Cognitive X Blog

We love our team at Cognitive X. <3

The team members, at Cognitive X Solutions, have created amazing solutions for our clients from the day we opened our doors five years ago. For that we are thankful.

When working closely with our client's, our team; ensures that they understand the purpose and the business needs, choose the right tools and, deliver on the promise.

It's essential for our team to consistently learn new programming concepts and sharpen existing ones. From watching video presentations to taking part in an online course, our team is always looking for new and better ways to solve technology problems. Recently, a member of our team was able to get certified as a Xamarin Certified Developer.  

We also take part in lunch and learns, during which a developer, of any level, shares his/her favorite new technique over lunch with the rest of the team. The subject of the talk is often project related but doesn't have to be.

Partnerships are essential for growth at Cognitive X. Our Senior Architect initiated the partnering process with PostSharp Technologies. Part of our agreement was to present their technology to potential buyers through a monthly webinar, which gave us invaluable exposure as experts in Aspect Oriented Programming.

Our team stays involved with the greater development community. We've given many talks to the Moncton Developer User Group and the Fredericton Developer User Group, and we are always looking for a chance to share our knowledge with our fellow developers.

As a company, we like to give back to the community as a whole. We've extended the pleasure of giving to our employees by empowering them to volunteer for their favorite cause for up to 4 hours a month. So far we've been able to give our time to the Greater Moncton Progress Club, SPCA in Tracadie and the Moncton Pregnancy Resource Center. 

In 2019, we want to be the best place to work for in Atlantic Canada for a Developer. The whole team, at Cognitive X, is working together to define what that truly means.

If you are amazing and are interested in being part of our fantastic team, don't hesitate to contact us at careers@cognitivex.com.

We would like to take this occasion to thank you,  our friends (clients , supporters and vendors), for the confidence they have put in us. 

Over the years, we have had the chance to build some great products for our clients. 

Here are a few interesting tidbits.

- We've helped 8 startups build their software as a service (SAAS)

- Had the pleasure of working with over 50 great clients

- Completed hundreds of projects, some were challenging, all were great to work on

- Our team has grown steadily to 8 professional software developers

- We continue to foster developer growth by supporting the MonctonUG

- We like to get S#!t done!

Partnerships

We've invested and partnered with Xamarin to help us build great mobile applications.  While investigating better ways to write software we identified Postsharp as a great product company to partner with. With Postsharp, we can write better, cleaner code.

Onward

Expect great things from us in the near future and years to come. We want to be known as the best place to work for a developer in Atlantic Canada, attract skilled workers from outside the province to show them true Maritimer hospitality and continue on our path to becoming a world-class software development company. Right here in Moncton, NB.

From the bottom of our hearts. Thanks again (We can't say this enough) for your friendship and support.

Looking forward to our next encounter over lunch or coffee.

At Cognitive X Solutions we've built multiple mobiles apps over the last few years. Here are some mobile application development mistakes than can easily be avoided. 

Don't check the market for existing apps. 

Building an application takes time and a budget. Make sure the application doesn't already exist, and that there is a need for it. Maybe there's an application that does 90% of what you need. 

Don't create a prototype. 

Before you write a single line of code you should create a prototype for your app. A prototype allows you to share with stakeholders and solicit feedback. At this point, you are looking to generate interest and buy-in for your new app.

Keep user experience as an afterthought.

UI/UX design is essential to the success of your application. If you build it, they will come doesn't apply to mobile apps. There is no better way to alienate your users by providing them with a non-native and non-intuitive user experience.

Don't build native IOS and Android apps. 

A smartphone is like a small personal computer in the palm of your hand. Although very powerful, smartphones don't have the horsepower of a PC. Which means, as a developer, you need to use its resources much more wisely. Building native apps gives the application direct access to the core libraries of each system. When considering the User Experience, it is best to keep the experience consistent on each platform.

Don't test on as many devices as possible. 

There are thousands of mobile devices out there with varying screen sizes and resolutions, differing user experience, operating systems, and OS versions. It is physically improbable to test on all those iterations.  We recommend using a mobile app testing system to test on the most popular devices. 

Don't consider delays caused by application review process. 

Expect up to ten business days before your mobile app will be released to the public. Both Android and Apple have lists of items that the developer must address before the app made available.

Don't monitor usage. 

Even with the best planning, testing and prototyping it is sometimes difficult to predict how users will use your app. Incorporating insights in your code allows you to collect information about user behavior and make critical adjustments of your application.

Don't release new features often. 

Regularly releasing new features is a great way to fix bugs but also keep your users interested. With the operating systems evolving at a rapid pace it's also recommended to revisit your application on occasion to avoid compatibility issues when new features and restrictions arise.

At Cognitive X Solutions, we help our clients build innovative applications that solve real business problems. Contact us today to leverage our experience with mobile app development.