[00:00:00.00] - Gordon
Hello.
[00:00:09.08] - Taylor
Hello.
[00:00:09.26] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.
[00:00:11.29] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:00:13.27] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week With Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast, where we talk about things that have affected our businesses over the last seven days. And thank you so much for joining us.
[00:00:23.16] - Taylor
Welcome back.
[00:00:24.11] - Gordon
How's your week been this week?
[00:00:26.04] - Taylor
It's been good. I had a project design signed off, which was really good. A lot of work went into it. Absolutely massive site. There was about 40 templates that were designed. So it goes to show the scale because each template would be reused, essentially. So they were unique templates that we created. So a big, big project that we were working on and it's moving into development now. So very exciting.
[00:00:56.28] - Gordon
Very exciting. Yeah, very good. I've had a very busy week, as always, but let's get straight into our topics. Would you like to go first or shall I?
[00:01:07.02] - Taylor
You can go first this week.
[00:01:08.13] - Gordon
So this week, I would like to talk about revisiting things. So on Saturday, what is it today? Tomorrow. Tomorrow. So tomorrow, we have our Local Community Day. And for the last five years, maybe, six years, I've lost count now, I've been doing all the entertainment for it. So not only have I been performing during the show, during the Community Day, but I also organise all the other entertainers, and I make sure that we put on the schedule, and I MC it on the day, and I'm there all day to make sure everything runs smoothly. And last year, and in fact, the year before, but last year was the better year, we set up a system so that people could use a QR code on their phone and they would basically get the schedule of the day, so they could see what was happening and when it was happening. Now, the nice thing about that is that the software could be updated during the day if anything changes, which means that it's going to be live information.
[00:02:16.14] - Gordon
And that was really useful last year because it meant that we had one person who was unable to make it due to illness, and I didn't know until halfway through the day. And being a magician, I just stepped in and did another magic show. And that was great because it meant I could just change the schedule and everyone knew what was going on. This year, I'm looking to do the same thing. We've got the same QR code, so we're going to be sending people to the same URL. But the software that we used last year was effectively version one of the software. And this year, we've got version two of the software, which is completely different. So what I need to do is basically relearn how to use their software in the new version, which obviously is better and faster and has different resources and stores the data in different places and so on and so forth. But it all takes a bit of time to do, and it's not quite as straightforward as just updating the information and off we go. I could do that, but part of me feels like I should recreate it in the version 2 because that's the better software.
[00:03:35.22] - Gordon
So that's something that I need to do before tomorrow. And I have had a look at it, and it's not quite as user friendly as I was hoping it would be because the software has got lots of changes to the way it all works, and I don't quite understand it all yet. So it may end up that we have just a list which I can manually change for tomorrow because it's getting really close now. And this week has been really busy, so I haven't had a chance to do this any earlier than this. Plus the schedule changes. So even if I had done it, I'd still need to go through and make changes to the schedule to make sure that everything is correct and as it should be. So Taylor and I are going to have a look at this software and see if we can figure it out. Hopefully, with two of us working on it, we'll be able to crack it pretty quickly and we'll be able to have it up and running ready for tomorrow. But the whole thought behind this is that we are revisiting software that I used last year and haven't used since, which I think I should have done because it's good software.
[00:05:00.07] - Gordon
It's called Frontly, and it's no code website building, and it's pretty good for certain things, this being one of them. So the whole thinking behind this is revisit things that maybe you haven't looked at for a long time, especially software-wise, because things move at such a pace that if you logged into software to do something and it was just something you do once a year like this is, there's going to be big changes, probably, if they are committed to updating the software and adding features and so forth. And you don't want to get left behind. And you don't want to not use new functionality that's been given to you just because you didn't know it was there. So have a look at these old things, the things that you've used in the past and maybe haven't used for a long time. See if there's any changes. One of the things that I do on a regular basis is I go through the applications that I use on my computer and check to see if there's any updates because there are some software applications that I only use a few times. For example, I have an Insta 360 camera, and there is software to edit that Insta 360 footage, but I don't use it that often, only when I've been out on holiday or somewhere where I've needed to do 360 video.
[00:06:23.01] - Gordon
And so I don't use the software very often, but by loading it up, checking for updates, it then tells me all the differences and the changes that have been made, and I get to see all the new functionality and keep on top of these things, which is really important. Do you find that... I mean, we spoke about updating last week with Apple operating system, how important that was. But do you find that you update your software as soon as it comes out, or do you wait a little bit just in case there's problems?
[00:06:55.24] - Taylor
It depends on what the update's for. For my computer, I wait a bit because it's what I use regularly. But for most other things, I just update straight away.
[00:07:06.01] - Gordon
Which is strange because you update your phone, which you use regular, when it's in the beta. So you update it before we actually get the proper version.
[00:07:15.00] - Taylor
A lot of it just comes down to, I can still run my business without a phone. I can't run my business without a computer.
[00:07:23.04] - Gordon
Yeah. Fair enough.
[00:07:23.13] - Taylor
But it's what I think annoys me, or what's something I've had to think about when I've been working on our plug-in, for example, is making sure that even though when we were updating the UI and making changes, it was a pretty significant update that we released, was that it was still familiar in a way that people knew how to use it. There were a couple of things that were highlighted to me in the new version that I thought were obvious for the new UI, and people were like, "How do I add a new column?" Or "how do I add a new row?" Or whatever. And I was like, It's just a plus button. Easy. But obviously, people weren't used to that. When I was building the rest of it, I was thinking, "Okay, is there any place that I need to make sure that I add a notice to to say, 'You're looking for this, it doesn't here exist anymore. Go and check here.'" One of them was the SMTP module, I split where you added the basic information and where you added the server details into two separate tabs, whereas in the previous version, we had them in the same place.
[00:08:26.11] - Taylor
I actually added a little note that said, "Look, if you're looking for server details, they're at now in this new tab," and there was a link, and they could just click it, and it would take them straight there. It's thinking about the user and how they are going to interact with it, because especially when you come to a bigger update, someone hasn't used it for a long time, and they come back to it, and the UI's completely changed, you don't know where you're going to be going. You don't know how you're going to be using it. And that's, I think, where a lot of people struggle, especially when you're updating your laptop. Say you're updating from Windows 10 to Windows 11, and everything's changed, everything's moved. You don't know where anything is.
[00:09:01.06] - Gordon
You've got to relearn it all.
[00:09:03.02] - Taylor
Yeah. And people that aren't as tech savvy do struggle a lot more. I've gone round and helped people with their computer, and I have no idea where the setting is. But I've just assumed and made my best guess of like, "Okay, it's going to probably be around here somewhere." And they go, "How did you know that?" It's like you can't really explain it.
[00:09:24.01] - Gordon
Intuitive, isn't it?
[00:09:25.02] - Taylor
Something that you learn and you go, "okay, well, because I'm a developer, this is where where I would put it," or "this is where I think people would put it." And people just don't think to look there or to check. Whenever I have bugs, I always check different things. It's like, "okay, that's the reason why." I don't bother reporting it because for me, it's just like I'll find a workaround, and it's easier for me to use the workaround than actually report it and hope that it gets fixed.
[00:09:52.16] - Gordon
That's very interesting because now the conversation that we've just had is from a user and from the developer's side of going back to something and how the user needs to make sure that they check to see what's new and to see how to use all the new functionality. And you as a developer have just spoken about how you need to make sure that it's familiar but different, if you see what I mean, and allow people to find everything they need to find.
[00:10:20.14] - Taylor
Yeah, and it's very obvious the people that don't even take into consideration those things. Don't think about, "Oh, I've just completely removed a feature," or "I've completely changed the user experience" and just not added any sort of helpers. And then the user gets lost or whatever.
[00:10:39.26] - Gordon
Very good. So that's everything I wanted to say about that. So just go and have a look at things that you've not used for a while and then see if there's a way that you can use it better. There you go. That's pretty much it in summary. What would you like to talk about?
[00:10:53.16] - Taylor
So I want to talk about how the solution is the opposite. So a lot of the time, when we get really busy, we think working harder, working longer hours is the solution to solving that problem. And for a long time, I always had that. People would say, "Do you want to play tennis?" "Do you want to play whatever?" "Do you want to meet up?" And I would say, "I don't have time." But then I would still find time to scroll on my phone for half an hour, for an hour, and lose time, or I would get home and just sit in bed for three hours. And what I found is by making conscious decisions, for example, going to the gym and actually saying, "No, that is a priority to make sure that I go," I found that I actually do more because I know that I have these different things. I know I have padel sessions or I know I have tennis sessions with my friends, and so I need to fit the work that I've got into the time that I've got. And I'm a lot more proactive with what I'm doing, what I'm planning to do, what I set myself for the week or for that day. And I hit my targets or my goals that I've set a lot more. Do you find that?
[00:12:14.19] - Gordon
Yeah, I mean, deadlines are always good for me. I find that, like we were talking about earlier, I've got my Community Day coming up tomorrow, and therefore everything that needs to be done for that, organising the entertainment, getting it all sorted. I've got a hard deadline that it needs to be done by. If it's done a week later, well, that's too late because the event has come and gone. So deadlines work really well for me.
[00:12:40.05] - Taylor
Something else is when you're stuck on a problem. I mean, in terms of coding for me, when I'm stuck on a problem, sometimes I've thought, "just keep going, keep hammering away at it." And then I'll be pulled away by something that I have to do, whether that's going to have dinner or whatever. And then I figure out the answer because I've taken a step away from it. A lot of people have this with showers, right?
[00:13:06.17] - Gordon
Yeah.
[00:13:07.17] - Taylor
And yeah, I think it's one of those other things where you actually step away. You give yourself time to reflect, to think about, to plan. And when you come back, you're actually refreshed with a clearer head because you're not so far down the rabbit hole of the wrong solution, or the wrong idea that you should have done, right?
[00:13:26.26] - Gordon
Going on a dog walk is quite good for that. It takes you into an area where you're on your own, except maybe with the dog, obviously, and other dog walkers, but you're not actually physically connecting with someone else. And all you've got to do is to walk around your dog walk route. But it gives you time for your brain to then just think about things that are happening in your subconscious. And quite often, these solutions or thoughts will come into your head, and they wouldn't have come into your head if you were concentrating really hard on it.
[00:14:05.11] - Taylor
I think it's also the idea is that you can't... We're always so instant gratification, instant whatever, because we have everything at our fingertips these days, is the fact that when you're thinking about it and you go, "Oh, that's a great idea. I want to do that." And you can't because you're not at your computer, you're not at whatever the area that you work in is. And sometimes actually that first idea, although it seemed like a great idea, when you've spent another five more minutes continuing your walk, you've actually thought, "oh, hang on, that's probably a better way to do it." And so because you haven't got that ability to instantly go and test something, you've actually come up with an even better solution or another alternative that you-
[00:14:52.17] - Gordon
Well, you've thought it through, haven't you? You came up with the idea and then you thought, "right, how is that going to affect what I've already done? How is it going to affect things I'm going to do?" And, "Ah, right, hang on, I can't do it that way because this is going to happen. Therefore, oh, yeah, now that's a better solution." So you think it through properly without spending time implementing it and then going, "Oh, it doesn't work." So, yeah, very interesting.
[00:15:17.19] - Taylor
But that's something I've been trying to do more of and be more conscious and proactive of what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, and making sure I'm giving myself breaks and making sure that I have got the time, the capacity, the brain power. I've said to myself many times, "I'll go and play tennis and then I'll come back and finish the rest off," which most of the time doesn't because we don't realise how much brainpower doing a sport or doing whatever activity it is, actually takes. We overestimate how much capacity that we have to focus in a single day.
[00:16:00.00] - Gordon
Yeah, it's very good. Anything else you would like to say today?
[00:16:03.29] - Taylor
I don't think so.
[00:16:05.01] - Gordon
Well, that's everything from us. Thank you so much for joining us. If you are in the South Croydon area, do come along tomorrow to our Community Day, which is in Sanderstead. Come and find me. It'd be lovely to say hello. Until next week, we'll be with you at 1pm on Friday. We can be found on YouTube. As always, please like, share, and subscribe.
[00:16:28.11] - Taylor
You can always go to our website thisweekwith.co.uk to find all of our past episodes.
[00:16:32.29] - Gordon
And if you would prefer to listen to us, we're on all the major podcast platforms and your smart speaker. Just do a search for "This Week With Taylor and Gordon." We'll see you next week. Until then, my name is Gordon, and I am from Drayson Design.
[00:16:46.19] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:16:49.04] - Gordon
Goodbye.
[00:16:49.18] - Taylor
Bye.
