Ben Dodson

Over the last couple of years I have worked on a large number of iOS projects. Many of them are on internal systems whilst others are subject to Non-Disclosure Agreements. I have compiled a small selection of some of the bigger projects I've been involved with below. To get more of an idea of the kind of work I do and enjoy, take a look at my own personal projects page and apps page to see the websites and apps I build in my spare time.

I took over development of the ExpenseMagic app in March 2011. The original brief was to finish development of a web-app wrapped in a Titanium framework but it was later decided to move to a completely native app for a better user experience.

I helped push forward a radical redesign of the application whilst also overhauling the PHP backend which powered their website and API. The app makes use of many SDK features including the In-App Purchasing APIs.

ExpenseMagic has been featured on numerous websites and national newspapers as well as appearing as the #1 Financial app in the UK App Store - It has also been in the top 40 of all free iPhone apps in the UK App Store and is regularly featured in "What's Hot".

I worked on the Nectar Card app extensively during 2010. The app has a number of features for the Nectar Card user including viewing their exclusive iPhone offers, opting into those offers, a store locator, and an About section (powered by a JSON feed).

I was the main developer on the project and worked on everything from tweaking the UX with the interface designer to advising the API team on the best way to deliver the necessary data to the phone. I also worked up a number of concepts and UI changes many of which are present in the completed app. In addition, I had regular contact with the Apple WWDR team and presented the app to them thoughout development.

The L'Oreal Vichy app was an app created for internal use within L'Oreal in order to better manage their roadshow campaigns. L'Oreal frequently set up stalls within malls and shopping centres across the country and traditionally they used a pen & paper questionnaire to get customers to fill in their skin conditions, age, etc, in order to recommend a product.

The app I created allowed customers to quickly enter their details and get immediate recommendations of products. In addition, I created a full backend system that would save all captured information and send a text message and email to the customer directly at the point of completion.

I set up Ad Hoc provisioning for the app and distributed it onto several iPod Touches that were distributed to the various members of staff that manned the roadshow stalls.

Social Beacon is a unique and innovative social networking tool which enables you to create super quick status updates for the leading social networks.

Using the innovative 3-wheel interface, you can update both Twitter and Facebook with just five touches of the screen on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Better still, Social Beacon integrates “Fingerless Functionality” allowing you to tilt your device left or right to select each segment of the wheel – tilt up and down to go forwards and backwards through the menus, and finally blow into the microphone to send your message to the world!

This application was built exclusively for Channel Five’s “The Gadget Show” and reached #4 on the App Store – find out more about the development on my weblog or watch the episode online.

Text-o-meter is a fun app that analyses your text messages and works out how much the boy/girl likes you. Using an innovative system, Text-o-meter cross references messages entered into it to the database of survey results, and returns an analysis based on the actual answers given by the men and women asked in a national survey, providing a unique insight into the hidden meaning behind confusing or misleading text messages.