Workshop.
310530 Developer Interview with Connie Bossert of Fair Lady MediaThank you for participating our interview. Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am a former college professor with a PhD in Educational Psychology. My husband James and I have two daughters, ages 6 and 4. We founded our company, Fairlady Media, in 2008 with the release of our first game, Spazzle, and incorporated the company in 2009. We currently have 13 games on the App Store. The focus of our company is on family-friendly games.
How did the idea for your app come about?
Our newest game for children is Grandpa’s Workshop. It is a follow-up, or companion game, to our recent popular game for kids, Grandma’s Garden. We’ve been interested in developing games for children that include more real-world content and application. A workshop seemed like a great setting to learn things like measuring, fractions, colors, and number groups.
And how long was the process from the original idea to the release of the app?
We completed the game in two and a half months.
Did you hire a developer or do it yourself?
We do our design, illustration, and development in-house. My husband James is the programmer, and I am the illustrator. Together we work on design, marketing, and testing. Our two children are our primary beta testers!
What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome in the development process?
It’s difficult as a small company to get your games noticed. We work very hard on each title, but we don’t have a big marketing budget like larger companies have. We have to rely on creating quality products and then hope for word-of-mouth or features on the App Store.
Have you had much support during the development process (from family, peers, Apple Inc.)?
Our extended family is tremendously supportive. In fact, my brother also owns an iOS development company called ZWorkbench and we’ve worked together on projects in the past.
What are your plans for the future? Will you be developing any more apps?
We already have plans for great new apps! The best way to keep in touch with us is via Twitter.
What sort of feedback has your app been receiving so far?
We currently have all 5-star ratings and some wonderful editorial reviews. I’m sure we will have constructive feedback as well; I actually look forward to that because it’s an opportunity for us to improve our products.
And finally, what advice would you give to anyone considering creating their own app?
It’s a tough market. So, don’t just set out to create “an app”… instead set out to create something bigger and more meaningful. In our case, we are setting out to create an app-development business that produces consistently high-quality games that are family-friendly.
Thank you so much for talking with us today and sharing a bit about your company. We really appreciated the chance to get to know you! We look forward to reviewing your app in the near future.
