Buddy

Buddy was a software tool that helped people deal with depression by keeping a 'mood diary' via mobile, web and SMS. It was one of ten projects funded under Nesta's Reboot Britain programme, with the South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust as its public service partner. Sidekick Studios, the guys behind the idea, were a social innovation company. When they got in touch they had a problem - their developer was struggling to meet their deadline and they needed someone to step in and get it going.

That call was on a Friday. By Monday I had a nice-enough-looking and minimally functional Rails app deployed and on the web. Then we iterated to the point where they could get their first client contract agreed, and I successfully handed over the project to their new in-house developer, with only a brief email exchange to make sure it went smoothly.