Sandra and Mike Celebrating 10 years

10 Years Collaborating on Software with Mike and Sandra

In 2015 Mike Nicholls and Sandra Bateman both joined our team as developers within a few months of each other. In fact, Mike recalls showing Sandra the ropes on a project he was only just getting to grips with himself. So, we’re excited to celebrate their 10-year anniversary at Smudge.

We want Smudge to be a place where people thrive while creating meaningful work. Team milestones matter because they tell us we’re getting enough right that talented people want to stick around. Our team are exceptional, and it means a lot that they choose to use their experience and expertise here at Smudge.

We also love team milestones because they’re a chance to reminisce on projects past. Sandra and Mike have seen a lot of change and asking them to share their highlights over the last decade has been a lot of fun.

Meet Mike, early iOS app adopter and cloud lead

Mike is our Azure Platform Lead. Right now, he’s building the cloud environment for some mobile apps we’re creating for the KiwiRail team. But over his time at Smudge, he’s worked on software projects for phones, tablets, web, Android, and iOS.

We were recruiting developers to work on software projects for New Zealand Police. Mike was building tourism websites for a local creative agency when he heard about a development role we had advertised. Mike was an ultra-early adopter when it came to building iOS apps. He recalls, “When iPhones first came to New Zealand in 2008, my boss and I went down to the store, picked up an iPhone, and I ended up building a little iOS app for snow reports.” The idea of working on more apps appealed.

Mike visited the Smudge offices for a chat and Reuben invited him to try solving a problem Smudge was working on for a sales app. Mike says, “I was expecting a formal interview, then I was getting my hands dirty with code. It was a fun, interesting approach.”

From an app for sales reps in Indonesia to a cute Bluetooth pet

One of Mike’s most memorable projects was a sales app for Coca Cola. He says, “When I first started at Smudge, we’d just built apps for Coca Cola in Australia and New Zealand. Coca Cola Indonesia got word of the work we’d done and wanted something similar. However, there were interesting tweaks to adapt the system for a culture where sales reps operate very differently.”

“For example, the app was built for iPads in this market but in Indonesia it needed to work on Android smartphones with small screens. Here in New Zealand, sales reps visit the same line up of stores. In Indonesia, reps serve vendors who operate out of stalls on the side of the road. Their customers might not even be in the same place from one week to the next, so we built in the ability for reps to sign customers up on the fly.”

The variety at Smudge also appeals. Mike says, “We build a lot of tools to help people do their jobs. But in 2018, we built this app for a company that made little Bluetooth speakers shaped like animals. You’d speak into your phone's mic and your message played out of the speaker in your audio pet. It was a fun contrast working on these big, serious projects for New Zealand Police, then coding an app for an animated unicorn.”

Meet Sandra, chemist turned software developer

Sandra is a Senior Software Developer. She builds iOS apps for Apple devices, and for most of her time at Smudge she’s worked on the OnDuty app Smudge built and manages for New Zealand Police. Despite her expertise, Sandra describes herself as not a typical software developer. She has a background in science and did a PhD in chemistry, writing her thesis on gas electron diffraction.

She explains, “By the time I was partway through my PhD, I’d decided chemistry wasn't for me. However, I’d dabbled in programming to process data for my thesis and that held my interest more. When I submitted my thesis, a graduate role came up at Smudge. Smudge doesn’t just recruit computer science grads. We welcome STEM grads as well. Kudos to Reuben for considering aptitude for learning and new ideas as well as technical skills.”

Waiting for her Smudge interview, Sandra built a calculator app. She recalls, “I’d played around and built a calculator app and spent a bit of time working through the UX design for it. I wasn't happy with it, so I brought it with me to my interview and Reuben and I chatted about different things I could tweak. Reuben could see my enthusiasm. Despite not knowing some of the programming principles I’d have learned with a formal computer science qualification, Reuben was willing to give me a shot even though I had a lot of upskilling to do. And it’s just been up from there”.

Supporting New Zealand Police officers in the frontline

The Smudge team have daily standups with New Zealand Police. Sandra explains, “We work in an agile way with constant feedback and iteration from police product owners, testers, and business analysts. OnDuty product owners are sworn police officers, so we get direct feedback on whether what we're building is fit for purpose.”

Sandra says, “I've really thrived both in terms of enjoying the interaction with New Zealand Police and the work, which is so varied. We work in development cycles and there’s always something new coming in. I get that feel-good satisfaction from doing something worthwhile. OnDuty has revolutionised the way frontline officers work.”

The Family Harm app for New Zealand Police was a milestone for Sandra. She says, “We created a secure interface where people can answer sensitive questions without having to speak. Family harm investigations can be tricky situations if the perpetrator’s in the vicinity, so this guided access helps keep victims safe.” The app was recognised by the Best Design Awards, winning a purple pin – the highest recognition given to a design project – for reducing potential for harm to vulnerable citizens and streamlining processes at the same time.

Highlights of a decade at Smudge

Mike relishes working with talented, focused colleagues, helping them do their best work. He says, “At Smudge we put a lot of value on learning. Technology is always changing, so you have to keep upskilling. But we also learn from each other. Sharing my experience and lessons I’ve learned the hard way is very rewarding. We also try to understand our customers’ problems at a deeper level. When an organisation asks us to build them software, we ask, ‘Why do you want this? What problem are you really trying to solve?’”

Sandra really likes Smudge’s intention-led design approach. She says, “No matter what we’re working on, we seek to understand the true intention of the project and find the best way to help an organisation. That can take courage in terms of hard conversations or even egoless honesty on our part when we might get something wrong and have to backtrack.”

“As part of uncovering the real problem we're trying to solve, we often ride along with our customers in the field or visit their offices to see a day in their life. Sometimes that uncovers other problems we can help solve as well. Smudge doesn’t work with every organisation that approaches us. So, when we do build that close, working relationship, it's really special.”

Every year, Sandra asks herself, “Have I still got opportunities for learning and growth and something to give here at Smudge? And the answer has always been yes. There's a lot of support for career progression. I worked my way up from being a junior, and there's still opportunity for me to step up. I haven’t outgrown Smudge because Smudge is still growing and we've a lot of growth and learning still to do.”