How Making Apps is Like Baking Bread (No, Really)

Gather the right ingredients in exactly the right quantities. Mix just so. Gently knead into the proper shape, allot exactly the right amount of time for proving … and, whatever you do, don’t wind up with something half-baked.

Yes, obviously we’re talking about the process of designing and building a great app. But apparently these are all good rules of thumb for baking, too – who knew?

The people at Knead It! certainly did, and last week they spent two days teaching the whole Image+ team – in two shifts, no less! – the baking basics.

Knead it! are a small and friendly artisan bakery, based a mile outside our local theatre hotspot, Stratford Upon Avon. It’s idyllic – they sit on the riverside in a thatched Tudor cottage. It is glorious. But honestly we were way too busy trying to figure out lemon curd to notice.

Here’s the thing: our MD, Alan, had the bright idea of not telling us where we were going. Nobody had the slightest clue. “You’re just going on a course,” he said. “It’ll be really boring,” he said. We did not expect to be making Chelsea buns. And reader: Chelsea buns are hard to make.

They are also a lot of fun. We were each issued with customised Image+ aprons – complete with our respective initials – and all we had to do, for one day only, was step away from the keyboard and whip up some baked goods.

We made a white loaf and some focaccia bread; cheese, onion and chilli rolls and lemon curd buns; we made pizzas … and we ate them on the day. This counts as a great day at the office, people.

The point? We mentioned it was fun, right? Everyone really enjoyed it – even that bit with the lemon curd – and we all learned a really useful new skill. It’s also true that taking a step outside your usual office day makes you think a bit differently about what you do – and how.

It’s not actually that glib to say, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, that apps are like a box of baked goods. The care and attention that are required to bake a good loaf aren’t so very different to the patient planning needed when approaching app development: both have a recipe, both need the proper preparation and both will be no good if any one step isn’t followed through on.

At AppsPlus, we’re pretty good bakers, all told – and, thanks to the great guys at Knead It!, now we’ve got the riverside experience to prove it.

Our next project? Persuading Alan to get a pizza oven for the office …

Contact ImagePlus for Mobile App Development

We provide mobile app design and development for all project requirements, both consumer and business apps. If you’re in need of a mobile app or just have an idea for a project you wish to discuss, please contact us to arrange a consultancy.

Call us on 02476834788 or email us at info@image-plus.co.uk.